By A. M. MARTIN, General Secretary C. L. S. C.

I.—ONE HUNDRED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON “HISTORY OF GREECE,” VOL. II., PARTS SEVENTH AND EIGHTH—THEBAN SUPREMACY, AND MACEDONIAN HELLENISM.

1. Q. What was the character of the Thebans in the fifth and fourth centuries before Christ? A. They were brave soldiers, and possessed souls, if not always noble, yet ever resolute; bodies, if not prepossessing, yet athletic and well prepared, by exercise and thorough drill from early childhood, for every military duty.

2. Q. What two names are permanently associated with the rise of Theban power? A. Epaminondas and Pelopidas.

3. Q. What was the training and what some of the striking characteristics of Epaminondas? A. He was trained from early youth in all the branches of gymnastics and military duty; was distinguished by the diligent care he took of his intellectual education; was modest and wholly devoid of a boasting spirit, and was indifferent to money.

4. Q. What did Epaminondas, with Pelopidas, organize that filled Hellas with the fame of its achievements, and fell only when the autonomy of Hellas disappeared? A. The famous lochos, or band, composed of three hundred picked men, bound together by the closest ties of friendship, and devoted to each other to the death.

5. Q. What was the effect upon the Spartans of the war against the Thebans, the latter being assisted by the Athenians, during the first part of the fourth century before Christ? A. The Spartans were daily losing their prestige and becoming humbled.

6. Q. What was the most noted of the combats of the Thebans with the LacedÆmonians in Boeotia at this time, which served as a sort of prelude to that of Leuktra? A. The battle of Tegyra, in which the Thebans, led by Pelopidas, achieved a splendid victory.

7. Q. What disastrous visitations heightened the despondency of the Spartans in 372 B. C.? A. The terrible earthquakes and rains which during that year occurred in the Peloponnesus, and which they regarded as tokens of the wrath of the god Poseidon.

8. Q. What was the result of the Athenians having established their new naval dominion on the Ionian Sea? A. They had no longer ground on which to continue the war, and they therefore sent to Sparta for peace.

9. Q. What was the result of the congress of the Hellenic nation which followed in the year 371 B. C.? A. Agesilaus, on behalf of Sparta, caused the names of the Thebans to be struck from the roll, and declared war against them upon the spot.

10. Q. What celebrated battle was fought soon after in Boeotia between the LacedÆmonians and the Thebans? A. The battle of Leuktra.

11. Q. Previous to this time how had Hellenic armies been drawn up in order of battle? A. In parallel lines.

12. Q. What plan did Epaminondas adopt on this occasion? A. He massed upon the center a greater force than his opponent, and concentrated a superior number upon the right wing.

13. Q. What is said of the adoption of this arrangement of the forces of an army afterward by military leaders? A. It was afterward largely adopted by military leaders, and by its successful application some of the greatest battles of the world have been gained by such generals as Frederick of Prussia and Napoleon.

14. Q. What was the result at the battle of Leuktra? A. The right wing of the Spartans was completely driven back to their camp, and the remainder of the army sought safety by retreat.

15. Q. Following immediately upon the defeat at Leuktra what occurred in the Peloponnesus? A. A great revolution broke out against Sparta.

16. Q. What movement was next undertaken by Epaminondas? A. He invaded the Peloponnesus with the Thebans and their allies, and approached almost to the very gates of Sparta.

17. Q. What is said of the appearance of an enemy before Sparta? A. Full six hundred years had elapsed since the first establishment of the Dorians in LacedÆmon, and this was the first time in all that long period that they had seen an enemy in their territory.

18. Q. What two enterprises did Epaminondas now execute which had formed the special purpose of his expedition? A. The re-establishment of Messenia and the consolidation of the Arkadians.

19. Q. Within what space of time had this complete change of affairs occurred in the Peloponnesus? A. Within a space of eighteen months from the time the Thebans were insultingly driven from the national congress by Sparta.

20. Q. On the north what conquest was made by Pelopidas about the same time? A. He invaded Thessaly, and subdued the greater part of the country.

21. Q. What were the terms of the permanent league into which the two states of Athens and Sparta now entered? A. That the command both on land and sea should alternate between Athens and Sparta for periods of five days.

22. Q. Notwithstanding this league what was the ruling city in Hellas? A. Thebes.

23. Q. What countries in Greece acknowledged Thebes as ruler and obeyed her? A. Macedonia, Thessaly, most of the countries between ThermopylÆ and the isthmus, and most of the Peloponnesus.

24. Q. About the end of the year 368 B. C., what battle was fought between the Spartans and Arkadians during the absence of Epaminondas from the Peloponnesus? A. What the Spartans called “The Tearless Battle.”

