Ancient History Study Guide

Ancient

146 answers | 601 clues

Must-Know (17)

Alexander the Great 28x 3.8% stumper $504 avg J:4 DJ:22 FJ:2

J $200 2011 In 331 B.C. this Macedonian traveled to the Siwa Oasis where the oracle pronounced him a god

DJ $600 2000 Around 334 B.C. this Macedonian's stater became a world currency

DJ $1,500 DD 1991 In 331 B.C. his troops plundered Persepolis & burned the palace of Xerxes

Julius Caesar 17x 6.2% stumper $381 avg J:4 DJ:12 FJ:1

J $200 2004 A party of this leader's so-called friends conspired to kill him, & did, in March 44 B.C.

J $500 1986 Besides Cleopatra, his "royal conquests" were said to include the King of Bithynia

FJ 1985 Cornelia was his 1st wife; Calpurnia his 2nd

Egypt 14x $386 avg J:3 DJ:11

J $100 1995 The pharaoh Hound originated in this country during the time of the pharaohs

DJ $600 1991 This country's 28th dynasty consisted of a single king, Amyrtaeus of Sais

DJ $1,200 2020 Ranging from about 2600 to 1000 B.C., its 3 major kingdoms are termed the Old, the Middle & the New

Socrates 12x 27.3% stumper $764 avg J:2 DJ:9 FJ:1

DJ $200 1996 Plato's "Phaedo" describes this philosopher's execution by hemlock

J $600 2018 Impiety toward the gods & corrupting the young were on this philosopher's final rap sheet

DJ $1,000 1993 He said, "Bad men live to eat and drink, whereas good men eat and drink in order to live"

Sparta 12x 36.4% stumper $782 avg J:2 DJ:9 FJ:1

J $200 2011 It's 404 B.C. & here is our top story: Athens has been forced to accept a humiliating peace treaty with this city-state

DJ $600 1992 Ancient writers called this militaristic Greek state Lacedaemon

DJ $1,000 1998 Barren accommodations, but plenty of exercise & military drill in this capital of Laconia

the Lighthouse at Alexandria 12x 16.7% stumper $700 avg J:2 DJ:10

J $400 2018 The fire at its top guided ships for over a thousand years

DJ $600 1985 Under the Ptolemies, this city had the greatest library in ancient world, over 700,000 scrolls

J $1,000 2010 Fire was an important part of this landmark, which stood for about 1,500 years

Hammurabi 10x $760 avg DJ:10

DJ $400 2017 This Babylonian king laid down the law & go things going for the empire around 1792 B.C.

DJ $600 1992 We don't know if this Babylonian had a "code" name for his chief rival, Rim-Sin of Larsa

DJ $1,000 1997 This sixth king of Babylonia codifies laws; we'll tell you what will get you killed tonight at 11

Carthage 10x 20.0% stumper $820 avg J:2 DJ:8

DJ $400 2001 Around 480 B.C. this north African city-state was not so Puny-c;, it controlled most of the western Mediterranean

DJ $600 1999 In 439 A.D. this north African city-state was conquered by the Vandals under Genseric

J $1,000 2025 Fearing its rise again after the Second Punic war, Cato the Elder ended speeches with this city "must be destroyed"

Confucius 9x 11.1% stumper $733 avg J:4 DJ:5

DJ $200 1998 This philosopher whose "Analects" shaped Chinese society died a few years before Socrates was born

J $600 2025 Considered China's greatest sage, he's gotten new endorsement from Xi Jinping, who spoke on his 2,565th birthday in 2014

DJ $3,000 DD 2024 His "Sayings" begin: "The master said, to learn and then do, is not that a pleasure?"

the Phoenicians 9x 11.1% stumper $1,000 avg J:2 DJ:7

J $500 1984 Civilization of sailors that developed 1st Western alphabet

DJ $1,300 DD 1992 The Bible calls these ancient seagoers "Sidonians"; Sidon was one of their cities

