Ptolemaic Kingdom - Quiz
Ptolemaic Kingdom
  • 1. When did the series of civil wars and feuds between members of the Ptolemaic dynasty start?
A) After the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BC
B) After Ptolemy VI's death in 145 BC
C) After Cleopatra VII's ascension in 51 BC
D) After the Battle of the Nile in 47 BC
  • 2. Who succeeded Ptolemy VI?
A) Ptolemy XII Auletes
B) Ptolemy VIII Physcon
C) Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator
D) Ptolemy IX Soter II
  • 3. What happened to Ptolemy VII after Physcon returned?
A) He ruled jointly with Cleopatra III peacefully
B) He abdicated the throne to marry Cleopatra VII
C) He fled to Rome and lived in exile
D) Physcon killed his young nephew and seized the throne
  • 4. Who did Ptolemy VIII leave the kingdom to upon his death in 116 BC?
A) Cleopatra III and her son Ptolemy IX
B) Ptolemy XI and Berenice IV
C) Cleopatra VII and Ptolemy XIII
D) Ptolemy X Alexander I and Tryphaena
  • 5. In what year was Ptolemy IX driven out by his mother?
A) 116 BC
B) 88 BC
C) 80 BC
D) 107 BC
  • 6. Who did Cleopatra III reign jointly with after driving out Ptolemy IX?
A) Ptolemy XI Alexander II
B) Ptolemy XII Auletes
C) Ptolemy X Alexander I
D) Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator
  • 7. When did Ptolemy IX return to the throne for his second reign?
A) 88 BC
B) 51 BC
C) 107 BC
D) 80 BC
  • 8. Who succeeded Ptolemy IX in 80 BC?
A) Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator
B) Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos
C) Ptolemy XI Alexander II
D) Ptolemy X Alexander I
  • 9. What was the fate of Ptolemy XI Alexander II?
A) He died peacefully in his palace in Rome
B) He committed suicide with a sword
C) He drowned in the Nile during a battle
D) He was lynched by the Alexandrian mob
  • 10. What nickname was given to Ptolemy XII?
A) Theos Philopator
B) Auletes, the flute-player
C) Neos Philopator
D) Physcon
  • 11. Which territories were annexed by Rome by Ptolemy XII's time?
A) Judaea and Cyrene
B) Macedon and the Seleucid empire
C) Both Libya and Cyprus
D) Crete and Tarsus
  • 12. When did Ptolemy XII die?
A) 44 BC
B) 48 BC
C) 30 BC
D) 51 BC
  • 13. Who did Ptolemy XII leave the kingdom to upon his death?
A) Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra VII
B) Tryphaena and Berenice IV
C) Alexander Helios and Ptolemy Philadelphos
D) Caesarion and Cleopatra Selene
  • 14. On what date did Cleopatra VII ascend the Egyptian throne?
A) Autumn of 34 BC
B) Summer of 47 BC
C) 22 March 51 BC
D) 12 August 30 BC
  • 15. Who did Ptolemy XII name as the guardian of the Ptolemaic dynasty?
A) Octavian
B) The Roman senate
C) Julius Caesar
D) Mark Antony
  • 16. Which of Ptolemy XII's older daughters led a brief coup and rebellion against him?
A) Cleopatra III and Cleopatra VII
B) Tryphaena and Berenice IV
C) Octavia Minor and Tryphaena
D) Cleopatra Selene and Octavia Minor
  • 17. How was Tryphaena killed?
A) By drowning in the Nile
B) By assassination
C) By suicide with an asp
D) By execution
  • 18. How was Berenice IV killed?
A) By execution
B) By assassination
C) By falling on her own sword
D) By poison
  • 19. Why did Julius Caesar leave Rome for Alexandria in 48 BC?
A) To quell the looming civil war
B) To fight Mark Antony
C) To annex Cyprus and Libya
D) To marry Cleopatra VII
  • 20. How was 22-year-old Cleopatra allegedly carried to Julius Caesar in secret?
A) In a royal chariot
B) Disguised as a Roman soldier
C) Hidden inside a grain shipment
D) Wrapped in a carpet
  • 21. What military engagement followed when Ptolemy XIII's forces turned against Caesar and Cleopatra?
A) The Battle of the Nile
B) The Siege of Alexandria
C) The donations of Alexandria
D) The Battle of Actium
  • 22. Where were Ptolemy XIII's forces ultimately defeated?
A) At Actium
B) At the Siege of Alexandria
C) At the Battle of the Nile
D) Outside Rome
  • 23. How did Ptolemy XIII die?
