Greece in the 4th Century BC Trivia Quiz

Answer: Corinthian War

It was called the Corinthian War because the fighting took place mainly in the territory of Corinth. Sparta found itself fighting against its former allies Thebes and Corinth, as well as enemies Athens and Argos. Persian help eventually drove the Spartans out of Corinthian territory, but neither side came out on top. Instead Sparta, realising the war wasn't going well, turned to diplomacy, arranging peace talks that would eventually lead to the formation of the idea of a Common Peace.

The Social War occurred in 356/355 when Athens' allies revolted from the Second Athenian League; the other two I made up. Laconia was the area of Greece in which Sparta was situated.

Answer: Peace of Antalcidas

Greek disunity since the Persian Wars allowed Persia to rise to a position of prominence once more, and as such the Persian King was able to dictate terms when the Spartan envoys arrived - the Greek cities in Asia Minor would be handed over to Persia and all cities and islands were to be independent. After disapproval among many Greek states, Sparta negotiated concessions in 392/1 - Athens could keep her island possessions in the Hellespont, and Thebes could keep the Boeotian Federation (as long as the city of Orchomenus could opt out). Many states still did not want to hand over their Asiatic possessions and it was only when Antalcidas took control of the Hellespont area (threatening Athens' grain supply) that they were forced to accept the terms. When the Peace was signed in 387, only Athens got its concessions.

Agesilaus and Agesipolis were the kings of Sparta at the time of the Peace. Andocides was a member of the Athenian embassy at the peace talks in Persia in 392/1, and wrote the speech 'On The Peace', urging Athens to accept the revised terms. The Athenians refused and Andocides was prosecuted, although he chose to go into exile before his trial.

Answer: Sparta

Sparta benefited the most, being appointed by Persia as the enforcer of the Peace. By using the wording of the treaty that all states and islands should be autonomous, Sparta split up leagues that could be a threat to its own interests and raised support for her own military campaigns by threatening other states (claiming that they were not upholding the Peace if they refused to send troops). The most shocking thing Sparta did was to occupy Thebes in 383/2 after the Thebans refused to fight Olynthus. Even some Spartans thought this was going too far!

Mantinea was split up into the four villages it had originally been, and Sparta intervened to stop Olynthus from forming a Chalcidian federation. Athens kept out of these affairs, wanting to uphold the Peace.

Answer: Leuctra

Sparta had been in decline for a while, but its military image had helped it retain authority in Greece. After Leuctra, however, this facade was broken and Sparta never recovered its prominence.

As for the other answers, Tegyra was an earlier Theban victory over Sparta in 375, but not on the same scale as Leuctra. Plataea was destroyed by Thebes in 373 and Messenia was the area liberated from Spartan control by (you guessed it) Thebes in 370/69. Sparta was powerless to stop the Thebans at this point.

Answer: Delphi

The Amphictyony controlled Delphi and was made up of a number of mainly central Greek states. It had the power to impose fines, expel or declare sacred war on its members. As an example, Phocis and Sparta were expelled following the Third Sacred War, in which the Phocians had seized Delphi. Philip of Macedon was invited into the Amphictyony in place of Phocis.

Eleusis, near Athens, was home to the Eleusinian Mysteries, a cult of Demeter and Persephone. Delos was said to be the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. Olympia was the home of the Olympic Games and the Statue of Zeus there was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Answer: Chaeronea

Philip had been invited to command the Amphictyony's forces against Amphissa in the Fourth Sacred War, but on his way south he turned instead towards Thebes. The Thebans allied with Athens but were defeated at Chaeronea. This brought the Greek states under Macedonian influence, in Philip's League of Corinth. Only Sparta refused to join, but she was so weak at this point that it was safe for Philip to ignore her. Many of the smaller Greek states probably saw little change under Macedon, as they had always been under the thumb of one city or another, but states such as Athens and Thebes will have lost a lot of freedom.

Coronea was a Spartan victory in 394 and Amphipolis was an Athenian possession captured by Philip in 357.

Answer: Barsine

Barsine was a wife of his son Alexander, as was Roxana. Olympias was from Molossis and was Alexander's mother, Philinna was from Thessaly and Cleopatra was from Macedon. Olympias and Alexander felt threatened by Philip's marriage to Cleopatra as any son of theirs could be seen as a more legitimate successor than Alexander, whose mother was foreign.

Answer: Gordium

At the battle of the river Granicus in 334, Alexander was saved by Cleitus, whom he later killed in a drunken rage. This was his first major victory over the Persians, and 300 captured suits of armour were sent to Athens.

After the battle, the Persian king Darius set out to meet Alexander in battle on the Syrian plain, where Persian numbers would have a greater advantage. Alexander was delayed by illness in Cilicia, however, and the impatient Darius threw away his advantage and carried on moving. In 333 he was defeated by Alexander in the narrow coastal plain of Issus.

In 331, Darius got his advantage, in the open plain at Gaugamela, but Alexander's superior generalship won out, putting an end to major Persian resistance. Darius fled and was killed by the nobleman Bessus. Alexander used this to his advantage and put himself forward as the legitimate heir to the Persian throne. He gave Darius a royal funeral and captured Bessus in 329.

The battle of the river Hydaspes was fought in 326 against the Indian prince Porus. It was the last major battle fought by Alexander as his army mutinied soon afterwards and he was forced to turn back and go home.

At Gordium, Alexander 'untied' the legendary Gordian Knot by cutting it with his sword.

Answer: Hephaistion

Hephaistion died in the autumn of 324 at Ecbatana. Alexander is said to have gone mad with grief and taken the body to Babylon for funeral games. The two are likely to have been lovers, although this is not stated explicitly in any of the sources.

The battle of the River Hydaspes was the fourth of the set-piece battles, Hephaestus was the Greek god of fire and Hyphasis was the river in India where Alexander's army mutinied and his campaign came to an end.

Answer: Two weeks

Alexander died at the end of May, 323 BC in Babylon, after an 11-year campaign, in which he conquered vast amounts of territory and effectively changed the whole world. By Hellenising Asia, he affected the expansion of the Roman Empire and the subsequent spread of Christianity throughout the Western world.