DJ $600 1996 These ancient seafarers spoke a language closely related to Hebrew

the Hanging Gardens of Babylon 9x $600 avg J:4 DJ:5

J $400 2010 Water from the Euphrates was lifted by slaves to aid in this "green" project

DJ $600 1993 One legend says Nebuchadnezzar II built this wonder to cheer up his homesick wife

DJ $1,000 DD 1994 Pliny said that by his time this wonder was just a desolate wilderness

the Colossus of Rhodes 9x $544 avg J:4 DJ:5

DJ $200 1993 An earthquake in 224 B.C. caused this monument of Rhodes to break at the knees & fall

DJ $600 1994 Some sources say a ship could sail under this wonder, some say it had its feet together

DJ $1,200 2003 This wonder depicted a sun god shading his eyes & gazing out across the Aegean Sea

Rome 8x $262 avg J:3 DJ:5

J $100 2001 We know Hadrian's study center called the Athenaeum was in this city, we just don't know where

DJ $600 1989 After Cleopatra's death in 30 B.C., Egypt became a province of this ruling nation

J $100 1984 Where all roads were supposed to have led

Nero 8x 25.0% stumper $875 avg J:2 DJ:6

DJ $200 1990 This emperor was in his villa at Antium, 35 miles from the city, when Rome burned

DJ $800 2025 In 64 A.D. architects Severus & Celer built the Domus Aurea for this emperor after a fire cleared up some real estate

DJ $2,000 DD 2015 Around 60 A.D. this emperor began giving public performances playing the lyre & later appeared on stage as a actor

Aristotle 8x 37.5% stumper $725 avg J:1 DJ:7

DJ $200 1994 His books like "Metaphysics" & "On the Soul" were originally lecture notes, either his or his students'

DJ $800 2008 "Poetics" by this founder of the Lyceum has been called the single most influential work in all of literary criticism

DJ $1,000 1986 King Philip of Macedonia hired him as private tutor for his son, Alexander

Aristophanes 8x 25.0% stumper $1,125 avg J:1 DJ:7

DJ $600 2001 In 423 B.C. Cratinus took the festival prize with the play "The Bottle", beating this author of "The Clouds"

J $1,000 2018 In his comedy "The Clouds", this playwright poked fun at intellectuals like the sophists

DJ $800 2023 In his play "The Frogs", he took a little dig at Euripides

Sophocles 8x 16.7% stumper $1,167 avg J:1 DJ:5 FJ:2

DJ $400 DD 1993 "The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves", wrote this playwright in "Oedipus Rex"

DJ $800 2004 Aristotle said this man's "Oedipus Rex" was the greatest play ever; lucky it was one of his few to survive in full

J $1,000 2011 Up next, entertainment reporter Klakos has a review of this tragedy master's new play, "Oedipus Rex"

Should-Know (40)

Troy 7x $971 avg J:1 DJ:6

DJ $200 1998 Visit here & enjoy Mediterranean cuisine, beautiful women & a huge wooden horse donated by the Greeks

DJ $600 1997 This city's different ages are given Roman numerals; it's believed the "Homeric" one was VIIa

DJ $2,500 DD 2023 Heinrich Schliemann found gold ornaments he called "The Jewels of Helen" while excavating this site in 1873

Euclid 7x 14.3% stumper $971 avg J:3 DJ:4

DJ $200 1988 This man said, "There is no royal road to geometry"

J $500 1992 He told Ptolemy I, "There is no royal road to geometry"

DJ $1,000 DD 1996 This Greek who taught in Alexandria has been called "The Father of Geometry"

Babylon 7x 42.9% stumper $714 avg DJ:7

DJ $600 1998 Luscious gardens hanging for your pleasure await you in this city on the Euphrates

DJ $1,000 1991 Under Hammurabi the Plain of Shinar became known as this

DJ $600 1995 This city on the Euphrates had at least 8 fortified gates, including Urash & Ishtar

the Pyramids 7x $214 avg J:3 DJ:4

DJ $200 1994 Though there are about 75 of these, some lists only include one of them