A) He committed suicide by falling on his sword
B) He was lynched by the Alexandrian mob
C) He reportedly drowned in the Nile while attempting to flee
D) He was assassinated by Tryphaena
  • 24. In what year did Cleopatra marry her younger brother Ptolemy XIV?
A) 47 BC
B) 44 BC
C) 51 BC
D) 48 BC
  • 25. Where did Cleopatra and Caesar visit during their two-month trip along the Nile in 47 BC?
A) Rome
B) Actium
C) Cyprus
D) Dendara
  • 26. What was the name of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar's son?
A) Ptolemy XIV
B) Alexander Helios
C) Ptolemy Philadelphos
D) Caesarion
  • 27. When did Julius Caesar get murdered in Rome?
A) 30 BC
B) 48 BC
C) 44 BC
D) 45 BC
  • 28. Which two Roman figures split Rome after Caesar's death?
A) Julius Caesar and Pompey
B) Mark Antony and Octavian
C) Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Ptolemy XIV
D) Auletes and Caesarion
  • 29. Where were Cleopatra and Mark Antony eventually married?
A) In Egypt
B) In Dendara
C) In Rome
D) In Cyprus
  • 30. Why was Mark Antony and Cleopatra's marriage never recognized by Roman law?
A) Because Cleopatra was a pharaoh
B) Because the Roman senate forbade marriages with Egyptians
C) Because Julius Caesar had banned it in his will
D) As Antony was married to a Roman woman
  • 31. What were the names of Cleopatra and Mark Antony's twins?
A) Tryphaena and Berenice IV
B) Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra VII
C) Caesarion and Ptolemy Philadelphos
D) Cleopatra Selene and Alexander Helios
  • 32. What was the name of Cleopatra and Mark Antony's third son?
A) Ptolemy Philadelphos
B) Alexander Helios
C) Ptolemy XIV
D) Caesarion
  • 33. What event in autumn of 34 BC caused further outrage in Rome against Mark Antony?
A) The assassination of Julius Caesar
B) The Siege of Alexandria
C) The Battle of the Nile
D) The donations of Alexandria ceremony
  • 34. Which territories were to be given as client monarchies to Antony's children by Cleopatra during the donations of Alexandria?
A) Libya, Macedonia, Rome, Egypt, and Syria
B) Tarsus, Cyrene, Crete, Cyprus, and Judaea
C) Sicily, Gaul, Hispania, Britannia, and Thrace
D) Alexandria, Dendara, Actium, Athens, and Sparta
  • 35. Where did Mark Antony express his desire to be buried in his will?
A) In Rome
B) In Alexandria
C) In Cyprus
D) In Tarsus
  • 36. Who defeated the navy of Cleopatra and Antony at Actium?
A) Julius Caesar
B) Octavian
C) Ptolemy XIV
D) Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
  • 37. How did Mark Antony attempt suicide?
A) By falling on his own sword
B) By poison
C) By drinking venom from an asp
D) By drowning in the Nile
  • 38. On what date did Cleopatra and her handmaidens commit suicide?
A) Autumn of 34 BC
B) 22 March 51 BC
C) Summer of 47 BC
D) 12 August 30 BC
  • 39. According to legend and ancient sources, how did Cleopatra die?
A) By execution ordered by Octavian
B) By falling on her own sword
C) By way of the venomous bite of an asp
D) By drowning in the Nile
  • 40. Who was given Cleopatra and Antony's surviving children to be raised in her household?
A) Octavia Minor
B) Cleopatra III
C) Tryphaena
D) Berenice IV
  • 41. Who did Cleopatra Selene eventually marry through an arrangement by Octavian?
A) Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
B) Someone in the Mauretanian royal line
C) Caesarion
D) A member of the Roman senate
  • 42. What became of Egypt after the deaths of Cleopatra and Caesarion?
A) It remained an independent kingdom under Cleopatra Selene
B) It became part of the Seleucid empire
C) It became a Roman province
D) It was divided into client monarchies
  • 43. What city remained the capital of Egypt after it became a Roman province?
A) Alexandria
B) Rome
C) Tarsus
D) Dendara
  • 44. Who became the sole ruler of Rome and began converting it into the Roman Empire?
A) Julius Caesar
B) Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
C) Octavian
D) Mark Antony
  • 45. What was the duration of the Great Theban Revolt?
A) 5 years
B) 10 years
C) 50 years
D) 20 years
  • 46. Who led the Great Theban Revolt and proclaimed himself Pharaoh?
