1. Q. So far as we know where did the history of Europe begin? A. In
Greece.
2. Q. Who first settled the country, and who first conquered the land? A.
The Pelasgians, a simple agricultural people, were the first to settle
the country. Next, the Hellenes, a warlike race, conquered the land.
3. Q. To what did the blending of the Pelasgians and the Hellenes give
rise? A. To the Grecian language and civilization.
4. Q. What were two great “holding-points” for all the Greeks? A. The
half-yearly meeting of the Amphictyonic Council, and the national games
or festivals.
5. Q. What are the subjects of four of the early legends in the history
of Greece? A. The Argonautic Expedition in search of the Golden Fleece,
the Twelve Labors of Hercules, the Siege of Troy, and the Hunt of the
Caledonian Boar.
6. Q. What was one of the first clearly defined events of Grecian
history? A. The Dorian migration. The Dorians descended from the
mountains, moved south, conquered the Achæans in the Peloponnesus, and
occupied the chief cities—Argos, Corinth, and Sparta.
7. Q. What two races came to be the leading ones in Greece, and what
rival cities represented their opposing traits? A. The Dorians and the
Ionians. Sparta represented the Dorians and Athens the Ionians.
8. Q. Who finally crystallized into a constitution all the peculiarities
of the Spartan character? A. Lycurgus, a member of the royal family.
9. Q. What are some of the regulations Lycurgus prescribed in his aim
to make the Spartans a race of soldiers? A. Trade and travel were
prohibited. No money was allowed, except cumbrous iron coins. Most
property was held in common. Boys were educated and cared for by the
state.
10. Q. What conquest made Sparta dominant in the Peloponnesus? A. The
conquest of Messenia in two long, bloody wars.
11. Q. According to the legends, what did Cecrops, the first King of
Athens, teach the people of Attica? A. Navigation, marriage, and the
culture of the olive.
12. Q. After the death of Codrus, the last monarch, how was Athens
governed? A. By archons, who first ruled for life, then for ten years,
and finally for one year.
13. Q. What was the character of a code of laws prepared by Draco for the
government of Athens? A. They were said to have been written in blood,
every offence being punished with death.
14. Q. Who drew a new constitution, repealing the harsh edicts of Draco,
and what was the effect upon Athens? A. Solon. Athens prospered under his
wise management.
15. Q. What tyrants subsequently governed Athens? A. Pisistratus, and his
sons, Hippias and Hipparchus.
16. Q. After the assassination of Hipparchus and the banishment of
Hippias, what form of government was established in Athens by Cleisthenes
as archon? A. A democracy.
17. Q. What brought about the Persian wars near the beginning of the
fifth century? A. The attempt of Cyrus, the King of Persia, to punish
Athens for assisting the Ionian cities of Asia Minor in throwing off the
Persian yoke.
18. Q. What was the result of the first expedition against Greece, sent
out under Mardonius, the son-in-law of Darius? A. The land troops were
defeated in Thrace, and the fleet was shattered while rounding Mount
Athos.
19. Q. In what famous battle were the Persians defeated on a second
expedition against Greece? A. The battle of Marathon, the victorious
forces being commanded by Miltiades.
20. Q. After the death of Miltiades what two generals associated with him
at Marathon came to be the leading men in Athens? A. Themistocles and
Aristides.
21. Q. Under whom was the third invasion of Greece by the Persians
attempted? A. Under Xerxes, the son and successor of Darius, with over a
million soldiers.
22. Q. At what place were the Persian hosts held in check by a small band
of Greeks under Leonidas, a Spartan? A. At the pass of Thermopylæ.
23. Q. On the third day, a traitor having pointed out a mountain path by
which the Persians gained the rear of the Greeks, what was the fate of
Leonidas? A. He, with three hundred Spartans and seven hundred Thespians,
perished, fighting to the last.