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