1. Which of these personalities had a foreign policy that was
based on friendliness towards the Lacedaemonians?
Pericles
Cimon
Ephialtes
Aristides
Cimon's pro-Spartan tendencies didn't earn him a lot of friends among the antiSpartan crowd in Athens, particularly Ephialtes and the Democrats who saw Cimon as
the one person who stood in the way of their democratic constitutional reforms! Many
Athenians regarded Sparta with jealousy and fear; Cimon's friendliness towards
Athens' main enemy was just plain unnerving!
2. In what year did Sparta get hit by a devastating earthquake?
464 BC
462 BC
463 BC
465 BC
The earthquake that hit Sparta in 464 BC resulted in the Helots taking the opportunity
to revolt, and Sparta was forced to call upon her allies, Athens included, for support.
The Democratic politicians were against sending help, but of course Cimon stepped in
to uphold his doctrine of the dual-leadership of Athens and Sparta and personally led
a force of 4000 hoplites to Sparta's aid. (Dual leadership - Athens being mistress of
the seas and acknowledging Sparta's command over the land!)
3. With which two states did Athens ally herself with directly
after her rejection of help from Sparta?
Phocis and Locris
Thrace and Corinth
Boeotia and Euboea
Thessaly and Argos
Sparta's rejection of Athenian help in their time of need deeply offended Athens and
completely ruined Cimon's foreign policy based on friendliness towards the
Lacedaemonians. As an act of revenge, Athens allied herself with two of Sparta's
chief enemies, Argos and Thessaly!
The formation of this new alliance is reflected in Aeschylus's trilogy on the murder of
Agamemnon which he wrote at the time; this playwright had no doubt that Athens'
future lay with Argos and not Sparta, and stressed the importance of a military
alliance between Athens and Argos. (Have a look at his play, 'Euminides' if you're
curious on his thoughts!)
4. In which year did Cimon get ostracised?
459 BC
460 BC
461 BC
462 BC
Following the brush-off of Athenian help from the Spartans, Cimon had to take the
blame. The democrats used this situation to succeed in his overthrow and in 461 BC
he was ostracised (exiled) from Athens, thus paving the way for the radical democrats
to introduce their new foreign policy 'which would soon lead to armed conflict with
the Peloponnesians...' (Croix)
5. Which previous ally of Sparta entered an alliance with Athens
in 459 BC?
Epidaurus
Aegina
Megara
Corinth
Megara entered an alliance with Athens because Megara was receiving no help from
Sparta in her frontier-line dispute with Corinth. This was another opportunity for
revenge on Sparta for the insult Athens had suffered - Athens built for Megara a
double line of wall that connected Megara to Nisea; we know these walls as the Long
Walls. The historian Kagan believes that these two actions were an act of war against
Sparta - taking in a previous ally of Sparta and then fortifying the entrance to central
Greece were actions that Sparta could not tolerate or ignore! Athens knew this, but
willed a fight on for the alliance with Megara was the perfect opportunity to begin a
war under favourable conditions. War thus began, even though no formal declaration
was made...
6. Which ally of Sparta mostly fought against Athens at the
beginning of the war, even more so than Sparta herself?
Corinth
Epidaurus
Aegina
Megara
Corinth had a bone to pick with Athens - before the outbreak of war in 459 BC when
Megara entered her alliance with Athens, Megara's two harbours, Nisea and Pagae
became Athens' property. Pagae was situated on the Corinthian gulf and was vital for
Athens' connection with Naupactus. Naupactus had been taken from the OzolianLocrians by Athens and she 'thus gained a loyal stronghold in a place which
dominated the Corinthian gulf.' (Ehrenburg.) Athens also used Naupactus as means by
which to intercept and harass Corinthian Argosies sailing with merchandise to the
West, and they had to compete with Athenian merchants when they got there.
Corinth's vital interests as a trading and naval power were severely threatened by
Athens' occupation of Naupactus and Megara, and it's an understatement to say that
she hated Athens with a passion...!
7. Which of these two battles were fought before the Athenians
went to help the Egyptians revolt from the Persians around 460 or
459 BC?
Battle of Tanagra and Battle of Oenophyta
Battle of Cecryphylea and Battle of Coronea
Battle of Oeniadae and Battle of Haliesis
Battle of Aegina and Battle of the Megarid
Athens' attempts to gain a foothold in the west of the Saronic sea was alarming and
provoking to the Aeginetans who then joined the war against Athens, her old enemy
and rival. She realised that if Corinth were to lose against Athens, then Athens would
become 'sole mistress of the Saronic sea.' (Bury.) The Athenians were victorious in a
naval battle against Aegina and laid siege upon the city which succeeded in 457 BC
when Aegina was forced to surrender. The Corinthians meanwhile had invaded
Megara in the hope that Athens would raise the siege to fight them, but Athens was
resourceful enough to gather an army of the too young and the too old who defeated
the Corinthians in the Battle of the Megarid. It was in this victorious state of mind that
Athens set off to help the Egyptians rebel against the Persians, around 460 or 459
BC...
