Ancient Mediterranean Cities Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pella

Also the birthplace of Alexander's father and king of Macedonia, Philip II, Pella was once connected to a bay of the Aegean Sea by an inlet, which has since silted up, leaving the site landlocked. The Greek playwright Euripides, author of over 90 tragedies, including "Medea" and "Electra", spent his last days in Pella composing "Archelaus", a play honoring an ancient Macedonian king named Archelaus I.

Answer: Knossos

Often associated in the modern mind with the legendary city and culture of Atlantis, Knossos was a palace and city ruled in legend by King Minos, whose name has been applied to Minoan civilization. In Greek myth, the Minotaur lived in a labyrinth beneath the palace, where young girls were sacrificed until the monster was finally killed by Theseus. Minoan culture flourished in the islands of the eastern Mediterranean for about 2000 years until around 1400 BC and is considered Europe's first civilization.

Answer: Byblos

Along with Tyre and Sidon, Byblos was one of Lebanon's great Phoenician cities of antiquity. Known in Arabic as Jubayl, the name Byblos comes to us in such words as bibliography and Bible. Many consider Byblos to be the earliest of the Phoenician cities and suggest it may be the oldest continuously inhabited city on earth.

Answer: Mycenae

Mycenae was the first major Greek mainland civilization. Legendary King Agamemnon led the combined armies of the Greek cities against Troy in an attempt to regain Menelaus' wife, Helen, for him (Menelaus, King of Sparta, and Agamemnon were brothers) and exact vengeance on the Trojans. According to Greek mythology, Mycenae was founded by Perseus, the slayer of the Gorgon Medusa.

Answer: Utica

After the defeat of Carthage by Rome, Utica became the most important Roman colony of the area for seven centuries. Its name is from the Phoenician for "old town" as opposed to the meaning of Carthage as "new town."

Answer: Tarraco

Tarraco was founded by Scipio Calvus in the Second Punic War, although ancient Iberians had inhabited the site before the founding of the Roman colony. Roman sources also referred to these peoples who had had contacts with Greeks and Phoenicians who had visited the coast, as Hispani. Located in the the city of Tarragona in Catalonia, today's site of the "Archaeological Ensemble of Tarraco" is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Answer: Syracuse

Led by a colonizer named Archias, settlers from Corinth and Tenea founded Syracuse in the Eighth Century BC. The population of the city reached 250,000 by 415 BC. The city of Syracuse, along with the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica, located about 15 miles to the northwest, have been a World Heritage Site since 2005. Syracuse is the birthplace of the Greek scientist Archimedes.

Answer: Ostia

Although it served as Rome's seaport in ancient times, due to the subsequent silting at the mouth of the Tiber, the site of Ostia Antike now lies about two miles from the sea. The city's name derives from the plural of "os," or mouth, as it was established at the mouth of the river that served as Rome's access to the Mediterranean.

Answer: Troy

Long believed to be purely mythical, the site of Troy was famously "excavated" by German businessman Heinrich Schliemann in 1868, although an English archaeologist named Frank Calvert had actually begun excavating the site in 1865. A hill known as Hisarlik today includes a site called Troy VII, which is believed to have been a Hittite city and the Troy of Homer's "Iliad."

Answer: Massalia

Also spelled Massilia, this Greek colony and its founders defeated a fleet from Carthage intent on destroying it. It eventually became France's most important Mediterranean port as modern Marseille. At its height in the Fourth Century BC, Massilia was an aristocratic republic with a population of about 6,000.