1st Millennium AD: One Question per Century Quiz

Answer: Canterbury

Durovernum Cantiacorum ("Durovernum of the Cantiaci") was named after an earlier Celtic settlement by the River Stour, in present-day Kent. The Romans initially built it in 43 AD, after their conquest of Britain, as a triple-ditched "oppidum" (hillfort). A few decades later, due to its strategic location on Watling Street (the historic route linking Dover to London, and then to Wroxeter in Shropshire), it grew into a prosperous town with a forum, a religious complex, a theatre, shops, and public baths.

Durovernum Cantiacorum reached the height of its development around 300 AD, but its decline was quick once the Roman administration left Britain in 410. The area was taken over by the Jutes in the mid-5th century. Archaeological evidence of life under the Romans can now be seen in the Canterbury Roman Museum, built on the well-preserved remains of a Roman townhouse, and opened in 1961.

While all the wrong answers are English cathedral cities founded by the Romans in the 1st century AD, none of them is located in southeastern England. York was originally named Eboracum, while Lincoln was Lindum Colonia, and Exeter was Isca Dumniorum.

Answer: Trajan

Born in present-day Spain, Trajan succeeded his adoptive father, Nerva, in 98 AD, and ruled until 117. During his reign, he engaged in an ambitious building program - financed with the spoils of his successful wars against Dacia, the Nabataean Kingdom, and the Parthian Empire. Designed by Greek architect Apollodorus of Damascus, the Forum named after the emperor was the last to be built in imperial Rome. Located in an area between the Capitoline and the Quirinal hills, it included the triumphal Trajan's Column - which, unlike most of the Forum, still stands today.

Adjoining the Forum stood a monumental complex (probably inaugurated in 113) known as Trajan's Market - consisting of six levels built mostly of brick and concrete, which housed apartment blocks, administrative offices, and commercial spaces ("tabernae"). These shops lined a street named "Via Biberatica" that cut through the Market. The structure, which formed a large semicircle ("exedra") still visible today from Via dei Fori Imperiali in Rome, also included a library and two large halls, probably used for concerts or other public events. The various levels of the Market were connected by stairs or cordonatas (sloping roads with low, transversal steps). The presence of spaces with different purposes in the same structure is strongly reminiscent of modern shopping complexes.

The imposing remains of Trajan's Market have been thoroughly restored in the 2000s, and now host the Museum of the Imperial Forums (opened in 2007).

Answer: Teotihuacan

Located in the Valley of Mexico, about 40 km (25 mi) northeast of Mexico City, Teotihuacan was the most important city in Mesoamerica before the Aztec era. Probably founded some time around 100 BC, its original name is unknown: Teotihuacan was the name given to it by the Aztecs in Nahuatl, and has been interpreted as "birthplace of the gods". Not much is known about the city's founders either, though it has been suggested that the city might have been a multi-ethnic state with connections to other major Mesoamerican civilizations. At the height of its power, probably around 450, Teotihuacan was one of the world's largest cities, with a population of over 120,000. Though it went into a decline around the 7th century (for causes still unclear), and much of it was destroyed, the city was not completely abandoned, and eventually became part of the Aztec Empire.

The two buildings for which Teotihuacan is most famous, the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon, are the two largest pyramids in Mesoamerica. They are connected by a wide road called "Avenue of the Dead". The Pyramid of the Sun is a massive, gradual pyramid built in two phases - the first starting around 200, and the second a few decades later. The temple on top of the pyramid - where human sacrifices took place - does not longer stand. The Pyramid of the Moon is a seven-layered structure that is believed to have been dedicated to the Great Goddess of Teotihuacan, whose depiction appears in many of the stunning murals found in some of the city's housing complexes.

Teotihuacan was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, and is now the most visited archaeological site in Mexico. While all three wrong answers are pre-Columbian sites, Macchu Picchu is not Mesoamerican, as it is located in South America.

Answer: Armenia

At the beginning of the 4th century, Armenia was ruled by King Tiridates III of the Arsacid dynasty, who had been raised and educated in Rome. Before 301, the kingdom largely followed Zoroastrianism, the religion of neighbouring Parthia (Persia), ruled by the Sassanid Empire. It is said that the king's decision to make Christianity the state religion of Armenia was an act of defiance against the Empire, which had instigated the murder of Tiridates's father. Before it acquired the status of official religion, Christianity had already been present in Armenia for quite some time - brought, according to tradition, by the Apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus in the 1st century AD.