J $200 2018 They're the oldest & best preserved of the 7 ancient wonders

J $200 2009 The only wonder still standing, these were built as tombs for the Pharaohs

the Parthenon 6x 16.7% stumper $750 avg J:3 DJ:3

J $300 2001 Greek architects Callicrates & Ictinus used a Doric design for this Acropolis topper

DJ $600 1992 Partheneia were "maiden songs" & this was the "Temple of the Maiden"

DJ $2,000 DD 2003 In the 5th century B.C. this building in Athens replaced the Temple of Zeus at Olympia as the largest building in Greece

Plato 6x $817 avg J:1 DJ:5

DJ $400 2024 In this philosopher's "Symposium", Socrates actually puts on sandals to go discuss love

J $500 1985 Student of Socrates, teacher of Aristotle

DJ $1,000 1999 When he died in about 347 B.C., his nephew Speusippus took over leadership of the Academy

Cleopatra 6x $417 avg J:2 DJ:4

J $100 1985 Though an ethnic Macedonian, she was the most famous queen of Egypt

DJ $800 2024 A papyrus dated to 35 B.C. calls her Philopatris, "she who loves her country", the country being Egypt

J $400 2025 Plutarch wrote that this queen's beauty was "not altogether incomparable", but to converse "with her had an irresistible charm"

China 6x $367 avg J:1 DJ:5

J $200 2006 The ancient Ban Chiang poetry of Thailand resembles that of this country's neolithic Yang-Shao period

DJ $600 1985 It is believed astronomers from this Far East country observed sunspots as early as 28 A.D.

DJ $200 1999 This country's Shang dynasty arose in the 1700s B.C. along the Yellow River

Assyria 6x 33.3% stumper $1,233 avg DJ:6

DJ $800 DD 1998 Add 2 letters to a modern Mideast country to get this kingdom once ruled by Sennacherib

DJ $1,000 1994 Ashurbanipal, who assembled a great ancient library at Nineveh, ruled this kingdom 668-627 B.C.

DJ $1,000 DD 1987 This ancient country was named for Ashur, their primary god

Thebes 5x 40.0% stumper $1,180 avg J:1 DJ:4

DJ $600 1994 Adrastus, leader & sole survivor of the 7 against this city, later led the sons of the 7 against it

J $1,000 2006 The Epigoni were the sons of the "7 against" this city who later succeeded where their dads had failed

DJ $800 1991 Homer spoke of the wealth of this hundred-gated capital of ancient Egypt

the Persian Empire 5x 20.0% stumper $880 avg J:2 DJ:3

J $500 DD 1995 Built by Cyrus the Great, Pasargadae was the 1st dynastic capital of this empire

DJ $1,000 1992 Cyrus the Great founded this empire by conquering Lydia & Babylonia in the 6th century B.C.

J $600 2011 Breaking news 479 B.C.: Greece has beaten the remaining forces of this Xerxes-led empire! Let's party!

the Mausoleum 5x 60.0% stumper $2,560 avg J:2 DJ:3

DJ $400 1993 This wonder lives on in our vocabulary as the term for a large, stately tomb

J $600 2023 Halicarnassus, yes! A tomb with a view; built by the ruler's sister & widow (the same person... yipes)

J $1,000 2009 Located at Halicarnassus, this monumental marble tomb was built for a king who died in 353 B.C.

Spartacus 5x $350 avg J:1 DJ:3 FJ:1

DJ $200 1985 Gladiator who led Great Slave Revolt against Rome, 73-71 B.C.

FJ 1996 He started the Third Servile War in 73 B.C.

J $400 2011 This Thracian gladiator organized a revolt of gladiators & slaves & defeated 2 Roman armies in 72 B.C.