25. Q. What does Diodorus say of the slain? A. Ten thousand men were slain, without the loss of a single LacedÆmonian.

26. Q. At the instance of Pelopidas, in 366 B. C., what declaration was made by the Persian king in regard to Thebes? A. Thebes was declared the head city of Hellas, and any city refusing to admit her leadership was menaced with instant compulsion by Persian force.

27. Q. How was this declaration received by the allies of Thebes? A. They collectively refused to adhere to the royal decree.

28. Q. What occurred to Pelopidas while in the execution of his duty as envoy to Thessaly in his efforts to have the supremacy of Thebes there recognized? A. He was seized and detained as prisoner by Alexander of PherÆ.

29. Q. After he had been released through the efforts of Epaminondas, what was the result of an engagement of the forces of Pelopidas with those of Alexander of Thessaly? A. The army of Alexander was routed at the battle of Kynos KephalÆ, but Pelopidas was slain.

30. Q. About the middle of 362 B. C., for what purpose did Epaminondas march again into the Peloponnesus? A. In order to strengthen the adherents of the Thebans and to put down their numerous opponents.

31. Q. What celebrated battle was fought between the forces under Epaminondas and the allied army opposed? A. The battle of Mantineia.

32. Q. What was the result of the engagement? A. The whole army in opposition to Epaminondas was driven from the field.

33. Q. What was the fate of Epaminondas? A. He received a wound in the breast from the thrust of a spear which proved mortal.

34. Q. What is the character of the opinions that have been uniformly expressed, both in ancient and modern times concerning Epaminondas? A. There has ever been for him only praise and admiration.

35. Q. After he fell what prevailed for twenty-five years in Greece? A. Political anarchy, ending only in the Macedonian supremacy.

36. Q. Following the advice of Epaminondas what did the Thebans at once do after the battle of Mantineia? A. They made peace with the enemy.

37. Q. Where did the Spartan king, Agesilaus, soon after die? A. On the march toward home from Egypt, where he unsuccessfully attempted an expedition against the Persian empire.

38. Q. What three islands and city revolted from Athens and her confederacy which led to the three years’ “social war” from 358 to 355 B. C.? A. The islands of Chios, Kos and Rhodes, and the city of Byzantium.

39. Q. What war was carried on in Greece for the ten years from 355 to 346 B. C.? A. The second Sacred War.

40. Q. During this war what desecration was committed by the Phokian general Philomelus? A. The sanctuary of the Delphian temple was seized and robbed of its treasures.

41. Q. What noted king of Macedonia first took part in Hellenic affairs during the second Sacred War? A. Philip.

42. Q. What was the result of an engagement by the forces of Philip with the Phokians? A. He became master of Thessaly, and proclaimed himself the avenger of the Delphian god, and the defender of the insulted Hellenic religion.

43. Q. By whom was the advance of Philip into Hellas repelled? A. By the Athenians, who occupied ThermopylÆ in opposition to Philip.

44. Q. What renowned orator attempted to arouse the Athenians to oppose the advance of Philip in his efforts to reduce all Hellas to his sway? A. Demosthenes.

45. Q. Where does the criticism of the modern world and that of the grandest orators of France and England unanimously place Demosthenes? A. At the head of orators.

46. Q. By what name are the most famous of the orations of Demosthenes known? A. The Philipics.

47. Q. What decisive battle was fought in 338 B. C. between the Macedonian army and the Athenians and their allies? A. The battle of Choeroneia.

48. Q. What was the result of this battle? A. The Greeks were conquered, and the Sacred Band of the Thebans to a man fell in this battle as they stood in a solid phalanx, not one of the three hundred yielding a foot.

49. Q. To whom was the chief credit of this victory due? A. To the youthful Alexander, the son of Philip.

50. Q. At a congress of Hellenic cities Philip soon after convened at Corinth to what position was he chosen? A. General-in-chief of all Hellas.

51. Q. What was the geographical position of Macedonia before its enlargement through the conquests of Philip? A. It was an exclusively inland country lying between two mountain ranges on the north side of the great Kambunian chain.

52. Q. What is said of the language of the Macedonians? A. It was widely different from that of the Thracians on the east and the Illyrians on the west, and was so nearly akin to the Hellenic that the latter tongue was easily acquired by them.

53. Q. In the earliest times how were the inhabitants of Macedonia divided? A. Into a variety of independent tribes, each of which had its own king or chieftain.

