History · Unit 4
Ancient Greece
City-states, democracy and ideas
Greece was never a country in this period. It was hundreds of independent city-states, frequently at war with each other, sharing a language and a set of gods but nothing resembling a government.
That fragmentation is the point. Athens developed democracy while Sparta developed something close to its opposite, and both were Greek. The unit covers the wars, the ideas and Alexander's conquests, which spread Greek culture far beyond where Greek armies could hold.
This unit breaks down into 20 short steps and 120 questions, starting at difficulty 1 and building to 3. Below you can see exactly what it covers, how the path is structured, and worked examples with explanations.
- Steps
- 20
- Questions
- 120
- Difficulty
- 1-3
What this unit covers
- The City-States
- Athenian Democracy
- Wars and Warriors
- Alexander the Great
- Greek Legacy
Where this fits
Best read before Ancient Rome, which borrowed heavily and knew it. Connects to Ancient Greek Philosophy and to Greek Gods and Goddesses.
Where people slip
Athenian democracy excluded women, enslaved people and foreigners - the majority of the population. It was direct rather than representative, and far narrower than the modern word suggests.
How the unit is structured
Ancient Greece runs as 20 short steps that unlock in order. 15 are practice rounds and 5 are challenge rounds that pull together everything before them. Questions start at difficulty 1 and climb to 3 as you progress.
Challenge rounds
Example questions
30 real questions from this unit, with the answer and the reason behind it, grouped by what they practise. There are 120 in the unit altogether.
Alexander the Great
- Multiple choiceLevel 1
1. Alexander the Great came to power as king of which kingdom in northern Greece?
- Macedoncorrect
- Sparta
- Egypt
- Persia
Alexander the Great became king of Macedon, a kingdom in the north of ancient Greece.
- Build the sentenceLevel 2
2. Arrange the words to describe the spread of culture after Alexander's conquests.
Answer: Greek culture spread across the Hellenistic world
During the Hellenistic age, Greek culture spread across the lands Alexander had conquered, blending with local traditions.
- Fact or fibLevel 2
3. Alexander the Great was never defeated in a major battle during his conquests.
Answer: True
Alexander won his major battles and was famously undefeated in the field.
- Fill the blankLevel 2
4. Alexander's father, King ____ II of Macedon, built the strong army that Alexander later led.
- Philipcorrect
- Leonidas
- Darius
- Cyrus
King Philip II of Macedon built up the powerful army that his son Alexander used in his conquests.
- Guess the numberLevel 2
5. Alexander the Great died young. About how old was he when he died?
Answer: 32 years old
Alexander died at around 32 years old in the city of Babylon.
- Match the pairsLevel 3
6. Match each of Alexander's successor generals to the region they came to rule.
Answer: Ptolemy = Egypt; Seleucus = Mesopotamia and Persia; Antigonus = Macedonia; Lysimachus = Thrace
After Alexander's death his generals, the Diadochi, carved up the empire, with Ptolemy taking Egypt, Seleucus the east, Antigonus Macedonia and Lysimachus Thrace.
Athenian Democracy
- Build the sentenceLevel 1
7. Put the words in order to explain what democracy means.
Answer: rule by the people
Democracy means rule by the people, who share in making decisions.
- Fill the blankLevel 1
8. The word 'democracy' comes from Greek words meaning rule by the ____.
- peoplecorrect
- king
- priests
- army
Democracy means 'rule by the people,' from the Greek words demos (people) and kratos (power).
- Multiple choiceLevel 1
9. Who was allowed to take part in voting in Athenian democracy?
- Free adult male citizenscorrect
- Everyone who lived in the city
- Only kings and priests
- Children over the age of ten
Only free adult male citizens could vote, which left out women, enslaved people, and foreigners.
- Choose all that applyLevel 2
10. Which groups were shut out of political participation in Athenian democracy?
- Womencorrect
- Enslaved peoplecorrect
- Metics (resident foreigners)correct
- Free adult male citizens
Women, enslaved people and metics all lacked the vote, so power rested only with free adult male citizens.
- Guess the numberLevel 2
11. Through ostracism, Athenians could vote to send a person into exile for how many years?
Answer: 10 years
A citizen ostracised by the Assembly was banished for ten years, a way of removing someone seen as a threat without a trial.
- Fact or fibLevel 3
12. The Athenians regarded choosing officials by lot as more democratic than choosing them by election.
Answer: True
Selection by lot gave every citizen an equal chance of holding office, so it was seen as more democratic than election, which tended to favour the wealthy and well known.
Greek Legacy
- Choose all that applyLevel 1
13. Which of these ideas or activities did the ancient Greeks give to the world?
- Democracycorrect
- The Olympic Gamescorrect
- Theatre playscorrect
- Gunpowder
The Greeks gave the world ideas like democracy, the Olympic Games, and theatre; gunpowder came later from China.
- Fill the blankLevel 1
14. In Greek myth, the most powerful gods were believed to live on Mount ____.
- Olympuscorrect
- Everest
- Vesuvius
- Sinai
The Greeks believed their chief gods, led by Zeus, lived on Mount Olympus.
- Multiple choiceLevel 1
15. The Olympic Games, held in honour of the gods, began in which ancient land?
- Greececorrect
- Egypt
- China
- Rome
The ancient Olympic Games began in Greece and were first held at Olympia.
- Build the sentenceLevel 2
16. Put the words in order to make a true sentence about ancient Greek religion.
Answer: The Greeks consulted the oracle at Delphi
Greeks from across the Greek world travelled to consult the oracle at Delphi.
