Alexander The Great Trivia

1. Alexander ferried his army across this body of water to Asia Minor in 334 BC. Name this body of water.

From Quiz The "Naval" Strategy of Alexander

Answer: The Hellespont

This was an important, and dicey, moment for Alexander's invasion of the Persian Empire.Had Darius III's navy opposed his troop transports to Asia Minor, Alexander would have had a much harder time in his quest. His navy was far weaker than that of Darius, who had many more ships and better sailors.

From Quiz Conquest! The Battles of Alexander the Great

Answer: Granicus River

Alexander's forces consisted of the Macedonian army and the League of Corinth, totaling over 90,000 troops. The Persian army consisted of Persian troops and a great many Greek mercenaries, numbering slightly under 30,000. Instead of waiting as his second-in-command suggested, Alexander attacked immediately. This threw the Persians off guard, overwhelming them. Although a victory for Alexander and the Macedonians, he was very nearly killed!

From Quiz The Conquests of Alexander the Great

Answer: a river

The battle took place on a road at the crossing of the Granicus River. The battlefield is in modern Turkey, about 50 km east of the Dardenelles.

From Quiz The Life of Alexander the Great

Answer: July 356 BC

Alexander the Great was the Greek king of Macedon in the northern part of ancient Greece. He was born in Pella in 356 BC.

From Quiz The Wars of Alexander's Successors

Answer: To the strongest of his generals

Diodorus Siculus and Quintus Curtius are among the ancient sources that report that Alexander left his empire "to the strongest". Arrian writes that it was left "to the best", but the ambiguity of the statement is clear in all sources. Some also claim that Alexander took off his ring and gave it to his second-in-command, Perdiccas.

From Quiz Roxana: Wife of Alexander the Great

Answer: A great love story

Roxana's marriage to Alexander the Great was likely the result of an effort to bring unity to Alexander's conquered eastern territories. Roxana, a Bactrian noblewoman, was chosen as Alexander's wife, and he ordered his own troops to marry other Persians. However, ancient writings add a romantic twist to all of this political convenience: that Alexander fell madly in love with Roxana upon first sight. She was already his captive, yet he made her his wife.

From Quiz Alexander the Great:: Battle Tactics

Answer: Memnon

It was a big error on the Persians' part. Alexander could not afford to lose this battle. Destryoing their supply route would have led to Alexander's death through starvation and lack of money. Had the Persians won the battle, Alexander would not have been able to become the King of Asia.

From Quiz Hephaistion

Answer: Macedon

Macedonia was the name of an ancient province in the northern-most part of ancient Greece, bordering Epirus on the west, Thessaly on the south and Thrace to the east. (The present-day Formet Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia proudly claims Alexander and his men as their own, but obvious nationalism should never be taken at face-value).

From Quiz Alexander the Great

Answer: Burning of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

Legend says he was born on the same day as the Temple to Artemis at Ephesus (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) was burned down. No one knows for sure, but it was definitely in the summer of 356 BC.

From Quiz The "Naval" Strategy of Alexander

Answer: 160:400

Alexander had little money in the Macedonian treasury when he invaded Asia and could not afford to build up a navy prior to his invasion and for some time thereafter.

From Quiz Conquest! The Battles of Alexander the Great

Answer: Parmenio

Parmenio (or Parmenion) was first a general and adviser to Philip of Macedon, Alexander's father. After the ascension of Alexander (336 BCE), he served him faithfully until an assassination plot by Philotas, his son, was uncovered some time in 330 BCE. Alexander immediately assumed Parmenio had some knowledge of the plot, the conspirator being his son, so he had him murdered... I mean executed.

From Quiz The Conquests of Alexander the Great

Answer: Ecbatana

Parmenion was assassinated by order of Alexander himself. He was charged with treason but without any proof. His son, Philotas, was executed prior to the assassination. They were accused of conspiring to kill Alexander.

From Quiz The Life of Alexander the Great

Answer: Philip II

Alexander succeeded his father, Philip II of Macedonia, to the throne in 336 BC after Philip was assassinated.

From Quiz The Extraordinary Journey of Alexander the Great

Answer: His own shadow

Alexander and Bucephalus history started when Alexander was thirteen. Plutarch tells the story that Bucephalus had been brought to Philip II (Alexander's father) to be bought for a sum of thirteen talents, however no one could tame the horse, so Philip wasn't interested. Alexander himself, though, was. He promised his father he would pay for the horse himself if he failed to tame it. Alexander then surprised them all when he managed to tame the horse by turning him toward the sun so he could no longer see his own shadow. It is reported that when Philip saw this he remarked, "O, my son, look thee out a kingdom equal to and worthy of thyself, for Macedonia is too little for thee." According to Plutarch, Bucephalus died when he was thirty. Alexander named a city for him called Bucephala.

From Quiz The Wars of Alexander's Successors

Answer: He hadn't been born

Roxane was pregnant at the time of Alexander's death and, due to the instability of the empire, many within the army did not want to wait to find out if the child would be a boy (it turned out he was, and he would become Alexander IV). As a result, Perdiccas took over the regency with Philip III Arrhidaeus (Alexander the Great's half-brother) and Alexander IV under his guard.

From Quiz Alexander's Journey

Answer: Delphi

Philip's concern was finding out who Alexander's father really was. After finding his wife, Olympias, in bed with a snake, he believed Alexander might be the son of Zeus. Philip was told to make sacrifices to Zeus, and revere him above all others. He was also told he would lose the eye (which he did) by which he saw Zeus. Alexander was interested in finding if his father's real assassin had been punished. On the day he visited the oracle it was closed. He went to the house of the priestess to persuade her to tell his future, and after a very strong battle of wills she told him, "My son, thou art invincible." Alexander took that as a good omen.

