Who's Who in the Ancient Mediterranean? Quiz

Answer: Caesar

Probably the most famous Roman, Gaius Julius Caesar was born in 100 BCE in Rome. He was an ambitious man who abused (or ignored) the Roman legal system to gain power and prestige. He was looking forward to a period of stability after winning his civil war, but his former rivals were still concerned about his hunger for power. A group of them assassinated Caesar at a meeting of the senate, but hadn't thought of what to do afterwards, plunging the republic back into chaos.

Caesar arguably broke the republic with his actions, but it was still technically there. With his will, though, he set the stage for Octavian to become the first emperor, truly ending the republic.

Answer: Hannibal

Hannibal was born in 247 BCE in Carthage (in modern day Tunisia). His father, Hamilcar Barca, was a great general during the First Punic War, and Hannibal became an existential terror to Rome during the Second Punic War. He famously took elephants from Africa through Spain, Gaul, and then across the Alps into Italy at the onset of winter.

The winter crossing of the mountains killed many of his soldiers, but he ended up on the peninsula with an army and terrifying war beasts before Rome was ready (they thought they would have the winter to recruit and train).

Answer: Xerxes

Xerxes I was born in 518 BCE. The Greco-Persian Wars were started in 499 BCE when Persian emperor Darius marched on Greece. His son Xerxes inherited the war fifteen years later when Darius died. Xerxes led his own invasion in 480 BCE. It was during this invasion that Xerxes was held back at the Battle of Thermopylae by 300 Spartans (and some friends), and then lost a fleet against Athens at the battle of Salamis.

Answer: Ramesses II

Ramesses II (Ramesses the Great) was born in 1303 BCE, and is the earliest person in this quiz. He was known as "Ozymandias" in Greek, which you may know from a certain famous poem by Shelley. Egypt was strongest during Ramesses' rule, economically, militarily, and culturally.

Answer: Homer

Homer wrote the epic poem, the "Iliad," about the (probably) mostly mythical Trojan War. Troy was situated in north west Anatolia (modern Turkey). The war broke out when Paris abducted Helen, the wife of the Spartan king Menelaus. The rest of Greece banded together to fight Troy to get her back. To this day, "Greece" in Greek is known as "Hellas," or the "Hellenic Republic," named after Helen of Troy.

Answer: Alexander

Alexander the Great was born in 356 BCE in Macedon. He inherited a strong state and army from his father (along with plans to invade Persia) when he was twenty years old.

Alexander named many places after himself during his conquest, with the most famous Alexandria being the one in Egypt. Further east, another city named after the man was pronounced "Iskandar" in the local dialect, which eventually became "Kandahar" in Afghanistan.

Answer: Zenobia

Zenobia was born in 240 CE. She is the only person in this quiz in the common era. Palmyra was an oasis city in what is now Syria. Being on the edge of the Roman and Persian empires, control of the city went back and forth a few times. There was a period in the third century where both empires had to focus on troubles closer to home, and Palmyra was able to break away and create its own empire for half a decade. Rome sorted itself out, and then returned to sort Palmyra out.

Answer: Socrates

Socrates was born in 470 BCE in Athens. One of the first philosophers, he created the Socratic Method, which involved getting someone to agree to statements that contradict their original premise, thus showing it to be false. He's famous for the phrase "I know that I know nothing," though the exact details are a bit different. Socrates did not write his own works; instead most information we have on him comes from his students, such as Plato.

Answer: Herodotus

Herodotus was born in 484 BCE in Halicarnassus (modern day south western Turkey). He traveled across the Mediterranean and documented what he saw. His histories delighted readers back at home. His histories were sometimes closer to encyclopedias, often describing cultures, traditions, and interesting animals that could be found.

He also recounted the events of the Greco-Persian wars, which were ongoing when he was born.

Answer: Cleopatra

Cleopatra was born in 69 BCE in Alexandria, Egypt. She was an intelligent and clever woman who managed to secure control of Egypt when an opportunity arose during Caesar's civil war. She ruled Egypt as a Roman client kingdom until Octavian's civil war, where it was turned into a full province of the new Roman Empire.

Instead of letting herself be captured and paraded in a triumph by Augustus, she is believed to have committed suicide by letting a venomous asp bite her.