- Match the pairsLevel 2
17. Match each Greek god to what they were known for.
Answer: Zeus = King of the gods; Athena = Wisdom; Poseidon = The sea; Ares = War
The Greeks worshipped many gods, each linked to different parts of life and nature.
- Fact or fibLevel 3
18. The Antikythera mechanism could be used to track the Sun and Moon and to predict eclipses.
Answer: True
Its bronze gears modelled the movements of the Sun and Moon and could predict eclipses and the timing of the Games.
The City-States
- Fill the blankLevel 1
19. The open marketplace and public meeting place at the heart of a Greek city was called the ____.
- agoracorrect
- acropolis
- phalanx
- oracle
The agora was the central marketplace where Greeks met to trade, talk, and share news.
- Multiple choiceLevel 1
20. What was an independent Greek city and the land around it called?
- A poliscorrect
- A pharaoh
- A pyramid
- A dynasty
A polis was an independent Greek city-state, such as Athens or Sparta, that governed itself.
- Odd one outLevel 1
21. Which of these was NOT an ancient Greek city-state?
- Cairocorrect
- Athens
- Sparta
- Corinth
Athens, Sparta, and Corinth were Greek city-states, but Cairo is a city in Egypt.
- Choose all that applyLevel 2
22. Which of these describe the city-state of Sparta?
- It had a powerful land armycorrect
- Boys trained to be soldiers from a young agecorrect
- It was famous mainly for a huge trading navy
- All its people ruled it as a democracy
Sparta was known for its powerful land army and for training boys as soldiers from childhood.
- Picture questionLevel 2
23. 🦁 The stone gateway shown, crowned by two carved lionesses, guarded the citadel of Mycenae. This city gave its name to which Bronze Age civilization?
- Mycenaeancorrect
- Minoan
- Hittite
- Phoenician
The fortified city of Mycenae, famous for its Lion Gate, gave its name to the Mycenaean civilization of mainland Greece.
- Match the pairsLevel 3
24. Match each ancient Greek colony to the modern city that grew from it.
Answer: Massalia = Marseille; Neapolis = Naples; Byzantion = Istanbul; Nikaia = Nice
Greek settlers spread across the Mediterranean, founding colonies such as Massalia, Neapolis, Byzantion and Nikaia that became modern cities.
Wars and Warriors
- Fact or fibLevel 1
25. The long-distance running race called the marathon is named after an ancient Greek battle.
Answer: True
The marathon race is named after Marathon, recalling a legendary run from the battle to Athens.
- Fill the blankLevel 1
26. In the Persian Wars, the Greek city-states joined together to fight against the ____ Empire.
- Persiancorrect
- Roman
- Egyptian
- Ottoman
During the Persian Wars, Greek city-states united to defend themselves against the invading Persian Empire.
- Guess the numberLevel 1
27. About how many Spartan soldiers famously defended the narrow pass at Thermopylae?
Answer: 300 soldiers
A force of about 300 Spartans, joined by other Greeks, held the pass at Thermopylae against a much larger Persian army.
- Multiple choiceLevel 2
28. The Battle of Salamis was mainly fought in what way?
- As a sea battle between fleets of shipscorrect
- On horseback in the desert
- With war elephants
- Inside a walled city
At Salamis, Greek warships defeated the larger Persian fleet in a sea battle.
- Picture questionLevel 2
29. 🚢 Which Greek warship, powered by three banks of rowers, made Athens a leading naval power?
- Triremecorrect
- Galleon
- Longship
- Dromon
The trireme, with three tiers of oars, was fast and manoeuvrable and formed the backbone of the Athenian fleet.
- Put in orderLevel 2
30. Put these battles of the Persian Wars in the order they happened, earliest first.
Answer: Battle of Marathon -> Battle of Thermopylae -> Battle of Salamis
Marathon came first in 490 BCE, followed by Thermopylae and then Salamis, both in 480 BCE.
Where these questions come from. Each unit starts as a plan of the concepts it should cover and the difficulty it should span. Questions are written against that plan with AI assistance, then checked by a validator that rejects anything without a single defensible answer, an explanation, or plausible wrong options. How we write questions sets out the whole process, and corrections are fixed in the bank and reach the site and the app the same day.
How you practise
This unit mixes 17 different question formats, so you are recalling and applying rather than recognising the same layout every time.
- Build the sentence
- Choose all that apply
- Fact or fib
- Fill the blank
- Guess the number
- Listen and choose
- Match the pairs
- Multiple choice
- Odd one out
- Picture question
- Put in order
- Sequence recall
- Sort into groups
- Spell it
- Tap the pairs
- True or false
- Type the answer
Practise Ancient Greece
120 questions across 20 steps. Start with step one and crawl at your own pace.
Play this unitRead about Ancient Greece
Explainers from our blog on what this unit covers. Each one ends with real questions from the bank.
- What Was Athenian Democracy? How Citizens Governed Ancient AthensLearn how assemblies, councils, juries, and citizen participation worked, and who was excluded from political power.August 14, 2026 · 6 min read
- What Was Angkor? The Largest City of the Medieval WorldAngkor was the capital of the Khmer Empire for six centuries, a city of perhaps a million people fed by canals and reservoirs. Its temples, and why it was left.September 15, 2026 · 5 min read
- Who Were the Samurai? Japan's Warrior Class From Rise to AbolitionThe samurai were Japan's hereditary military class for seven hundred years, from provincial warriors to ruling clerks. Their code, and why they were abolished.September 15, 2026 · 5 min read
- What Was the Bronze Age Collapse? When Every Great Power Fell at OnceAround 1200 BCE the palaces of Greece, the Hittite empire and the cities of the Levant burned within a generation, writing vanished and trade stopped.September 14, 2026 · 4 min read
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