From Quiz Roxana: Wife of Alexander the Great

Answer: She was the most beautiful woman in Asia

Arrian of Nicomedia writes that Alexander's soldiers said "she was the loveliest woman they had seen in Asia..." He also claims that it was love at first sight for Alexander and "captive though she was, he refused, for all his passion, to force her to his will, and condescended to marry her." ("Anabasis" translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt)

From Quiz Alexander the Great:: Battle Tactics

Answer: Syrian

A mistake that turned into an advantage. A display of Alexander's ability to adapt to any situation.

From Quiz Alexander the Great's Early Years

Answer: Plato

Aristotle was once hailed as being called "the most intelligent man alive", and so no-one was better suited to teach Philip's son.. Aristotle lived in Athens, taught by Plato. When Socrates died, Plato travelled to Egypt and Italy, studied with students of Pythagoras, and spent several years advising the ruling family of Syracuse. Eventually, he returned to Athens and established his own school of philosophy at the Academy. For students enrolled there, Plato tried both to pass on the the Socratic heritage and to guide their progress through mathematical learning. Plato was also fond of astronomy, believing that the planets rotate around the earth. Obviously, this theory was wrong, but not the theory that the moons light is the reflection from the sun. Plato died around 347 BC, aged about 80.

From Quiz Hephaistion

Answer: Amyntor

Hephaistion came from a family of Macedonian nobility and it is thought his father was one of the King's companions.

From Quiz Alexander the Great

Answer: Olympias

While Philip was away at war for as much as three years at a time, it was Olympias who was left behind in Pella to administer Macedonia. Later when her son left for Asia, it was Olympias who again managed Macedonia and the west for a third decade. After Alexander's death, it was Olympias whom the Macedonians recalled from her retirement in Epirus to return to Pella as the Guardian of the Two Kings. Olympias became the first and only Macedonian woman to rule the Empire and the example of excellence for generations of Macedonian Queens who followed her over the next three centuries.

From Quiz Conquest! The Battles of Alexander the Great

Answer: Darius III

Darius III, king of the Achaemenid (Persian) Empire, enraged by the defeat of his troops at the Granicus River, took control of the army himself. However, his presence didn't make much odifference. Alexander founded the city of Alexandria (Iskenderun) to commemorate his victory here.

From Quiz The Conquests of Alexander the Great

Answer: January-July 332

The siege of Tyre was from January to July, 332. Alexander had difficulty taking this city. He was so enraged with its resistance that when he had finally take the city, he ordered more or less 6,000 men within the city killed and hundreds of thousands sold to slavery.

From Quiz The Life of Alexander the Great

Answer: Roxanne

Roxanne was a Bactrian princess and the wife of Alexander the Great. She was born earlier than the year 343 BC, though the precise date remains uncertain.

From Quiz The Wars of Alexander's Successors

Answer: Crannon

After Leonnatus was killed as he freed Antipater from the siege at Lamia (hence the name 'Lamian War'), the remaining Macedonian forces joined Craterus and met the Greek states at Crannon. The Greeks, led by Athens, were defeated and were forced to sue for peace.

From Quiz Alexander's Journey

Answer: Thebes

Before his death, Philip had organized the Greek city-states into the League of Corinth. When they heard of Philip's death, Athens and Thebes began to talk of seceding from the League. Furious, Alexander marched 300 miles in two weeks, and demanded that Thebes surrender to him. When they refused, he killed all of the people or sold them into slavery, and burned the entire city except for the house of the poet, Pindar. There is a legend that later, regretting his actions, Alexander would grant a favor to any Theban who asked.

From Quiz Roxana: Wife of Alexander the Great

Answer: Oxyartes

Oxyartes was a Bactrian nobleman who initially resisted Alexander's conquest. When his family fell captive to Alexander, he was amazed by the kindness which Alexander afforded them. Soon after, he submitted to Alexander. Some sources state that Alexander left him as governor of Bactria and that he enjoyed high favor with his son-in-law.

From Quiz Alexander the Great's Early Years

Answer: Pausanias

Aristotle conducted an investigation after Philip's death and he stated that a man named Pausanias was having a sexual relationship with Philip that went sour. After a few years, the old Pausanias was replaced by another man of the same name beside the king (which was not uncommon as Phillip had many lovers). But it was the elder Pausanias who made matters worse for his jealousy made him provoke his young rival. The young Pausanias committed suicide after his ordeal with his namesake beacme unbearable. Attalus - one of Philip's generals who was also the Greek who had the famous row with Alexander - blamed the elder Pausanias for the suicide and had him raped after a meal. Pausanias, enraged by this insult, demanded that Phillip take revenge on Attalus to regain his honour. But as Attalus was such a good general and an uncle of his wife Eyridice, Philip refused. Pausanias then waited for the right time to assasinate Philip, and seized the moment at the wedding of Philip's daughter Cleopatra to a Macedonian prince by the name of Alexander of Epirus. This event is all the more famous as it was the day that Philip II's "face was placed amoung the gods". Before Philip was killed, twelve statues of the Greek gods were paraded before the wedding with the king's own statue coming last, but with no less applause.

From Quiz Hephaistion

Answer: The Companion Cavalry

The "hetairoi" or Companion Cavalry was made up of Macedonian elite and contained some of Alexander's closest friends.

From Quiz Alexander the Great

Answer: Assassinated

A man named Pausanias rushed forward from the crowd and stuck a dagger in Philip's chest. During his escape, Pausanias tripped and fell and was killed on the spot.

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