8. Which state invaded Doris in 457 BC?
Athens
Megara
Locris
Phocis
The Phocians invaded Doris in 457 BC, which was the city believed by the Spartans
to be it's mother city so they immediately sent help. Sparta had remained relatively
quiet during all the fighting so far... (The historians Kagan and Hornblower believe
that this showed her reluctancy to fight, although Ehrenberg suggests that her
hesitancy was due to the nature of the Spartans, lack of determined leadership and
differences in political opinions between the kings and Ephors!)Sparta sent 1500
hoplites and 10000 allies to Doris and easily crushed the Phocians. They lingered in
Boetia, revising the power of Thebes and the League and then forcing the other
Boeotian cities to join it. They also got in touch with some Athenian exiles who were
willing to help Sparta in order to destroy democracy! (Thucydides.)
9. Which two battles were fought shortly after the Spartans found
themselves trapped in Boetia?
Battle of Tanagra and Battle of Oenophyta
Battle of Cecryphylea and Battle of Aegina
Battle of Coronea and Battle of Haliesis
Battle of the Megarid and Battle of Oeniadae
The Spartans were unable to return safely home because the Athenians held the passes
in the Megarid and their vessels were on watch on the seas. The Spartans decided to
march straight towards Athens where the Long Walls were being built - a suggestion
probably put forth by the Athenian exiles, who were always looking for an
opportunity to destroy democracy (Bury) - but the Spartans only got as far as Tanagra
where the Athenians met them with an army of 14000. The Spartans were victorious
when the Thessalian cavalry deserted Athens for Sparta during combat. The victory
wound up being useless for the Spartans though because the Spartan commander
failed to make use of it and failed to follow it up! Instead, the Spartans marched back
home, devastating the Megarid on the way. Within two months, the Athenians
returned to Boetia and conquered it again in the Battle of Oenophyta in 457 BC.
Athens thus became masters of most of central Greece. Around this time, she allied
herself with Phocis and Locris then concentrated on the building of her Long walls
which, when completed, made her invulnerable to Sparta!
10. In which country did Athens suffer a crushing defeat against
the Persians in 457 BC?
Answer:
Egypt
The Athenians had been trying to seize the 'White Castle' in Memphis, Egypt, which
was where the Persian garrison had been holding out, since they first stepped in to
help the Egyptians revolt, but they were driven out of Memphis and shut up in the
island of Prosopitis by the Persians and they were blockaded for eighteen months. The
Greeks retreated to Byblos and finally marched to friendly Cyrene where they were
finally able to get home. This defeat broke the chain of Athenian victories over Persia,
caused great unrest in the Aegean and forced Athens away from expansion on the
mainland...
11. Where did Pericles lead expeditions to between 455 and 453
BC?
The Peloponnese
Egypt
The Megarid
Corinthian Gulf
Athens considered the Isthmus to be its greatest threat and Pericles' objection was to
"convert the Corinthian Gulf into an Attic lake" (Bury) and as a result, hem in
Corinth. The Athenian general Tolmides captured the colony belonging to Corinth,
Chalcis and was followed up by Pericles who attempted to take Sicyon and Oeniadae
on the Arcadian coast but failed to take them. These campaigns were Athens' final
military actions in Greece until 447 BC because she wished to concentrate her
resources on fighting the Persians!
12. Who was it who negotiated a five year truce between Athens
and Sparta in 451 BC?
Callias
Cimon
Pericles
Ephialtes
Pericles specially recalled Cimon from exile in 451 BC to negotiate the five year truce
between Athens and Sparta because Athens has reverted to a Cimonean foreign policy
- "Peace with Sparta and war against the Persians." (Kagan) Athens was after some
breathing space because the war so far had stretched Athens' resources enormously; as
soon as the peace had been concluded, Athens was able to concentrate all of her
resources into fighting Persia. Cimon himself led a force to Cyprus which was
liberated, and then a siege at Citium followed where Cimon died of either wounds or
disease.
13. Who negotiated the peace between Athens and Persia?
Callias
Pericles
Cimon
Ephialtes
Athens made peace with Persia in 449 BC because she was aware that she could not
fight a war on two fronts - Persia agreed to not send any warships into the Aegean and
Athens gave a pledge to secure the coastline of the Persian empire against attack.
Athens came to an understanding with Artaxerxes and peace was maintained. The
negotiations were called the Peace of Callias, who was the main Greek ambassador.