A) Ankhwennefer
B) Ptolemy V Epiphanes
C) Horwennefer
D) Boethus
  • 47. Who succeeded Horwennefer as leader of the revolutionary dynasty?
A) Ankhwennefer
B) Ptolemy VIII Physcon
C) Antiochus III
D) Ptolemy VI Philometor
  • 48. What famous artifact serves as a stele celebrating the defeat of the revolutionary dynasty in 186 BC?
A) The Dodecaschoenus stele
B) The Philometris inscription
C) The Temple of Isis
D) The Rosetta Stone
  • 49. Who was the mother of Ptolemy V Epiphanes?
A) Eurydice
B) Arsinoƫ
C) Cleopatra II
D) Berenice
  • 50. Which Macedonian king made a compact with Antiochus III to seize Ptolemaic possessions?
A) Alexander III
B) Perseus
C) Philip V
D) Antigonus II
  • 51. After its defeat at Panium, which rising Mediterranean power did Egypt form an alliance with?
A) Greece
B) Rome
C) Persia
D) Carthage
  • 52. Where was Philometor installed as a puppet king by Antiochus IV?
A) Philae
B) Alexandria
C) Memphis
D) Thebes
  • 53. Which region's northern part did Ptolemy VI reassert Ptolemaic control over?
A) Thrace
B) Caria
C) Coele-Syria
D) Nubia
  • 54. Who served as the strategos of Upper Egypt and founded two new cities to secure the region?
A) Horwennefer
B) Boethus
C) Ankhwennefer
D) Philopator
  • 55. What was the name of one of the two new cities founded by Boethus in Upper Egypt?
A) Alexandria
B) Memphis
C) Thebes
D) Philometris
  • 56. Which region was not among Ptolemy I's early territorial gains?
A) Cyprus
B) Gaul
C) Cyrenaica
D) Coele-Syria
  • 57. Who was Ptolemy I's ally in defeating Demetrius at the battle of Gaza in 312 BC?
A) Alexander
B) Antigonus
C) Seleucus
D) Arrian
  • 58. Where was Antigonus defeated and killed, an event Ptolemy's army missed?
A) Alexandria
B) Corinth
C) Gaza
D) Ipsus
  • 59. Whose later work used Ptolemy I's history as a principal source?
A) Euclid
B) Manetho
C) Arrian
D) Callimachus
  • 60. At what age did Ptolemy I die?
A) 90
B) 65
C) 70
D) 84
  • 61. What was the Aegean island league controlled by the Ptolemies called?
A) Delian League
B) Achaean League
C) Nesiotic League
D) Peloponnesian League
  • 62. What valuable resource deposits were gained by controlling Dodekaschoinos?
A) Gold
B) Silver
C) Copper
D) Iron
  • 63. As far south as which location did the Ptolemies establish hunting stations and ports?
A) Port Sudan
B) Corinth
C) Gaza
D) Alexandria
  • 64. Which culture acquired an important influence on Kush during Ptolemy II's reign?
A) Mesopotamian culture
B) Roman culture
C) Persian culture
D) Hellenistic culture
  • 65. Which of the following was a poet patronized by Ptolemy II?
A) Euclid
B) Aristarchus
C) Callimachus
D) Manetho
  • 66. Who was the mathematician operating under Ptolemy II's aegis?
A) Theocritus
B) Euclid
C) Aristarchus
D) Callimachus
  • 67. Who was the astronomer operating under Ptolemy II's aegis?
A) Euclid
B) Apollonius of Rhodes
C) Posidippus
D) Aristarchus
  • 68. Who was commissioned by Ptolemy to compose Aegyptiaca?
A) Theocritus
B) Manetho
C) Callimachus
D) Arrian
  • 69. Who was the father of Arsinoe I?
A) Ptolemy I
B) Seleucus
C) Antigonus
D) Lysimachus
  • 70. What was the Ptolemaic Kingdom's primary cultural orientation?
A) Ancient Greek
B) Persian
C) Roman
D) Mesopotamian
  • 71. How long did the Ptolemies reign over ancient Egypt?
A) Exactly one century
B) Nearly three centuries
C) Over a thousand years
D) Fifty years
  • 72. Against which empire was Alexander campaigning when he conquered Egypt?
A) Seleucid Empire
B) Roman Republic
C) Achaemenid Empire
D) Byzantine Empire
  • 73. Which rival Hellenistic state fought the Ptolemaic Kingdom in the Syrian Wars?
