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Events in Ancient History

We give you the date. You tell us what happened. (Fill in the blanks).
Events marked with an asterisk are legendary
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: October 10, 2018
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First submittedOctober 9, 2018
Times taken26,971
Average score70.0%
Rating4.43
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Year
Event
c. 2560 BC
The Great Pyramid is completed in Giza. It would be the world's tallest
man-made structure until 1311.
c. 1754 BC
The Code of Hammurabi is recorded. It consists of 282 laws, including "an eye for an eye"
c. 1600 BC
A volcano causes the collapse of the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete
776 BC*
The Olympic games are held for the first time in ancient Greece
753 BC*
The city of Rome is founded by Romulus and Remus
c. 563 BC
Siddhārtha Gautama, commonly known as Buddha, is born in modern-day Nepal
c. 550 BC
The Achaemenid Empire is established by Cyrus the Great
438 BC
The Parthenon temple is completed and dedicated to goddess Athena
404 BC
Athens surrenders to Sparta, ending the Peloponnesian War
399 BC
Socrates commits suicide by drinking hemlock
332 BC
Alexander founds the city of Alexandria
c. 250 BC*
Archimedes discovers the principle of buoyancy and yells Eureka, meaning "I have found it"
216 BC
The general Hannibal defeats the Romans at the Battle of Cannae
146 BC
Romans destroy the city of Carthage after the Third Punic War
30 BC
Cleopatra commits suicide, perhaps using the venom from an asp
27 BC
Augustus becomes the first emperor of Rome
26
Pontius Pilate becomes prefect of the Roman province of Judaea
70
Romans destroy the temple in the city of Jerusalem
337
Constantine is baptised, becoming the first Christian emperor of Rome
455
Rome is sacked and "vandalized" by the Vandal tribe
+2
Level 70
Oct 9, 2018
Great quiz! When looking for an even bigger challenge, see here
+25
Level 77
Oct 9, 2018
I like the quiz, but I don't like the title. All the events are around the Mediterranean, pertaining to Rome, Greece/Macedonia, Egypt, and the Holy Land. Maybe a title that reflects that, "ancient history" is so much wider. (The one about Nepal maybe being the exception, Cyrus is close enough.)
+4
Level 76
Oct 9, 2018
Yeah. I get that most of recorded history in Europe during the Roman period did directly relate to Rome, but places like China still existed throughout this entire period.
+9
Level 82
Feb 27, 2019
Yes very Western-centric and specifically Greco-Roman-Egyptian-centric. While I'm sure most people visiting the site know this history better than ancient Chinese history you could at least throw on a question about Confucius, Qin Shi Huang, Ashoka or the Great Wall.
+2
Level 84
Oct 9, 2018
How do you do this type of quiz where the answer is filled in inside the hint?
+10
Level ∞
Oct 10, 2018
Put the missing words in {curly} {brackets}
+2
Level 80
Oct 10, 2018
In the Archimedes question it should be 'principle' rather than 'principal'.
+1
Level ∞
Oct 10, 2018
D'oh! I always screw that one up.
+2
Level 55
Oct 10, 2018
I liked this quiz because I knew all the answers. I liked the sentence-based structure too. Thanks Quizmaster!
+1
Level 72
Nov 9, 2018
I liked this quiz even though I didn't know all the answers. From the two I've missed I maybe would have thought of one if I wasn't doing the quiz at midnight. I haven't heard of the other and I'm off to its wikipedia page to see what all the fuzz is about.
+1
Level 49
Feb 4, 2019
Corinth should be accepted on the question about the city destruction after the third punic war.
+5
Level 50
Feb 18, 2019
they are not the same place... Carthage was in what is now Tunisia, Corinth is an entirely different city across the mediterranean in Greece
+1
Level 67
Feb 27, 2019
Perhaps Tunis?
+1
Level 37
Apr 20, 2021
The Punic wars have nothing to do with Corinth. That's why they're called the Punic wars. The war with Corinth was a different thing, even though it happened at roughly the same time.
+4
Level 50
Feb 18, 2019
Please accept Fira/Santorini on the question about the volcano that ended the Minoan civ. I kept trying them because i thought you meant where the actual volcano was not where the minoans were. Great quiz otherwise!
+1
Level 37
Feb 27, 2019
Alexander, Alexandria. Only a dope like me could have missed that one!
+1
Level 83
Feb 27, 2019
Isn't what caused the downfall of the Minoans entirely speculation?
+1
Level 62
Feb 27, 2019
This is completely correct. Although the collapse appears to have occurred roughly contemporaneously with the eruption of the volcano on Thera, there is a lot of speculation that other forces played a large role in the collapse at the very least (some explanations include a Mycenaean invasion, among others).
+1
Level 60
Sep 16, 2022
I think the current consensus is that while the eruption may have played a part in the decline of Minoan prosperity it wasn't the ultimate cause of the collapse. There's very good evidence to say that was indeed by conquest.
+2
Level 73
Feb 27, 2019
Didn't the Huns, Goths, Visigoths, and Ostrogoths defeat the Romans in the 400's?
+3
Level 67
Feb 27, 2019
I think the hint gives a big enough clue on that one
+1
Level 79
Oct 24, 2020
According to the Wikipedia page, the 455 sack was carried out by the Vandals and the Moors.
+2
Level 31
Feb 27, 2019
The story of Romulus and Remus is generally accepted to be a myth. They were not real people.
+1
Level 67
Feb 27, 2019
There's a little note at the top that say it's a legend. It is weird to stick it into an otherwise factual quiz though.
+1
Level 72
Feb 28, 2019
Maybe make "Hammurapi" and "Heureka" acceptable answers?
+1
Level 55
Feb 28, 2019
Oooops, my score shows that I've left high school/gymnasium two years ago and sadly enough I forgot too much (although a lot of questions I almost knew but just didn't). I feel bad.
+2
Level 65
Mar 1, 2019
I am not so sure that "suicide" is an accurate way to describe Socrates death. He was commanded to drink the poison as punishment for corrupting youth. Even though he himself lifted the glass and drank, he was ordered to do so.
+1
Level 57
Jan 12, 2021
He could have gone into exile
+1
Level 55
May 17, 2019
Pretty sure Mycenaeans were a bigger cause of the collapse of Minoan civilization. Mycenaeans were going all conquer mode around that time; part of them, the Achaeans went against the Trojans in that war.

Check this out

+2
Level 55
May 17, 2019
Alexander founded 18 Alexandrias. Didn't impede my answer but no problem in specifying.
+2
Level 57
Jan 12, 2021
Alexander founded many Alexandrias, also I liked the hint about vandals
+1
Level 67
Jul 27, 2021
Missed Pontius Pilate, Jerusalem, and somehow missed Vandal because I was trying to guess Visigoths or Ostrogoths
+1
Level 62
Apr 5, 2022
Wait the first olympics were legendary???? I always thought that was fact
+1
Level 76
Jul 31, 2023
The ancient Olympic games were certainly real, but there's no definite historical account of their origins, only various ancient myths.
+1
Level 71
Dec 8, 2023
Please accept Visigoths for the sacking of Rome question.
+1
Level 51
Feb 6, 2024
apparently the Visigoths came 45 years earlier.