Name: _____________________
Ancient Greece Worksheet
chapter eight, pp. 147-159
Fill in the blank
1. By the middle of the fifth century B.C., relations between the city-states of _________ and __________ deteriorated to the point where ______ resulted.
2. The conflict between these two city-states was known as the ________________ War. It lasted ___ years, from _____ to _____ B.C.
3. The war exposed sharp divisions in _______ opinion in Athens, and its aftermath resulted in the trial and execution of _________ in ____ B.C.
4. During the war, the Athenian _________ was reluctant to negotiate peace terms. On the other hand, the Athenians showed great _______ in recovering from defeats and losses.
5. The great historian of the war is _____________, who was from __________. He did his work while in _________ for losing a valuable military outpost.
6. According to a contemporary historian, the immediate causes of the war was over whether each side could have a hand in dealing with each other’s __________.
7. The outbreak of the war came when _______ issued an ultimatum to the other side. This ultimatum was rejected by the _________ at the urging of __________.
8. The Spartans threatened open _________ unless the ________ sanctions against Megara and the ________ blockade of Potidea were lifted. Potidea retained ties to ________, which in turn was an ally of _________. Potidea threatened to withdraw from the _________ League and join the _________ alliance if Sparta did not come to their defense. Sparta needed that city-state’s ________ if it was to match up militarily with Athens.
9. Plutarch states that Pericles argued against maintaining sanctions against Megara because there was a law stating that the _____ on which the law was written could not be removed. In reply, the Spartans asked that it be _______ around.
10. Under the terms of the peace treaty of 445 B.C., both sides were supposed to submit to _________ of complaints rather than go to war. ______ refused this. The _________ therefore felt that the ______ would favor them because they had respected their _____________.
11. Athens’ _______ and _________ made its urban center impregnable to direct attack. They had a ________ around the city as well as a fortified broad __________ leading to the main harbor at Piraeus some ____ miles to the west. The technology of military _____ machines at this time could not break through.
12. The Athenian leader Pericles had a simple strategy against Sparta: avoid set battles with Spartan _____, but attack Spartan territory from the _____. This plan required people to come into the city center from the ______________. Pericles had a hard time stopping country dwellers from _______ their homes and property against Spartan attacks.
13. The Spartans staged ________ invasions of Attica that lasted no longer than ____ days. This was because Sparta feared a ______ revolt and lacked adequate ________ lines.
14. Pericles’ war strategy suffered a blow when an ________ began to ravage Athens’ population in 430 B.C. This was caused by inadequate ________ and __________. So many men were lost that there were not enough me to man the _________ expeditions Athens needed. Pericles himself died in ____ B.C., as Athenians were losing confidence in their relationship with the _________ because, as Thucydides wrote, “the _____ and the ______ were dying indiscriminately.”
15. The Athenian _____ won two major victories in 429 B.C., and a revolt of _____ was put down in 428-427 B.C.
16. In the early 420s B.C., the war had become a virtual ___________, with neither side gaining a decisive advantage.
17. In 425 B.C., the Athenians forced ____ Spartan Equals and ____ allied Peloponnesian troops to ___________. No Spartan soldiers had ever done this, and the loss of these troops lead the Spartan leaders to offer Athens favorable _______ terms in exchange for the ______ of the captives. Despite this, _______ convinced the Athenian ________ to reject the offer.
18. After the overture from Sparta was spurned, the Spartans reversed their established policy and began fighting ____ from home in _______ Greece under the command of General _________. Soon his troops captured Athens’ lucrative _____ and ______ mines and a major source of _________ for warships.
19. After both sides lost their ________ in 421 B.C., peace talks resumed. The agreement was known as the Peace of _______. The agreement refused to pacify those on both sides who wanted to fight until there was a ________ victory.
20. One Athenian who opposed the peace plan was _____________. He cobbled together a ________ of city-states hostile to Sparta and resumed hostilities, only to have its forces defeated in 418 B.C.
21. One dark aspect of the war was the fact that Athenian troops captured the island of ________ in 416 B.C. They _____ the men and sold the women and children into ______________.
22. In 415 B.C., Athens launched a massive naval campaign against the city-state of ___________, a _______ ally on the island of __________. The Athenians were concerned that this city-state’s ________ could be used in an alliance with Sparta against Athens.
23. A prominent Athenian, ___________, defected to Sparta rather than stand ______. This left the Athenian expedition without a strong and decisive __________, and they were unable to _______ the city. Following suggestions from the Athenian defector, the AThenian _____ forces were trapped in the _________ and crushed in a climactic ______ battle in 413 B.C.
Short answer
1. What were the causes of the Peloponnesian War?
2. According to Thucydides, what arguments did Pericles make in support of war with Sparta?
3. How does Thucydides show that civil war can bring out and inflame the worst features of human nature?