Matching Battles, Ancient and (Early) Modern Quiz

Answer: Plataea

The Persian Empire invaded Greece three times: in 492, again in 490 (battle of Marathon), and then in the massive campaign of 481-479. The Battle of Plataea in the summer of 479 was a decisive victory for the allied Greek forces, led by the Spartans, and ended the Persian threat to Greek freedom. (All dates BC).

Answer: Arginusae

Arginusae was a sea-battle in late BC 406 between the Spartan and Athenian navies off the island of Lesbos. It was a decisive Athenian victory from which the surviving Spartan ships fled in complete disarray. The Spartans then offered peace in the twenty-five year long war, which was refused by the Athenians. Eighteen months later Athens would lose the war.

Answer: Gaugamela

In 334 Alexander the Great launched his major invasion of the Persian Empire and by 329 had conquered the greatest power in the Near East, after decisive victories at Granicus River (334), Issus (333), and finally at Gaugamela (331). This last battle was fought near the borer between modern-day Iraq and Iran, and led to the flight of the Persian king Darius III and Alexander becoming ruler of the Persian Empire. (All dates BC).

Answer: Cannae

The Punic Wars were a series of wars between Rome and her greatest rival, the city of Carthage in North Africa (modern-day Tunisia). The first lasted from 264 to 240 BC (Roman victory), the second against Hannibal from 218 to 201 BC (Roman victory with North Africa becoming Roman provinces), and the third (149 to 146 BC) ended with the total destruction of Carthage.

The Battle of Cannae in 216 BC was the greatest military defeat ever suffered by the Romans, and nearly led to Hannibal taking Rome itself.

Answer: Philippi

From 133 to 31 BC Rome was in a state of serious internal dissension, at times breaking out into open warfare. What is called the "Civil War" consists of "Caesar's Civil War", lasting from 49 to 45 BC and ending with complete victory for Julius Caesar, the "Liberators' Civil War", following the assassination of Caesar on 15 March 44 BC, and finally the conflict between Octavian and Marc Antony in the 30s BC.

The Battle of Philippi in 43 BC ended the Liberators' Civil War, with the victory of Antony and Octavian over the forces of Brutus and Cassius. Readers of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" will recall that Philippi is the setting for the last act of the play.

Answer: Siege of Acre

The Crusades were a series of campaigns launched from Western Europe against the Muslim-held Holy Land. These began in AD 1096 with the First Crusade proclaimed by Pope Urban II, and ended in 1487. Best-known is the Third Crusade which involved Richard I of England (Lionheart) and the Muslim defender Saladin.

The Siege of Acre lasted from AD 1189 to 1191 and the Crusaders' victory halted Saladin's attempt to drive them out of the Holy Land.

Answer: Bannockburn

Relations in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period between England and Scotland were never warm and only when James VI of Scotland became James I of England did the two realms come together. At the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 Scottish forces under Robert the Bruce prevented Edward II of England from relieving his garrison at Stirling Castle and led to a long period of independence for Scotland.

Answer: Crecy

The Hundred Years War (116 years in fact, from AD 1337 to 1453) broke out when Edward III of England claimed the throne of France through his mother Isabella of France, daughter of the late king Philip IV of France. Crecy (AD 1346) was the first of three decisive battles fought in France, which the English won because of the devastating power of their longbowmen. Ultimately, they lost the Hundred Years' War, however.

Answer: Bosworth

The 15th century in England featured an ongoing conflict between the royal houses of York and Lancaster (each having a rose as their emblem), and later with the Tudors, which broke into sporadic open war between 1455 and 1485. These wars ended with the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 when Henry Tudor defeated the Yorkist king Richard III.

This is the battle that was dramatised by Shakespeare in his "Richard III". Richard was killed in that battle, and his remains were discovered in the ruins of an abbey beneath a car park in Leicester.

They were reburied with solemnity in Leicester Cathedral in 2015.

Answer: Marston Moor

The English Civil War (AD 1642-1651) was essentially a battle between King Charles I and the forces of Parliament (led by Oliver Cromwell) over whether the throne or Parliament had the ultimate authority in England. The war consisted of engagements all across the country. One of these was the Battle of Marston Moor which took place in July 1644, just west of the city of York, and resulted in a decisive victory for the forces of Parliament and established Cromwell as both a military and political leader.