54. Q. According to tradition who were the real founders of the greatness of Macedonia? A. Fugitives from Hellas, belonging to the royal Herakleid line of Argos, who are supposed to have arrived in the country during the seventh century before Christ.

55. Q. Who was the first Macedonian sovereign of real historic importance? A. Amyntas.

56. Q. Mention three other sovereigns of Macedonia before Philip. A. Alexander, Perdikkas, and Archelaus.

57. Q. Who was the father of Philip? A. Amyntas II.

58. Q. What mode of life did the immediate predecessors of Philip seek as much as possible to approach? A. The Attic mode of life.

59. Q. What is said in regard to King Archelaus? A. That he introduced many social improvements after Hellenic models, and was much attached to the youthful Plato and his teacher Sokrates.

60. Q. At the age of fifteen where was Philip taken as a hostage? A. To Thebes.

61. Q. How long did he remain there? A. Three years.

62. Q. Though a hostage how was he welcomed? A. He was honorably and cordially welcomed, received a scientific and oratorical training, and studied philosophy.

63. Q. Almost from the beginning of his reign what income did Philip receive from the gold-producing regions of Mount PangÆus? A. According to Diodorus a yearly income of one thousand talents.

64. Q. How did this income compare with that received by the Athenians and the Spartans? A. It was greater than that which the Athenians and the Spartans obtained in the very acme of their power.

65. Q. What steps did Philip take to make his army more efficient? A. He reorganized the army and effected a complete transformation in their armament and accomplishments.

66. Q. What was the most formidable part of the army as organized by Philip? A. The Macedonian phalanx.

67. Q. What was the principal weapon of the soldiers serving in the phalanx? A. A long pike called the sarissa, twenty-one feet in length.

68. Q. After his return from Corinth in 337 B. C. what did Philip do in regard to the invasion of Asia? A. He made so many preparations for his intended expedition into Asia that he exhausted his accumulated treasures.

69. Q. What steps did he take in the spring of 336 B. C. to begin hostilities against the Persians? A. He sent to Asia a portion of the Macedonian army, under Parmenio and Attalus, to begin hostilities at once until he assumed command of the expedition.

70. Q. What was the result of a quarrel that occurred about this time between Philip and one of his wives, Olympias, the mother of Alexander? A. Olympias went to her brother, the King of Epirus, and Alexander soon followed her, and expressed strong resentment at the treatment of his mother.

71. Q. In what way did Philip seek to reconcile the parties to this quarrel, and at the same time ally himself to the King of Epirus? A. By giving the King of Epirus his daughter by Olympias, Kleopatra, in marriage.

72. Q. How were the nuptials celebrated? A. With many splendid and costly entertainments.

73. Q. During the festivities how did Philip come to his death? A. As he was walking toward the door of the theater he was suddenly assassinated by Pausanias, one of the body-guard of the king.

74. Q. At what age did Philip die, and how long was his reign? A. He died at the age of forty-seven, after a reign of twenty-three years.

75. Q. Who succeeded him to the throne? A. His son, Alexander the Great.

76. Q. When was Alexander born? A. In July, 356 B. C.

77. Q. What is said of Alexander and the Iliad? A. One of the first books that he read was the Iliad, to which he became devotedly attached, and a copy of which, corrected, as it is said, by Aristotle, he carried with him in his military campaigns.

78. Q. What was the effect of the reception of the news of the death of Philip at Athens and elsewhere? A. There was an outbreak, caused especially by Demosthenes, who represented his death as holding forth new hopes of freedom to the city. There was also much disturbance in other Hellenic cities.

79. Q. When Alexander was informed of this crisis of affairs what steps did he take? A. He hastened to Hellas with a considerable army, reaching there within two months of the death of his father.

80. Q. What action was taken by a common council of the Greeks that Alexander assembled at Corinth? A. The council gave him, as it had done to Philip two years before, the hegemony of the expedition against Asia. The LacedÆmonians alone stood aloof, refusing all concurrence.

81. Q. After his return to Macedonia, where did Alexander next go to secure his domains? A. Into Thrace and bordering regions where he subdued the tribes and brought them under his subjection.

82. Q. In the meantime what Hellenic city revolted from the rule of Alexander? A. Thebes.

83. Q. What followed Alexander’s immediate march from the north to Thebes? A. The city was taken after a desperate resistance, six thousand of the inhabitants slain, thirty thousand sold into slavery, and the houses leveled to the ground.

84. Q. Upon his return to Macedonia what did Alexander institute? A. Magnificent sacrifices to the gods, and scenic contests in honor of the god Zeus and the Muses.

