Tales of Heroism and Quirky Battles Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. At the Battle of Thermopylae (480 BC), 300 Greek soldiers put up a heroic defense of Sparta against 300,000 Persian soldiers. Who was the commander of these brave Greeks?

Answer: King Leonidas I of Sparta

King Leonidas led his army of approximately 14,000 Spartans and soldiers from other city-states to face Persian King Xerxes I and his army of 300,000 in Thermopylae in August of 480 BC. Leonidas and his troops fended off the Persian attacks for seven days straight, including three days of intense battle, while killing off large numbers of Persian troops and two of Xeres' brothers. Then, a local resident betrayed the Greeks and told the Persians of a back route to enable the Persians to outflank the Greeks. Leonidas was aware that his force was going to be flanked. He dismissed the vast majority of the Greek army rather than suffer more high casualties. Leonidas himself, however, remained behind and defended Sparta with his 300 Spartan soldiers. Leonidas was killed in the resulting battle.

Today, the Battle of Thermopylae is celebrated as an example of heroic persistence against seemingly impossible odds. Soon after the battle, the Greeks built a stone lion in honor of those who had died and specifically for the fallen King Leonidas.

2. Between 66-74 AD Judea was being overrun by the Romans. Jerusalem was destroyed. A group of Jewish rebels fled to a naturally well-defended position on a hilltop overlooking the Dead Sea. The Romans laid siege in an attempt to capture or kill the rebels. What was this siege known as?

Answer: The Siege of Masada

Masada lies on a plateau surrounded by towering cliffs leading to the Dead Sea. King Herrod built a castle complex there. In 70AD, when the Romans completed the destruction of Jerusalem, almost 1,000 Jewish rebels, known as the Sicarii, and their families escaped to Masada, which had been abandoned by the Romans after the death of Herrod in 4 BC.

Faced with a Roman Legion of 8,000 men, the Sicarii held out for 3 years, when finally, rather than be captured and taken as Roman slaves, they committed suicide.

3. In 1527, a force of about 20,000 Spaniards, Germans, and Italians under the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V began a march toward the Vatican. Charles was intent on dominating all Catholics. The Pope ordered the Vatican to be defended by 189 members of the Swiss Guard. Who was this Pope?

Answer: Pope Clement VII

While their numbers were great, the mercenary soldiers got much more of a battle than they expected. The brave defense put up by the Swiss Guards allowed Pope Clement to flee to the safety of Castel Sant'Angelo. The battle resulted in the loss of the entire Swiss Guard.

Charles had no money to pay his soldiers, so he allowed them to sack and pillage Rome.

4. The end of the era came in 1877 when the last of the samurai were defeated by the Imperial Japanese Army. The 40 remaining samurai, armed mostly with swords were surrounded by 30,000 Japanese troops armed with rifles. What was the name of the battle that put an end to this once revered tradition?

Answer: Battle of Shiroyama

The samurai were led by Saigo Takamori, one of the most important samurai in Japanese history, and a former field marshal in the Imperial army. The samurai were offered surrender terms but refused, preferring instead to honor the code of bushido. After their wounded leader committed seppuku (suicide), the 40 remaining samurai charged the heavily-armed Japanese troops.

5. The year is 1942. The place is Prague. Jozef Gabcik and Jan Kubis were Czech resistance fighters who were charged with carrying out the assassination of a high-ranking Nazi official. The operation was called Operation Anthropoid. Who was the targeted Nazi official?

Answer: Reinhard Heydrich

Operation Anthropoid was a secret plan to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich. It was the only successful operation to kill a high-ranking Nazi in WWII.

6. The War of the Oaken Bucket (1325) was a conflict between two rival city-states, Modena and Bologna. The conflict was about whether the Pope or secular rulers had the authority to appoint bishops and abbots. This "war" was decided in one battle. What was the name of this battle?

Answer: Battle of Zappolino

During the Middle Ages, there was a controversy in northern Italy over who had the authority to appoint bishops and abbots between the Pope and the secular rulers of the Holy Roman Empire. Modena and Bologna were two such cities. One, Modena was on the side of secular side and were called "Ghibellines".

The other, Bologna believed the Pope had the authority, they were called "Guelphs". The Battle of the Oaken Bucket/Battle of Zappolino was won by Modena. A token of the victory was an oaken bucket which still can be seen in the Modena bell tower.

7. In 1532, Francisco Pizarro and his 168 conquistadors were surrounded by thousands of Incas, yet they managed to capture the Inca emperor. What was the name of the emperor they captured and eventually killed?

Answer: Atahualpa

Pizarro and his small band of conquistadors were badly outnumbered by the Incas when they arrived at the Inca capital of Cajamarca. In spite of this disadvantage, they had something the Incas had never heard of - gunpowder. They used it to great effect to take over the Inca Empire.

8. During the Hundred Years War between the English and the French, there were lulls between the fighting. During these lulls, the knights on both sides grew restless and bored. During such a lull in 1351, the two sides challenged one another to a fight. What was the resulting melee known as?

Answer: The Combat of the Thirty

In spring, 1351, the captain of the French garrison challenged the captain of the English garrison to a fight. They agreed on having thirty knights on each side fight until they either surrender or die. The captains further agreed that both sides would stop to rest and refresh themselves, drink some wine, and bandage their wounds. Sort of a halftime, after which the battle resumed. This was out of boredom, mind you!

The Combat of the Thirty was a product of its time. A time of chivalry and valor and knights in shining armor.

9. One of the most heroic sieges in American history occurred in 1836 at a small Spanish Catholic mission, San Antonio de Valero, better known to history as the Alamo. Who was in charge of the Alamo's defenders?

Answer: Lt. Col. William Travis

LCOL William Travis and his 180 men withstood a 13-day siege by several thousand Mexican forces.

Travis famously wrote a letter in which he stated, "I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country."

10. In 480 BC, this Athenian general won the Battle of Salamis despite being heavily outnumbered by the Persian navy. Who was this Greek general who won a naval battle?

Answer: Themistocles

Themistocles played a crucial role in the development of the Athenian navy. His strategic foresight in advocating for a strong navy helped strengthen Greece against the Persian Empire.

Source: Author ncterp

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor trident before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

This quiz is about heroism, chivalry and acts of bravery. It also includes some questions about weird battles or weird things that took place in those battles.

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