A) Seleucid Empire
B) Macedonian Empire
C) Roman Republic
D) Achaemenid Empire
  • 74. What local title did the Ptolemies adopt to legitimize their rule over native Egyptians?
A) Pharaoh
B) Satrap
C) Consul
D) Emperor
  • 75. What Greek title did the Ptolemies use alongside their local Egyptian title?
A) Tyrant
B) Archon
C) Basileus
D) Strategos
  • 76. Which group dominated the military, political, and economic affairs of the Ptolemaic Kingdom?
A) Roman senators
B) Persian nobility
C) Greek ruling class
D) Native Egyptian priests
  • 77. According to which myth did the Ptolemies begin marrying their siblings?
A) Horus myth
B) Osiris myth
C) Isis myth
D) Zeus myth
  • 78. What language remained the official language of government and trade until the Muslim conquest?
A) Egyptian
B) Latin
C) Aramaic
D) Greek
  • 79. In what year did the Muslim conquest of Egypt take place?
A) 323 BC
B) 305 BC
C) 30 BC
D) 641 AD
  • 80. What was Egypt's ruling dynasty considered just before Alexander's conquest?
A) Thirty-first Dynasty
B) Twentieth Dynasty
C) Thirtieth Dynasty
D) Ptolemaic Dynasty
  • 81. Who did the oracle at the Siwa Oasis declare Alexander to be the son of?
A) Zeus
B) Ra
C) Osiris
D) Amun
  • 82. To virtually all senior posts in Egypt, what nationality did Alexander appoint?
A) Macedonians
B) Persians
C) Egyptians
D) Phoenicians
  • 83. Who initially ruled Alexander's empire as regent after his death?
A) Alexander IV
B) Philip III
C) Ptolemy
D) Perdiccas
  • 84. Who became Philip III of Macedon?
A) Perdiccas
B) Alexander IV
C) Ptolemy
D) Arrhidaeus
  • 85. What did the early Ptolemies build for the Egyptian gods?
A) Magnificent new temples
B) Greek gymnasiums
C) Large military fortresses
D) Marble palaces
  • 86. What was established by Ptolemy I to be the capital of Upper Egypt?
A) Ptolemais Hermiou
B) Memphis
C) Babylon
D) Alexandria
  • 87. What privileged minority always remained in Ptolemaic Egypt?
A) The Greeks
B) The Babylonians
C) The Persians
D) The Romans
  • 88. What does the epithet Euergetes mean?
A) The Great
B) The Benefactor
C) The Conqueror
D) The Scholar
  • 89. How far north did Ptolemy III's fleets make fresh conquests in the Aegean Sea?
A) Thrace
B) Athens
C) Babylonia
D) Edfu
  • 90. How far into the Seleucid realm did Ptolemy march?
A) Anatolia
B) Babylonia
C) Athens
D) Thrace
  • 91. What did the victory in the Third Syrian War mark for Ptolemaic power?
A) The end
B) The zenith
C) The decline
D) The beginning
  • 92. Whose enemies did Ptolemy III support in Greek politics after his triumph?
A) Sparta
B) Thebes
C) Macedon
D) Athens
  • 93. Which city's official manuscripts did Ptolemy III borrow and keep by forfeiting a deposit?
A) Athens
B) Babylon
C) Sparta
D) Rome
  • 94. Who was the most distinguished scholar at Ptolemy III's court?
A) Conon of Samos
B) Seleucus II
C) Eratosthenes
D) Apollonius of Perge
  • 95. Who was the mistress that ruled over Ptolemy IV?
A) Berenice
B) Cleopatra
C) Arsinoƫ
D) Agathoclea
  • 96. As what figure is Ptolemy IV presented throughout the Raphia Decree?
A) Pharaoh Philopator
B) Horus
C) Set
D) Antiochus
  • 97. Whose forces of disorder did Ptolemy IV defeat, acting as Horus?
A) Set
B) Arsinoe
C) Antiochus
D) The native rebels
  • 98. What did the priests undertake to erect in each of their temples according to the decree?
A) A statue group
B) A grand obelisk
C) A new library
D) A golden altar
  • 99. How long was the festival inaugurated in honour of the Theoi Philopatores and their victory?
A) Three days
B) Five days
C) Seven days
D) One day
  • 100. Who selected the prefect to govern Egypt under Roman rule?
A) The emperor
B) The Ptolemaic rulers
C) The Greek colonists
D) The Roman Senate
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