Sketching Clues Trivia Quiz

Answer: Italy

From the eighth century BC, the coastal areas of southern Italy were colonised by the Greeks and became known as Magna Graecia (Latin for 'Great Greece'), bringing Greek culture to pre-Roman Italy. What is now Naples was colonised earlier than this and was possibly known as Phaleron (after an Argonaut from Greek mythology), then as Parthenope (a siren from Greek mythology). The name Neopolis (meaning 'new city') came in the sixth century BC.

This particular Neopolis is the modern-day Naples, overlooked by the volcano Mount Vesuvius. In the Naples National Archaeological Museum where the Farnese Marbles (which includes Roman copies of lost works by ancient Greeks) are housed, you will find the Alexander Mosaic which depicts the Battle of Issus (or possibly the Battle of Gaugamela) where Alexander the Great met and defeated Darius III in battle. The Roman floor mosaic came from the House of the Faun in Pompeii, which was buried during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

Answer: Lebanon

The ancient Greek name Tripolis means 'three cities'. The Lebanese city of Tripoli gained this name after becoming the centre of a Phoenician confederation involving the cities of Sidon, Tyre and Arados. Lebanon used to be carpeted with cedar forests however only remnants now remain. The photo shows the Lebanese flag which includes a cedar.

The Alexander Sarcophagus was one of four found at a necropolis near Sidon. Two sides of the sarcophagus depict Alexander the Great, one at the Battle of Issus and the other hunting lions. Necropolis is another of those ancient Greek names, meaning 'city of the dead'.

The Phoenicians are credited with inventing the bireme, a warship with two decks of oars. They were also responsible for founding the Libyan Tripolis. The three cities involved were Oea (now Tripoli), Sabratha and Leptis Magna.

Answer: Afghanistan

This site is important as it provided archaeological evidence of the easternmost extent of Greek civilisation on the doorstep of India. It is not clear which city it was (Alexandria on the Oxus or Eucratidia). It is possibly both as cities were sometimes renamed. It may have been founded by Alexander the Great, although Antiochus I of the Seleucid Empire (a Hellenistic state which followed the split up of Alexander the Great's empire) is now thought to have founded the city after 280 BC.

Eucratides I, shown on the coin rubbings, was one of the more important Greco-Bactiran kings and ruled from around 170 BC to 140 BC. His murder led to a civil war and the demise of the kingdom soon after. Unfortunately the site became a battleground during the Soviet War in Afghanistan in the 1980s and little remains.

The photo shows an afghan, a blanket or throw made of knitted or crotched wool.

Answer: Egypt

All these countries have had at least one Alexandria in their past. Egypt's one was created on Alexander's orders as a replacement for Naucratis as his centre in Egypt and is now the country's second largest city. It was capital of Egypt for nearly a thousand years during the time of its rule by the Greeks, Roman and Byzantines.

The lighthouse, ruined and now underwater along with much of the Greek quarter, was Pharos of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Alexandria also boasted an extensive library created by Ptolemy I Soter, one of Alexander's generals and a successor to his empire during the third century BC. It became a centre of learning famed throughout the ancient world for centuries but was destroyed by fire.

The photo shows a sphinx at the temple complex of Serapeum at Alexandria in Egypt.

Answer: Istanbul

Originally established as a Greek colony called Byzantium in 657 BC, the Roman Emperor Constantine I (or the Great) re- established it in 330 AD as capital of the Roman Empire, taking over from Rome. He changed the city's name to Constantinople. When the Ottomans came along, it became the capital of the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century. The current name was adopted in 1923.

Although these days associated with Islam, the star and crescent combination was widely used in ancient times and, for the Greeks, came to be associated with Byzantium. The mosque referred to (shown in the photo) is more properly called Sultan Ahmed Mosque and was built during the 17th century.

