91 pages 3 hours read

Thucydides

History of the Peloponnesian War

Nonfiction | Book | Adult

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During Reading

Reading Questions & Paired Texts

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Book 1

Reading Check

1. Which two city-states fight in the Peloponnesian War?

2. What is the name of the treaty the Spartans and their allies accuse Athens of breaking?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What reason does Thucydides give for writing about the Peloponnesian War?

2. What was the true cause of the Peloponnesian War, according to Thucydides?

Paired Resource

Peloponnesian War Timeline

  • This timeline includes the key events before and up to the end of the Peloponnesian War.
  • This connects to the theme of History as a Repeating Cycle.
  • How do the Athenians and Spartans increasingly become a threat to one another as they increase their power and influence? Is a confrontation between these two powers inevitable?

Book 2

Reading Check

1. Where does a plague break out in 430 BCE?

2. What is Pericles’s policy to oppose the Spartans?

3. Why do the Spartans besiege Plataea in 429 BCE?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Pericles claim in his funeral oration that Athens should be admired?

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