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The 5th and 6th Century BC

Based on the clues, guess these notable facts from the years 600 BC–401 BC.
Quiz by Gassu
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Last updated: September 1, 2023
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First submittedAugust 9, 2018
Times taken11,679
Average score70.6%
Rating4.37
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Year
Description
Answer
404 BC
This city-state defeats Athens in the Peloponnesian War
Sparta
c. 430 BC
This Greek historian writes "Histories"
Herodotus
432 BC
This temple is completed on the Acropolis of Athens
The Parthenon
c. 470 BC
Departing from this Mediterranean city-state, Hanno the Navigator
explores the African coast as far south as Cameroon
Carthage
481 BC
This period of Chinese history comes to an end
Spring and
Autumn Period
490 BC
Phidippides runs 25 miles to announce the Greek victory
over Persia at this battle
Battle of
Marathon
c. 500 BC
The Persian empire reaches its peak under this ruler. About 40% of the
world's population is under his reign.
Darius the Great
5th century BC
This Mesoamerican civilization, known for its "colossal head" sculptures,
comes to an end
Olmecs
5th century BC
The general Sun Tzu supposedly writes this famous text
The Art of War
509 BC
This city overthrows its last king, becoming a republic
Rome
528 BC
This man, also known as Siddhartha Gautama, attains Enlightenment
while sitting under the Bodhi tree
Buddha
527 BC
Mahavira, the 24th supreme preacher of this Indian religion, attains nirvana
Jainism
543 BC
Prince Vijaya founds the first Sinhalese kingdom on this island
Sri Lanka
550 BC
This conqueror founds the First Persian Empire
Cyrus the Great
c. 551 BC
This great Chinese philosopher is born
Confucius
c. 586 BC
This city is conquered by the Babylonians, ending the kingdom of
Judah and forcing its people into exile
Jerusalem
6th century BC
This civilization in modern-day Tuscany reaches its apex
Etruscan
20 Comments
+4
Level 91
Nov 19, 2021
More more!

Nominated

+3
Level 68
Jul 31, 2023
Misread Tuscan as Tucson, so I spent a good half of the time available trying to rack my brain for any moderately well known ancestral Puebloan type society that existed there at this time. This is pre-Hohokam civilization, about the only culture I know from that area that is remotely old enough, so I could not come up with anything.
+3
Level 79
Sep 1, 2023
It’s funny that the runner sent to deliver the news of victory had actually run ten times farther to ask Sparta for help, only to get rejected and run all the way back.
+1
Level 66
Sep 13, 2023
Sweet quiz. Maybe a bit too easy for me but maybe its just me.
+1
Level 64
May 8, 2024
for sure it's just you. For everyone else it's really really hard.
+1
Level 74
Oct 17, 2023
@Kearsage You get the Christopher Columbus Award for discovering the wrong answer to the question you set out to solve, yet somehow looking great as a result.
+1
Level 75
Oct 17, 2023
Maybe a question about the first Japanese Emperor or Socrates could be included?
+2
Level 68
Oct 17, 2023
Great quiz. Historically speaking though, it's far from clear whether Hanno made it much past Morocco, let alone all the way to Cameroon and back.
+1
Level 84
Jun 14, 2024
Amilcar Barca over here
+1
Level 91
Jul 31, 2024
Herodotus has a Carthaginian vessel almost circumnavigating the continent of Africa in a clockwise direction, starting out from the Red Sea and returning to Carthage via the pillars of Hercules (straits of Gibraltar).

While there is not much tangible evidence of this, it seems eminently feasible to me (a sailor) that the coastline could simply be followed all the way around.

Even the ocean currents and tidal streams would help when sailing in this direction, which might also explain why a previous attempt in an anti-clockwise direction was abandoned after reaching some way down the Atlantic coast.

H was not the liar everyone made him out to be…

+1
Level 71
Oct 17, 2023
Maybe nitpicky, but was Sri Lanka really an island back then ? Adam's Bridge was still a thing until 1480
+1
Level 84
Oct 17, 2023
Nice quiz, looking forward to the 7th-8th century BC version!

At the risk of being nitpicking, the Marathon run is likely to be legendary. The version given by Herodotus - that it was the bulk of the army that returned to Athens immediately after the battle - is actually far more impressive!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Marathon#Marathon_run

+1
Level 61
Oct 18, 2023
That's confusing. The Majapahit Empire was also founded on the island of Java by a prince Vijaya.
+1
Level 70
Oct 18, 2023
Just forgot Herodotus
+1
Level 74
Oct 25, 2023
Maybe consider Etruria for Etruscan? Managed to get the question wrong somehow despite knowing the answer.
+1
Level ∞
Oct 25, 2023
Okay
+1
Level 75
Dec 1, 2023
Quite hard, only got 8/17. I have never heard of “The Art of War”.
+1
Level 64
May 8, 2024
Got the one on Sri Lanka right by a happy accident. If only there were a word for that.
+1
Level 72
Sep 8, 2024
Lucky? :) I think "fluke" or "fortuitous" could possibly work.