Sappho 5x 25.0% stumper $1,500 avg DJ:4 FJ:1

DJ $1,200 2016 The wedding songs of this lyric poet known as the "tenth Muse" were likely written for the weddings of her pupils

FJ 1992 Plato called her "The Tenth Muse"

DJ $1,200 2013 Only one of the poems of this Greek poetess has survived in its entirety, although there are many fragments

Plutarch 5x 75.0% stumper $750 avg J:1 DJ:3 FJ:1

DJ $400 2007 He dedicated his "Parallel Lives" to Sosius Senecio, a friend of the emperor

DJ $1,000 1986 This ancient biographer linked various great Greeks & Romans into 23 pairs in his "Parallel Lives"

FJ 2006 Born around 46 A.D., he spent time in both Greece & Rome & wrote to encourage respect between the 2 cultures

Phoenicia 5x 60.0% stumper $1,220 avg J:1 DJ:4

J $500 1992 Tyre & Sidon were the most important cities in this region on the coastal areas of Syria, Lebanon & Israel

DJ $1,000 1986 The name of this country noted for its sailing is merely Greek for "Canaan"

DJ $600 1988 This small country included the great ports of Tyre & Sidon

Persia 5x $680 avg J:1 DJ:4

J $200 2018 In the 5th century B.C., Xerxes, the king of this empire, invaded Greece & occupied Athens

DJ $800 2011 The Iranian region of Fars was part of this historical area

DJ $1,200 2008 Darius I of this empire claimed that Bardiya, the king he killed & replaced, had been an impostor

Nefertiti 5x $1,200 avg DJ:5

DJ $800 2024 An entire room at Berlin's Neues Museum is devoted to the bust of this Egyptian queen renowned for her beauty

DJ $1,600 2015 DNA analysis suggests that King Tut may have been the son of Akhenaten & this main wife

DJ $800 1990 This queen & wife of Akhenaten bore 6 daughters; 2 of them became queens of Egypt

Homer 5x $480 avg J:3 DJ:2

J $200 2013 This blind Greek's epic poems furnished plots for tragic dramatists like Euripides

J $600 2011 Exekiel 45 says that 10 baths of oil equal one of these, also the name of a blind Greek bard

DJ $1,000 2000 Smyrna, which claimed to be the birthplace of this poet, put him on a 2nd century B.C. coin

Hippocrates 5x 40.0% stumper $1,540 avg J:1 DJ:4

DJ $400 2019 The 60 or so works bearing the name of this "Father of Medicine" likely weren't written by him, nor was his oath

J $3,000 DD 2013 "Life of" this Greek, by the Roman physician Soranus, was published around 100 A.D.

DJ $400 2015 Aristotle described him as a great physician & implied he was small in stature

Herodotus 5x $1,400 avg DJ:4 FJ:1

DJ $400 1998 This father of history reports that the ancient Etruscans were originally Lydians

DJ $1,200 2023 Though better known as "The Father of History", some critics called him "The Father of Lies"

FJ 2017 His famous work culminates in accounts of Xerxes' invasion & Greek victories at Salamis & Plataea

Crete 5x $780 avg J:1 DJ:4

J $300 1992 After the palace of Knossos burned in the 1300s B.C., the Minoan culture on this island began to decline

DJ $600 1986 One of the earliest indoor bathrooms has been found on this Greek island

DJ $1,000 1990 Tho some think it may be Minoan, Linear A, a script used on this island, still hasn't been deciphered

Constantine 5x 20.0% stumper $680 avg J:1 DJ:4

DJ $200 1984 Roman emperor who renamed Byzantium, Constantinople

J $600 2011 In 337 A.D. this first Christian Roman emperor abolished crucifixion as a form of execution

DJ $1,200 2020 The Chi Rhosymbol, combining two letters of Christ's name in Greek, appeared to this Roman emperor who converted to Christianity

Archimedes 5x 20.0% stumper $1,280 avg DJ:5

DJ $400 DD 2001 He didn't have a screw loose, he defined the principle of the lever, among other things

DJ $1,200 2010 In the 3rd century B.C., while discussing the lever, he said, "give me where to stand, and I will move the earth"

