Can you beat them?
Ancient Persia Quiz
How much do you know about the empire the Greeks feared? Ten questions on the first Persian Empire, from Cyrus the Great to the fire at Persepolis, each with a short explanation.
- 10 questions
- About 3 minutes
- Medium
- Includes 2 photos
About this quiz
In about twenty years, Cyrus the Great turned a small vassal kingdom in southwestern Iran into the largest empire the world had yet seen. His successors Darius and Xerxes ruled it from Egypt to the Indus and marched on Greece. The quiz follows the Achaemenid kings from Cyrus's first conquests to the fire at Persepolis in 330 BC.
Most of what the West remembers about Persia comes from its enemies, above all the Greek historian Herodotus. Several questions set his best stories beside what the Persians said about themselves, so readers who know the film 300 should expect a few surprises.
Topics in this quiz
Cyrus the GreatPersepolisGreco-Persian WarsAlexander the Great
Read up first
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Blog
How Cyrus the Great built the Persian Empire
A vassal king in the mountains of Iran overthrew his overlord, took Babylon without a siege, and built the Persian Empire in twenty years.
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Encyclopedia
Persepolis
The Achaemenid Persian Empire's ceremonial capital: a stone stage for imperial ritual, burned by Alexander in 330 BC, now Iran's proudest ruin.
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Encyclopedia
Greco-Persian Wars
The wars in which small Greek city-states twice repelled invasion by the vast Persian Empire, later mythologized as the West's founding stand for freedom.