Answer: Crimea

Chersonesus was an ancient Greek colony founded in the seventh century BC on the Crimean peninsula. It went through various changes of rule including Roman, Byzantine, Genoese before being abandoned after nearly 2,000 years. In the 18th century, the Russians renamed many of Black Sea places to lessen Turkish and Tartar influences. They chose to go with ancient Greek for various geopolitical reasons. Sevastopol (meaning 'venerable city') was created on the site of the Tartar town of Aqyar. It had no ancient Greek antecedent and was probably named in honour of Catherine the Great. The ruins of Chersonesus are now in a suburb of Sevastopol.

The Neo-Byzantine style cathedral of Saint Vladimir at Chersonesus was built in the 19th century to commemorate the site of the baptism in 988 (or thereabouts) of Vladimir the Great who brought Christianity to the Kievan Rus'. The site chosen was of an early church in the ruins of Chersonesus.

Kherson, another city built by Catherine the Great and named after Chersonesus, is actually some 300 km away at the mouth of the Dneiper River on the Black Sea. Khersones is the local name for the ancient Greek site.

Jumping a bit in history, the photo is of a memorial plaque of a survivor of the Charge of the Light Brigade. The battle took place during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War and was immortalised in a poem of the same name by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Answer: Sicily

Syracuse was a very powerful city-state and similar in size to Athens during the fifth century BC. It also had Roman and Byzantine phases. Today the city in the south-east corner of Sicily has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site and is home to around 125,000.

Syracuse was the birthplace of Archimedes, perhaps the most famous ancient Greek mathematician and scientist. He also died there during the two-year Siege of Syracuse in around 212 BC, killed by a Roman soldier despite orders not to harm him. He had a key role in the defence of the city, designing 'the Claw of Archimedes', catapults, and even a 'heat ray'. These weapons were used to great effect to capsize or destroy many Roman ships. The Claw was possibly a grappling hook on the end of a crane and the heat rays may have been a series of copper mirrors used to focus the sun's rays on ships. Modern re-enactments confirm the Claw and the heat ray could have worked.

Some 137 years after the death of Archimedes, the Roman orator Cicero came to Syracuse to try and find his tomb. Cicero eventually found it, overgrown near the Agrigentine Gate. Its whereabouts in modern times is not known.

The photo is a reference to the criminal syndicate Cosa Nostra (or the Sicilian Mafia).

Answer: Marseille

The ruins of the ancient Greek and then Roman port known as Massalia now has an open-air display at the Jardin des Vestiges at Vieux-Port, Marseille. This goes back to the sixth or seventh century BC. Saint-Victor Abbey is an early Christian site although the crypts point to earlier use of the site by the Greeks as a quarry and then a necropolis in the second century BC. Similarly the Hill of Lazaretto was a Greek and Roman necropolis.

The 16th century Chateau d'If, sitting on a small island opposite Vieux-Port, is perhaps best known these days as the setting for the book "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexander Dumas (hence the photo).

Answer: Libya

Founded in the seventh century BC by the Greeks, Cyrene was the most important of five Greek cities in the region. It also enjoyed a Roman period but succumbed to earthquakes and competition from Carthage and Alexandria. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982. Despite this, a large section of the necropolis was levelled in 2013 to make way for shops and housing.

The Fountain of Apollo supplied the city with water and Apollo of Cyrene is one of many Roman sculptures found that have ended up in the British Museum. As recently as 2005, 71 complete statues were found under a temple wall which collapsed during an earthquake in 375 AD.

Cyrene was known for its medicinal herb silphium, its importance reflected by its appearance on most of their coins. Unfortunately the plant was harvested to extinction by the second century BC. You also get camels in Libya, hence the photo.

Answer: Turkey

Subject of the Greek poet Homer's epic poem 'Iliad' and probably best known as the setting for the Trojan War, the city of Troy has a history going back to 3,000 BC. Archaeological excavations have revealed numerous layers of occupation with the mound of Hisarlik producing the remains of the city believed to be described in Homer's work. Augustus built re-built the city as Ilium which lasted until Constantinople became the capital of the Roman Empire.

The photo shows a stamp of the Ottoman Empire, sometimes referred to as the Turkish Empire.