We're Number Two Quiz | Mixed People

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. I am Cyrus II, or Cyrus the Great. Some history books call me "the greatest conqueror of the Ancient Middle East." I have also been called the father of my people, and the Bible gives me credit for liberating the Hebrews when I conquered Babylon. Which empire did I found and rule?

Answer: the Persian Empire

His Persian empire is the Achaemenian Empire, which flourished for two hundred years. This Persian culture combined with the Greek culture of Alexander the Great to become the Hellenistic culture. The 2,500th anniversary of the founding of his empire was celebrated by Iran in 1971.

2. Pope Urban II led the Church from 1088 to 1099. What historical event did he call for and set off with a sermon in Clermont, France, in 1095?

Answer: the Crusades

Alexius I Comnenus, the Byzantine Emperor, appealed to the Pope for Western aid to protect the Eastern Orthodox church against the Turks, who were taking over the Holy Land. Urban responded with a council in Clermont, at which he gave a sermon that initiated the First Crusade.

3. Which number II was one of the greatest builders of all of Egypt's pharaohs, leaving behind a huge temple at Karnak and another at Luxor, along with the stupendous seated figures of himself at Abu Simbel?

Answer: Ramses II

Also known as Ramses the Great, this larger-than-life ruler created what is called the first treaty in history, ending a war with the Hittites in 1258 BC. His achievements are so numerous and influential that his successors and later Egyptians called him the "Great Ancestor." He was also the inspiration for Shelley's great poem, "Ozymandias."

4. Suryavarman II was a great Khmer ruler who took sole rule of Cambodia around 1113. What great Hindu-Buddhist temple complex did he build?

Answer: Angkor Wat

Suryavarman expanded his realm to include what are now parts of Vietnam, Thailand, and the Malay Peninsula, along with Cambodia. He favored a form of Hinduism instead of the Buddhism of his predecessors. The Taj Mahal was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in India, while the Forbidden City was the Beijing home of Chinese emperors from the Ming Dynasty onward. Xanadu was the home of Mongol emperor of China, Kublai Khan, in the poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

5. Which number II was the Spanish king who sent the ill-fated Armada to attack England in 1588?

Answer: Philip II

Philip II of Spain, son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, also bore the titles Philip I of Portugal, and, believe it or not, Philip I of England as a result of his marriage to Henry VIII's oldest daughter, Mary, known as Bloody Mary. Their marriage lasted four years.

After Mary died, Philip attempted to marry Elizabeth, as well, but was not successful. As King of Spain, Philip also ruled all of Spain's imperial holdings in America.

6. Speaking of Spain, Moctezuma II was defeated by Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes and executed by his own people in 1520. Which people did Moctezuma rule before they became subject to Spain?

Answer: the Aztecs

Moctezuma ruled the Aztec tribute empire from 1502 to 1520. The ninth ruler of Tenochtitlan, on the site of today's Mexico City, Moctezuma increased his people's empire to its greatest extent. It is said that his belief that Cortes may have been the god Quetzalcoatl may have led to his downfall.

7. Which famous "second" was returned to the throne of England in 1660, eleven years after the beheading of his father in 1649, in the event known as the Restoration?

Answer: Charles II

The two Charles were the virtual end of the Stuart line in England, which came to the throne in 1603 with James I (James VI of Scotland), although Charles II's brother, James II, ruled for three years before being replaced by William and Mary in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Richard II, title character of Shakespeare's play, ruled from 1377 to 1399. William II, third son of William the Conqueror, ruled from 1087 to 1100. Edward II ruled for 20 years before being deposed by his wife in 1327. Edward was the title character in a play by Christopher Marlowe.

8. Catherine II, who was born Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg in the German-speaking area of Pomerania in 1729, ruled for 34 years as empress of what state?

Answer: Russia

Catherine's father was a Prussian general, and two of her cousins, Gustav III and Charles XIII, became kings of Sweden. Her husband, who later became Grand Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, was also her second cousin, and became Czar Peter III of Russia in 1762. Six months later he was deposed and Catherine became empress.

As empress she had a colorful reputation for her amorous activities as well as a rule which made Russia even stronger.

9. Although in name a "second," he became the first king of his country and became known to his people as "Father of the Fatherland." Who became the first king of a unified Italy in 1861?

Answer: Victor Emmanuel II

Vittorio Emmanuele II ruled as King of Piedmont, Savoy, and Sardinia before assuming the throne of a united Italy, thanks to the efforts of his prime minister Camillo di Cavour and the military leadership of Garibaldi in his famous Red Shirt. Victor Emmanuel ruled until his death in 1878.

10. Wilhelm II was the last German emperor, thanks to World War I. His family, the Hohenzollerns, led which kingdom in creating a unified German Empire as the result of the machinations of Otto von Bismarck?

Answer: Prussia

World War I brought to an end three great European imperial families in the Hohenzollerns of Prussia/Germany, the Romanovs of Russia, and the Hapsburgs of Austria-Hungary. Interestingly, Wilhelm II was the first grandchild of England's Queen Victoria and first cousin to George V. During World War I he was often called "the Kaiser" or "Kaiser Bill" by the Allies, "kaiser" being the German word for emperor.

Source: Author shvdotr

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Snowman before going online.
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We're Number Two Trivia Quiz

Many famous rulers have been the second person to rule by a name, some of whom are more famous than those who first used the name. What do you know about these people with the Roman numeral II after their names?

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