(He was also the richest man in Athens and brother-in-law to Cimon!)
14. The Spartans intervened when the Phocians took control of a
particular city in 448 BC which started the Sacred war. Which
city was this?
Answer:
Delphi
The Phocians took control of Delphi and the Spartans sent an army to restore the
temple and the city to its original masters. As soon as they had left however, the
Athenians arrived and took Delphi, giving it back to the Phocians. (This fighting did
not breach the five year truce because Athens and Sparta did not come into direct
conflict.) Phocis deserted her alliance with Athens despite this!
15. Why did Boeotia, Phocis, Locris, Euboea and Megara revolt
from Athens?
Persia paid these states out to revolt
These states were sick of paying high tribute to Athens
There were Oligarchal uprisings in these states
Sparta offered these states a better deal
Due to Oligarchal parties at work in these states, Athens suffered a series of revolts in
her empire - Boetia was the first to be seized by exiled oligarchs and Athens had to
quickly intervene but she sent only a small force out. The Athenians were set upon by
the exiles in Coronea and were defeated in 447 BC. This defeat triggered a chain
reaction in Athens' empire; the most alarming revolt was Megara - with the Athenian
garrison in Megara killed, a Peloponnesian army was marching towards Attica.
Athens realised that the five year truce had expired....
16. Just when the Peloponnesians and the Athenians were about
to encounter one another, the Peloponnesians suddenly turned and
went back home. Why?
The Spartans felt that it was too costly to face the Athenian
hoplites
The Spartans were sent to help Megara, but to avoid fighting
with Athens
The Spartans felt that it was useless to try to strike at Athens
All of these points
Bury believes that the Spartans felt it useless to strike Athens, Ehrenberg believes the
Spartans were to help Megara and avoid Athens and Kagan believes that the Spartans
felt it costly to fight Athenian hoplites. Modern scholars only partly believe the theory
that Pericles bribed the Spartan king. Really though, the Spartans' decision is a
debatable subject!
17. Which of the states that had rebelled recently against Athens
did Pericles subdue after the Peloponnesians marched back home?
Euboea
Phocis
Boeotia
Locris
Pericles used the breathing space that he'd just acquired to reduce Euboea. Histiaea, a
city on the island, was dealt with the most harshly because her resistance proved to be
most stubborn and obstinate - the people in the city were driven out, the territory
annexed by Athens and the new settlement of Oreus took the city's place. The revolt
of Euboea greatly alarmed Athens though; the degree of her alarm can be seen in the
wide-spread reductions in tribute that she allowed to her subjects for fear that they
would rebel like Euboea!
18. Between which years was the Thirty Years Peace negotiated?
445-44 BC
443-442 BC
444-443 BC
446-45 BC
Peace was negotiated between Athens and Sparta between 446 and 445 BC. Athens
wished to be at peace with Sparta for the five year truce had ended and she sought a
more lasting peace because of the "extreme vulnerability that she found herself in
during 446 BC." (Hornblower.) The revolt of Euboea had shaken Athens, and she
knew that she could not afford to renew hostilities with Sparta under such conditions!
19. Which of these terms did Athens have to accept?
She had to pay Sparta a sum of 1000 talents in reparations
Her navy would be limited to one hundred triremes
She had to disband the Delian League
She had to give up all her possessions in the Peloponnese
Athens had to give up all her holdings in the Peloponnese. She had lost Boeotia and
lost Megara as well but still held her two ports, Nisea and Pagae, and since there was
no mention of Naupactus it is assumed that Athens was allowed to keep that too. The
loss of the Megarid was a serious blow to Athens because she was no longer
invulnerable to attack from the Peloponnesians, and Athens realised that all her
attempts to win a land-empire had ultimately failed and that she would have to
concentrate on her naval empire again, just like before the war...
20. According to the historian Kagan, what did Athens receive in
return for accepting the peace terms?
A pledge from Sparta promising to keep Athens' remaining
empire secure
Official recognition of the Athenian empire
500 talents to get her back on her feet
Nothing good - her empire was annexed and shared out by the
Peloponnesians
In return for giving up her Peloponnesian holdings, Athens got what summed up as
official recognition of the Athenian empire, and strangely enough seemed happy
enough with it! Bury believes that this was a humiliating peace for Athens which
might never have happened if not for the alarm caused by the Peloponnesian invasion
of Attica. Kagan believes that the treaty was the type where "both sides have been
made aware of the costs and destruction of war and the virtues of peace." He also
believes that the treaty aimed not at the destruction and humiliation of one side but at
stability and security. At any rate, the peace allowed both sides to recuperate, recover
their power and prosper but suspicions were far from gone - many Athenians still
dreamt of Athenian expansion and domination while many Spartans continued to fear
these ambitions... and so thus the story ends. :)