85. Q. Who was now upon the throne of the Persian empire? A. Darius Codomannus.

86. Q. When did Alexander commence his invasion of Asia? A. In the year 334 B. C.

87. Q. What was the size of the Macedonian army that Alexander led into Asia? A. Thirty thousand infantry and forty-five hundred cavalry.

88. Q. Where did he first encounter the Persian army? A. At the river Granicus.

89. Q. What was the result of the engagement that followed? A. The army of Alexander forced the passage of the river in the face of the enemy and entirely routed the Persian forces.

90. Q. What followed Alexander’s march through Asia Minor? A. Many cities surrendered without opposition, and the others he reached he subdued.

91. Q. As he was marching further into Asia, who now advanced to meet Alexander? A. Darius himself with an immense army equipped in great splendor.

92. Q. Where did the hostile armies encounter each other? A. On the plains of Issus.

93. Q. What was the result of the battle there fought? A. The Persians were completely routed with great loss, and Darius saved himself only by precipitate flight.

94. Q. What two cities refused to submit to Alexander, and were taken by him only after prolonged sieges? A. Tyre and Gaza.

95. Q. Into what country did Alexander next march, and what great commercial city did he there found? A. Into Egypt, where he founded Alexandria.

96. Q. Where did Alexander again encounter the Persian army, and with what results? A. On the plains of Arbela, eastward of the Tigris. The immense army of the Persians was either cut to pieces, captured, or dispersed, and no subsequent attempt was made to gather together a large regular force.

97. Q. What two great capitals of Persia now surrendered to Alexander without a struggle? A. Babylon and Susa.

98. Q. Into what region did Alexander further extend his conquests? A. Into India.

99. Q. Upon his return from India, when and where did Alexander die? A. At Babylon in the year 323 B. C.

100. Q. What became of the countries subdued by Alexander after his death? A. The empire was subjected to protracted civil wars, and was subsequently separated into numerous small kingdoms.

II.—FIFTY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON AMERICAN LITERATURE.

1. Q. As soon as the English colonists landed on American shores, at Jamestown and Plymouth, for what purpose did they begin to think of the establishment of schools of sound learning? A. In Virginia, for the purpose of educating the Indians, and in Massachusetts Bay for the supply of church pastors.

2. Q. Until politics began to interest the colonists in a vital manner, what formed the bulk of the issues of the press? A. Religious books and tracts.

3. Q. What was the first book written and printed in New England? A. The Bay Psalm Book.

4. Q. Of all the theological writers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, who were the most voluminous? A. Increase Mather and his son Cotton. The publications of the former numbered eighty-five, and of the latter no less than three hundred and eighty-two.

5. Q. What is the chief monument of the industry and scholarship of John Eliot, the “Apostle to the Indians?” A. His translation of the entire Bible into the Indian tongue. This appeared in two parts, the New Testament in 1661, and the whole Bible in 1663, and was the labor of the unaided Eliot.

6. Q. What are the names of three minor writers of the seventeenth century? A. Capt. John Smith, Gov. John Winthrop, and Michael Wigglesworth.

7. Q. Upon what work does the reputation of Jonathan Edwards as philosopher and theologian chiefly rest? A. His great treatise on the “Freedom of the Will,” written about the middle of the eighteenth century.

8. Q. Who were the principal leaders in the eighteenth century of the school of philosophy which Edwards shaped? A. Samuel Hopkins, Nathaniel Emmons and Timothy Dwight.

9. Q. What is one of the most remarkable of the names of great Americans in the eighteenth century? A. Benjamin Franklin, who was a master in whatever branch of learning he touched.

10. Q. What is one of the best known of Franklin’s works? A. Poor Richard’s Almanac.

11. Q. What are the names of three minor writers of the eighteenth century? A. William Stith, David Brainerd and John Woolman.

12. Q. Of what character was a large part of the books and pamphlets written during the revolutionary period? A. It was necessarily of temporary interest, and of little value as literature.

13. Q. In what particular did George Washington excel as a writer? A. As a letter writer.

14. Q. What are some of the most noted productions of Thomas Jefferson? A. Notes on Virginia, his Correspondence, and the Declaration of Independence.

15. Q. What was the Federalist? A. It was a collection of essays published periodically, and arguing in favor of the Constitution of the United States adopted in 1789, and was the concerted work of Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay.

16. Q. What work of Thomas Paine has always had a wide circulation chiefly among the lower classes? A. The Age of Reason. It advocates a pure deism, but its method of criticism and temper of attack are now generally repudiated by more scholarly writers of the same school.

17. Q. Who was the first American poet to attain eminence? A. Philip Freneau, a Huguenot by descent and a New Yorker by birth.