DJ $1,600 2024 Using the displacement of water, this Greek discovered that King Hieron II's gold crown wasn't entirely gold

Turkey 5x 25.0% stumper $1,075 avg J:1 DJ:3 FJ:1

J $200 1992 The Hittites built Hattusas, their capital, about 90 miles from Ankara in what is now this country

DJ $800 2001 Lycia, like Nicaea, was in what's now this Eurasian country

DJ $2,500 DD 1997 Bithynia on the Bosporus Strait is now part of this country

Delphi 5x $580 avg J:3 DJ:2

J $400 2022 Consulting the oracle at this site was opened wide with the destruction of the nearby town of Krisa, which taxed visitors

J $500 2001 Greek city that claimed it was the omphalos, the navel or center of the world

J $400 2018 To the Greeks the "navel of the world" was in this town where the oracle of Apollo spoke

the Peloponnesian War 5x $640 avg DJ:5

DJ $400 1988 Aristotle stated, "We make" this "that we may live in peace"

DJ $600 1994 Thucydides' history of this war ends in 411 B.C., 7 years before the war ended

DJ $600 1993 In 431 B.C. Thucydides began writing the history of this war while he was fighting in it

Virgil 4x 25.0% stumper $900 avg J:2 DJ:2

DJ $200 1991 Roman poet Publius Vergilius Maro, born in 70 B.C. near Mantua, is better known by this name

J $1,000 2003 At 15, Ovid's "Metamorphoses" topped the length of this poet's "Aeneid" by 3 books

J $400 1992 "I fear Greeks even when they bring gifts", he wrote in the "Aeneid"

the Persians 4x 25.0% stumper $1,150 avg DJ:4

DJ $400 1986 A runner ran 25 miles & died after announcing Greeks had defeated them in the Battle of Marathon

DJ $600 1986 The Medes were allied in a dual empire with these people

DJ $1,600 2020 Darius III was the last king of the Achaemenid Dynasty of this mighty empire

the Mayans 4x $1,050 avg J:1 DJ:3

DJ $600 1985 A jar with a screw-on top has been found in tomb of this ancient Central American culture

DJ $2,000 DD 2015 Around 900 A.D. this Central American society's Classic Era collapsed & temple building ceased

J $800 2023 Copan, an important city of the Classic period of these people is in modern-day Honduras, near the border with Guatemala

the Euphrates 4x 25.0% stumper $1,100 avg DJ:4

DJ $600 1989 This river flowed through the city of Babylon but has since shifted its course

DJ $1,200 DD 2013 This longest river in southwest Asia flowed through the center of ancient Babylon

DJ $600 1984 Site of Babylon was on this river

the Etruscans 4x $1,000 avg J:1 DJ:3

J $400 1992 These darn people of ancient Etruria were famous for their terracotta sculptures

DJ $800 1991 Rome was ruled by these non-Latin neighbors from the late 7th century B.C. to about 509 B.C.

DJ $1,200 2013 In the 5th century B.C., Herodotus wrote that these people of northeastern Italy were from Lydia in Asia Minor

Solon 4x 50.0% stumper $2,000 avg J:1 DJ:3

J $1,000 2011 This Athenian lawmaker revised most of Draco's 7th century B.C. code of justice

DJ $2,000 2023 One of Plato's 7 wise men of Greece, this statesman who reformed Athens' laws laid the foundations for democracy

DJ $2,000 2010 This Greek lawmaker wrote about relieving citizens' debt, saying one "who was enslaved is now free"

Midas 4x $350 avg DJ:4

DJ $200 1992 This Phrygian king mentioned by Herodotus is not the one of golden touch fame

DJ $600 1992 Traditionally, kings of Persia were called Gordius or this, that's a "touch" more famous

DJ $200 1985 King of Phrygia who received the golden touch from Bacchus

Hannibal 4x $733 avg DJ:3 FJ:1

DJ $400 1994 After leading his army across the Alps, he campaigned in Italy for 16 years

