Now Reading: Ancient History: Which Came First? Quiz
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Ancient History: Which Came First? Quiz
Ancient History: Which Came First? Quiz
Test your knowledge of ancient history with this quiz. Instead of asking you to remember a single date, this quiz challenges you to compare famous people, places, battles, monuments, texts, and events from the ancient world.
Ancient history covers thousands of years, so it is easy to place major moments in the wrong order. Some names feel like they belong to the same period, even when they were separated by centuries. Others may seem much older or more recent than they really are. This quiz is designed to test your sense of historical timing and help you think about how ancient civilizations overlapped.
Whether you enjoy ancient history, world history quizzes, or quick timeline challenges, this quiz is a fun way to see how well you can place major historical figures and events in order. Read each question carefully, choose your answer, and see how strong your ancient history timeline knowledge really is.
1. What came first?
Correct Answer: Colossus of Rhodes
The Colossus of Rhodes was erected in 280 BC, while the Terracotta Army was created and buried with Qin Shi Huang in 210-209 BC. So the Colossus came first by roughly 70 years.
2. What came first?
Correct Answer: Cyrus Cylinder
The Cyrus Cylinder dates to around 539–538 BC, centuries before the Rosetta Stone was carved in 196 BC.
3. Who came first?
Correct Answer: Leonidas I, King of Sparta
Leonidas I died at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC, while Alexander the Great was born in 356 BC so Leonidas lived and died more than a century before Alexander the Great.
4. What happened first?
Correct Answer: Battle of Marathon
The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC, while the Battle of Thermopylae occurred ten years later in 480 BC during the Persian invasion of Greece.
5. What came first?
Correct Answer: The Iliad
The Iliad is an Ancient Greek poem attributed to Homer and traditionally dated to circa 8th century BC, while the Aeneid was written much later by Roman poet Virgil in the 1st century BC.
6. What happened first?
Correct Answer: The First Ancient Olympic Games
The first Ancient Olympic Games are traditionally dated to 776 BC, while the traditional founding of Rome is dated to 753 BC so the Olympic Games happened first by about 23 years.
7. What came first?
Correct Answer: The Parthenon in Athens
The Parthenon was completed in 432 BC, while construction of the Colosseum began much later, around AD 72. This means the Parthenon predates the Colosseum by around 500 years.
8. What came first?
Correct Answer: Great Pyramid of Giza
The Great Pyramid was completed in circa 2600 BC, while the Ziggurat of Ur dates to about 2100 BC, making it about 500 years newer than the pyramid.
9. Who came first?
Correct Answer: Hannibal Barca
Hannibal was born in 247 BC, while Julius Caesar was born much later in 100 BC.
10. Who came first?
Correct Answer: Confucius
Chinese philosopher Confucius lived from circa 551 BC to 479 BC, while Greek philosopher Socrates was born around 470 BC. This means Confucius died about 9 years before Socrates was born.