18. Q. Who was the first American novelist and what was his first work? A. Charles Brockden Brown, and his first work called “Wieland” was printed in 1798.

19. Q. For what are the histories written during the last century chiefly useful? A. As authorities for later writers.

20. Q. Who were two biographical writers of the last century? A. William Wirt, who wrote a readable life of Patrick Henry, and Chief Justice John Marshall, who prepared a standard life of Washington.

21. Q. What was incident to the beginning of the present century being marked by a considerable controversial excitement among the New England clergy? A. The spread of Unitarian views in and around Boston.

22. Q. Who were the Unitarian leaders in this controversy? A. William Ellery Channing, the Henry Wares, father and son, and Andrew Norton.

23. Q. By whom were the conservative Congregationalists championed? A. By Noah Worcester, of Salem, and Moses Stewart and Leonard Woods, professors in the theological seminary at Andover.

24. Q. What is the principal theological work that has appeared since Edward’s famous treatise? A. The “Systematic Theology” of Charles Hodge, professor in Princeton Seminary.

25. Q. What two college presidents have devoted much thought and ability to mental science? A. Mark Hopkins, of Williams, and Noah Porter, of Yale.

26. Q. What two names are prominent in the literature of Church history? A. Dr. Philip Schaff and Prof. W. G. T. Shedd.

27. Q. To whom is the term “the Knickerbocker writers” applied? A. To certain authors who began to write soon after the beginning of the century, who were for the most part residents of New York, and who were in some cases descendants of the old Dutch stock.

28. Q. What are the names of four prominent writers included under this head? A. Washington Irving, James Kirke Paulding, Joseph Rodman Drake, and Fitz-Greene Halleck.

29. Q. What are the names of five poets made celebrated by single pieces? A. Francis Scott Key, Samuel Woodworth, John Howard Payne, Albert G. Greene, and William Augustus Muhlenberg.

30. Q. What are the titles of the pieces for which they are celebrated? A. “The Star Spangled Banner,” “The Old Oaken Bucket,” “Home, Sweet Home,” “Old Grimes is Dead,” and “I would not live alway.”

31. Q. What eminent name connected the earlier and later days of our literature? A. William Cullen Bryant.

32. Q. Who are termed the five great American poets? A. William Cullen Bryant, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittier, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and James Russell Lowell.

33. Q. Who was an entirely original figure in American literature? A. Edgar Allen Poe.

34. Q. What are the names of ten persons prominent as orators during the present century? A. Webster, Calhoun, Clay, Everett, Choate, Seward, Sumner, Winthrop, Garrison, and Phillips.

35. Q. What are the names of five prominent American historians of the present century? A. Richard Hildreth, George Bancroft, John G. Palfrey, William H. Prescott, and John Lothrop Motley.

36. Q. What three names are eminent in the literature of Arctic travel? A. Elisha Kent Kane, Charles F. Hall, and Isaac I. Hayes.

37. Q. Who was the first writer of American fiction whose works were extensively read? A. James Fenimore Cooper.

38. Q. What American author has James Russell Lowell called the greatest imaginative writer since Shakspere? A. Nathaniel Hawthorne.

39. Q. What work has had the greatest success of any American book? A. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” a novel directed against slavery. Between five and six hundred thousand copies have been sold in this country alone, and it has been forty times translated.

40. Q. Who is the most distinguished of American essayists? A. Ralph Waldo Emerson.

41. Q. Give the chief among standard editions of Shakspere that have been edited in this country. A. Those of Richard Grant White and Horace Howard Furness.

42. Q. Who are the authors of three notable histories of the late civil war? A. Horace Greeley, Alexander H. Stephens, and Dr. John W. Draper.

43. Q. What recent American author attained eminence as a writer of travels, of novels, and as a poet? A. Bayard Taylor.

44. Q. What two poets are the chief American kindred of the English pre-Raphaelites? A. Walt Whitman and Joaquin Miller; but their kinship is one of nature and not of imitation.

45. Q. Who was the originator of a popular dialect poetry of the time, which has found a troop of imitators? A. John Hay.

46. Q. What author has found a special field in novels of pioneer life in the uncivilized outposts of Western civilization? A. Edward Eggleston.

47. Q. Who is called the best of American writers of juveniles? A. Louisa May Alcott.

48. Q. Give the names of three prominent humorists. A. Charles Farrar Browne, Henry W. Shaw, and David R. Locke.

49. Q. What American writer has devoted the greater part of his literary life to the production of biographies? A. James Parton.

50. Q. Who has enjoyed the acquaintance of more English and American authors than any other of our writers? A. James T. Fields.