DJ $800 2015 Hamilcar Barca put the hand of this 9-year-old son on a sacrificed animal & made him swear hatred of Rome

DJ $1,000 DD 2017 Defeat at the 207 B.C. Battle of the Metaurus River ended this man's efforts to conquer Italy

Dionysus 4x 25.0% stumper $900 avg J:1 DJ:3

DJ $400 2020 Greek drama in Athens largely began as part of festivals honoring this inebriating god

DJ $1,200 2021 Located on a slope of the Acropolis is one of Greece's oldesttheaters, dedicated to this god of wine

J $400 2006 Ancient Greeks believed that wine was a gift from this god, the Greek equivalent of Bacchus

Diogenes 4x 33.3% stumper $1,600 avg DJ:3 FJ:1

DJ $800 1985 Philosopher who walked with a lantern in daylight, looking for an honest man

DJ $2,000 2008 "If I were not Alexander," said Alexander the Great, "I would be" this philosopher who lived in a tub

FJ 2021 Asked to describe this 4th century B.C. member of the Cynics, Plato called him "a Socrates gone mad"

Athens 4x $550 avg DJ:4

DJ $400 2008 Judges were chosen by lot for the drama competition known as the Dionysia in this city

DJ $600 1994 Peisistratus was tyrant of this Greek city-state from 546-527 B.C.

DJ $400 2004 About this city Pindar wrote, "O bright & violet-crowned and famed in song, bulwark of Greece"

Aesop 4x $375 avg J:1 DJ:3

DJ $200 2001 This Greek came bearing fables with morals like "The gods help those who help themselves"

DJ $600 1988 His 1st quote in Barlett's Quotations is, "The lamb... began to follow the wolf in sheep's clothing"

J $300 1994 "Be content... one cannot be first in everything" was fabulous advice from this fabulist

Statue of Zeus at Olympia 4x 33.3% stumper $1,167 avg J:1 DJ:2 FJ:1

J $500 2000 In the 4th century, this ancient wonder was transported from Olympia to Constantinople

DJ $1,000 1993 After Phidias, the original sculptor, died, his descendants maintained this wonder at Olympia

FJ 2003 Of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, this one was the smallest

Worth Knowing (89)

Ur 3 the Olmecs 3 the chorus 3 Switzerland 3 Sicily 3 Pythagoras 3 Ptolemy 3 Philip 3 Mexico 3 Mesopotamia 3 Leonidas 3 Jerusalem 3 Ireland 3 Iraq 3 India 3 horses 3 honey 3 Helen 3 Hadrian 3 gladiators 3 elephants 3 Cicero 3 Caligula 3 atoms 3 the Nile 3 the Minotaur 3 the Indus 3 the Great Wall of China 3 the Colosseum 3 Herod 3 (Mount) Vesuvius 3 the planets revolve around the sun 3 Zoroastrianism 2 Zoroaster 2 Zeus 2 Xerxes 2 Wheels 2 time 2 Thespis 2 Thermopylae 2 the Tigris 2 the Rubicon 2 The Odyssey 2 the Minoan civilization 2 the Great Pyramids 2 the Fertile Crescent 2 the Earth 2 the Circus Maximus 2 the Acropolis 2 stoicism 2 Solomon 2 Sanskrit 2 Rhodes 2 Pyramid 2 Prometheus 2 Pompey 2 Pliny the Elder 2 pharaoh 2 Peru 2 papyrus 2 Olympic Games 2 olive oil 2 Nebuchadnezzar 2 mirrors 2 Minoans 2 Marc Antony 2 lead 2 Knossos 2 Josephus 2 Gaul 2 France 2 Demosthenes 2 Cyrus the Great 2 Croesus 2 Christianity 2 Chichen Itza 2 Brutus 2 bronze 2 a god 2 a cornucopia 2 the Trojan War 2 Second Punic War 2 the plebeians 2 the Peloponnesian League 2 the mask 2 the I Ching 2 Heinrich Schliemann 2 Pliny 2 paper 2

Ancient History Study Guide

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