Tiridates was converted to Christianity by Gregory the Illuminator, the son of his father's assassin, who founded the Armenian Apostolic Church and became its first "Catholicos" (chief bishop and spiritual leader). The Armenian Apostolic Church, which belongs to the Oriental Orthodox communion, is still the national church of Armenia and the worldwide Armenian diaspora. There are many legends regarding Tiridates's conversion - which include the still-pagan king going insane as punishment for having imprisoned Gregory, and being healed of his madness by Gregory himself.

The three countries listed as incorrect answers are all considered Eurasian (even Mongolia, at least by the OECD). They are, however, much larger than Armenia; in addition, Turkey is not landlocked.

Answer: Kyiv

The capital and largest city of Ukraine, Kyiv (also spelled Kiev) was founded in an area that had been inhabited for thousands of years by various tribes. According to the 12th-century chronicle known as "Tale of Bygone Years", the city's founders were three brothers named Kyi (the eldest, after whom Kyiv was named), Schchek, and Khoryv, leaders of an East Slavic tribe; their sister, Lybed, was also with them, and gave her name to a small stream nearby. Though there are no historical records of the city's founding date, and archaeological data point to a a later time (possibly the 6th century), the traditional date of Kyiv's founding has been set at 482. Even if based on a legend, this date would make Kyiv one of the oldest cities in Europe (at least outside the territories of the former Roman Empire), and certainly older than its arch-rival Moscow, which was founded in the 12th century.

Originally located on the west bank, Kyiv now lies on both sides of the Dnieper River (called Dnipro in Ukrainian), Europe's fourth-longest river, which flows through Belarus and Ukraine on its way to the Black Sea. With its advantageous position, the city became an important trading post, and in 882 was conquered by Oleg of Novgorod, a Varangian (Viking) prince who founded the first East Slavic state, Kievan Rus'. Kyiv was its capital until 1169, and one of Europe's major cities - until it was destroyed by the Mongols in 1240.

Answer: volcanic activity

Though the exact causes of the extreme weather that wreaked havoc on the Northern Hemisphere in 536 are still unclear, most scholars agree that this severe episode of climatic cooling was very likely a case of "volcanic winter". It is believed that a violent volcanic eruption ejected huge amount of sulfate aerosols into the atmosphere - thus reducing solar radiation and causing the atmosphere to cool for several years. This event ushered the Little Antique Ice Age, which lasted until 660. The first eruption was followed by two more eruptions between 539 and 547, which caused temperatures to drop even further.

Most of the accounts of what, in 2018, was nominated as "the worst year to be alive" by a group of scholars come from Byzantine authors, such as Procopius of Caesarea, who wrote that the sun had lost its brightness, and people could not see their own shadows at noon. Summer temperatures fell up to 2.5 ºC (4.5 ºF), causing crop failures and widespread famine; there are accounts of snow falling in China in the month of August. The effects of this volcanic winter lasted for over three years; then, to make matters worse, in 541 the Eastern Roman Empire was struck by an epidemic of bubonic plague that caused the death of at least 30 million people. Not surprisingly, the middle of the 6th century is often referred to as the height of the Dark Ages - in this case, also in a literal sense.

There have been numerous attempts at identifying the volcanoes whose activity led to such a disastrous outcome for the word's population. One of the volcanoes that have been proposed as possible culprits is Krakatoa, whose catastrophic eruption in 1883 also had effects on global weather - though nowhere as dramatic as what took place in 536.

Answer: Greek fire

The Byzantine had a variety of names - such as "sea fire" or "liquid fire" - for the incendiary weapon known in English and other languages as "Greek fire". Though the use of incendiary weapons in warfare had been widespread in antiquity, none of them was as effective (or mysterious) as the mixture whose invention has been attributed to Kallinikos, an architect and chemist who had fled his native Syria overrun by Muslim conquerors and sought refuge in Constantinople. His invention could not have been more timely for the Byzantine Empire, which was increasingly unable to resist the onslaught of the Arabs, and had already lost many territories to them.

Greek fire was employed mainly in naval battles, and was carried by specialized warships. Similarly to a modern flamethrower, the liquid was ejected from a pressurized nozzle (called "siphon" in Greek). The availability of this fearsome weapon gave the Byzantine a considerable advantage in naval battles, as it could not be extinguished with water, and continued to burn even when floating on the surface of the sea. When the Arabs besieged Constantinople twice, in 674-678 and 717-718, the use of Greek fire saved the city and the Empire from Muslim conquest. The formula of Greek fire was a closely guarded state secret, and is unknown to this day, though various speculations have been made throughout the centuries. It probably contained crude oil ("naphtha" in Greek); quicklime, saltpeter, sulfur, and pine resin have also been suggested as additional ingredients.

Greek fire was the inspiration for the "wildfire" that appears in George R.R. Martin's fantasy series "A Song of Ice and Fire" and its TV adaptation "Game of Thrones". Nerve gas was discovered in the 1930s; the heat ray was purportedly invented by Archimedes, but probably never used; toxic smoke, on the other hand, was an early form of chemical warfare widely used in antiquity.

Answer: Baghdad

Harun ibn al-Mahdi, better known as Harun al-Rashid ("Harun the Just"), was born in 763 or 766 in present-day Iran. The son of al-Mahdi, the third Abbasid caliph, Harun was an accomplished military leader who conducted a number of successful campaigns against the Byzantine when he succeeded his brother al-Hadi in 786. His reign brought great prosperity to the Caliphate, ushering the Islamic Golden Age. For the first ten years of his rule, his court resided in Baghdad, the capital that had been founded in 762 by al-Mansur, Harun's grandfather, with the name of Madinat al-Salam ("city of peace").

During Harun's reign, Baghdad became a splendid, cosmopolitan city, one of the world's foremost centres of learning and trade - home to the fabled House of Wisdom, a library and public academy. At the beginning of the 10th century, Baghdad had a population of almost one million, and was one of the world's largest cities (if not the largest). The city and Harun's magnificent court provide the setting for a number of the tales of the "One Thousand and One Nights"; the caliph himself, his Grand Vizier Jafar al-Barmaki, and poet Abu Nuwas also appear as characters. In 796, Harun moved his court to Raqqa (now in Syria), where he spent the remaining 12 years of his reign before his death in 809. Baghdad, however, remained the caliphate's administrative centre.

Sadly, Baghdad was largely destroyed by the Mongols in 1528, and never completely recovered. It has been the capital of Iraq since 1932.

Answer: Khmer

Also known as Angkorian Empire, the Khmer Empire was based in present-day Cambodia, but with time grew to rule over most of Southeast Asia, and also parts of Southern China. The year 802 is conventionally taken as the date of the empire's beginning, with the ascent of Jayavarman II to the throne of the kingdom of Kambuja (from which the name "Cambodia" originated). In that year, the king declared independence from a political entity called "Java" in ancient inscriptions. During a grandiose ceremony that took place on the holy mountain known as Mahendraparvata, Jayavarman II declared himself "Chakravartin" ("universal ruler" in Sanskrit) and "Deva Raja" ("God-King").

After his solemn consecration, Jayavarman II laid the foundations of the city of Angkor, which became the capital of the Khmer Empire. Designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992, Angkor is known for its complex (and very efficient) water management system, as well as its monumental Hindu-Buddhist temples such as Angkor Wat (which is depicted on the Cambodian flag). At the height of the Empire's power, Angkor and its surrounding area are estimated to have been home to almost one million people. The city and the empire flourished until the 15th century, when they collapsed for reasons that are still unclear, but which may be related to severe climatic changes, combined with foreign invasions. Angkor was eventually abandoned in 1431.

The three empires listed as wrong answers flourished in different parts of Asia: Turkey and Persia (Seljuk), Western and Central Asia (Timurid), and South Asia (Mughal).

Answer: Tonga

While the islands of the South Pacific are probably not the first places that come to mind when discussing past empires, many of those tropical paradises have been inhabited for thousands of years. First settled in the 2nd millennium BC by the Lapita culture, Tonga was home to a thriving civilization when, in the mid-10th century, a line of kings emerged, known as Tu'i Tonga. Though the first king of this lineage, 'Aho'eitu, is believed to have been a largely mythical figure, most of the 38 (or 47, according to a different list) holders of the title of Tu'i Tonga that followed him were actual people. The dynasty ruled the islands until about 1470, when it was replaced by the Tuʻi Haʻatakalaua. The line, however, endured for almost four more centuries, until its last member died in 1865. The current king of Tonga, George Tupou VI, belongs to a third dynasty, the Tu'i Kanokupolu.

Centred in Tongatapu, the main island of the archipelago, the Tu'i Tonga Empire took advantage of the decline of other powers in the region (chiefly Samoa), and grew into a regional power that controlled much of the South Pacific through tribute and trade. At its peak, between 1200 and 1500, the Tongan Empire spanned an area of about 500,000 km² (193,000 sq mi). The secret of its success was its fleet, based on long-distance canoes that could carry up to 100 people. The capital of the Empire was Mu'a, now a small town on Tongatapu near Nukua'lofa, where the monumental hill tombs of the Tu'i Tonga ("langi") are located. The Empire eventually went into a decline because of internal strife and pressure from outside.

Though also located in Polynesia, Hawaii is no longer a sovereign country, but a US state. Kiribati is part of Micronesia, and Vanuatu of Melanesia.