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50 free Persian Empire trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Persian Empire trivia quiz covers the Achaemenid dynasty from Cyrus's revolt against the Medes in 553 BC to Darius III's murder on the road from Gaugamela. The easy questions ask who founded the empire, which Macedonian ended it, which elite unit the Greeks called the Immortals, where the ceremonial capital stood and which strait Xerxes bridged to invade Greece. Then it works through the kings: Cambyses in Egypt, the impostor Gaumata, Darius's provinces and Royal Road, Xerxes at Thermopylae and Salamis, and the long reign of Artaxerxes II. The hard end is for people who read Herodotus for fun: the four capitals, the Cyrus Cylinder in the British Museum, the trilingual Behistun inscription that cracked cuneiform, the nine-day courier ride from Susa to Sardis, the Egyptian bull Apis, the eunuch Bagoas and his poisons, the Peace of Callias, Themistocles in exile at Magnesia, and the two theories for why Persepolis burned. Every answer was checked against the encyclopaedia entries on the Achaemenid Empire, Cyrus the Great, Darius the Great, Xerxes I, Persepolis, the Cyrus Cylinder, the Royal Road and the Behistun inscription before publishing, and the supporting sentence is stored with each question. Our ancient Greece, Alexander the Great and ancient history quizzes are natural next stops.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who founded the Achaemenid Persian Empire in 550 BC?
Cyrus the Great
He rose from Persis to defeat Media, Lydia and Babylon and is honoured in Judaism for ending the Babylonian captivity.
Q 02Roughly how large was the Achaemenid Empire at its peak, making it the largest empire of its time?
5.5 million km²
It stretched from the Balkans and Libya to the Indus Valley.
Q 03Which conqueror annexed the entire Achaemenid Empire in 330 BC?
Alexander the Great
His campaign had begun in 336 BC; after his death most of the territory fell to the Seleucids and Ptolemies.
Q 04The empire is named after which ancestor of the dynasty, a minor 7th-century ruler of Anshan?
Achaemenes
His name, Haxamanis, means roughly 'having a friend's mind'; no text before Darius mentions him.
Q 05Cyrus's first great conquest, in 550 BC, was of which empire, ruled by Astyages?
The Medes
He captured King Astyages, his own grandfather according to Herodotus, and styled himself his successor.
Q 06Which fabulously wealthy king of Lydia lost his capital Sardis to Cyrus in 546 BC?
Croesus
He had advanced into former Median territory hoping to profit from the upheaval.
Q 07Which Babylonian king was taken prisoner when Cyrus captured Babylon in October 539 BC?
Nabonidus
Cyrus's propaganda cast him as an impious ruler who had promoted the moon god Sin over Marduk.
Q 08Cyrus is credited with freeing which people from captivity in Babylon and letting them rebuild their temple?
The Jews
The Book of Ezra attributes the decree to him, and the Cyrus Cylinder is often cited as corroboration.
Q 09According to tradition, Cyrus died fighting which nomadic people in Central Asia?
The Massagetae
His tomb at Pasargadae was later visited by Alexander, who was horrified to find it looted.
Q 10The Cyrus Cylinder, found in Babylon in 1879, is written in which script and language?
Akkadian cuneiform
It was buried as a foundation deposit in the Esagila temple and is now in the British Museum.
Q 11Which archaeologist discovered the Cyrus Cylinder in March 1879 while excavating for the British Museum?
Hormuzd Rassam
The Pahlavi dynasty later adopted the Cylinder as a national symbol and gave the UN a replica in 1971.
Q 12Cyrus's son Cambyses II conquered which country in 525 BC after the Battle of Pelusium?
Egypt
Pharaoh Psamtik III was captured and later killed himself after a failed revolt.
Q 13Herodotus claims Cambyses went mad after killing which sacred Egyptian animal?
The Apis bull
An epitaph from 524 BC shows Cambyses actually took part in the bull's funeral rites as pharaoh.
Q 21Cyrus governed from four capitals: Babylon, Susa, his own Persian seat and which former Median capital?
Ecbatana
Artaxerxes II later gilded Ecbatana's columns and roofed it with silver and copper tiles as a summer capital.
Q 22Persepolis, the ceremonial capital begun by Darius around 515 BC, lies in which modern Iranian province?
Fars
It sits on the Marvdasht plain ringed by the Zagros Mountains and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Q 23One theory says Alexander burned Persepolis at the urging of which courtesan during a drunken feast?
Thaïs
The rival theory is that it was deliberate revenge for the Persian destruction of Athens.
Q 14According to Darius's Behistun inscription, a magus named Gaumata seized the throne in 522 BC by impersonating whom?
Bardiya, son of Cyrus
Many historians suspect the impostor story was Darius's own cover for usurpation.
Q 15How did Cambyses II die in 522 BC while hurrying home from Egypt?
A thigh wound turned gangrenous
The Behistun inscription says Gaumata then ruled for seven months before Darius overthrew him.
Q 16Darius the Great organised the empire into provinces each governed by an official with what title?
Satrap
A general handled military recruitment and a state secretary kept the records, so no one man held all the power.
Q 17Which language did Darius make co-official across the empire alongside Persian?
Aramaic
Under Artaxerxes I, Elamite ceased to be the language of government altogether.
Q 18Roughly how long was the Royal Road from Susa to Sardis?
1,677 miles
It was probably perfected under Darius I and reorganised for trade in the 5th century BC.
Q 19How many days were mounted royal couriers supposed to take from Susa to Sardis along the Royal Road?
9
The relay stations were called Chapar Khaneh, and the courier service the Angarium.
Q 20Herodotus gave what name to the 10,000-strong elite infantry of the Persian army?
The Immortals
They served as both imperial guard and standing army, drawn mainly from Persians, Medes and Elamites.
Q 24Darius's Behistun inscription is written in Old Persian, Elamite and which third language?
Babylonian Akkadian
As the longest known trilingual cuneiform text, it was the key to deciphering cuneiform.
Q 25Which British East India Company officer scaled the cliff at Behistun from 1835 to copy the inscription?
Henry Rawlinson
Darius's text boasts of nineteen battles won in a single year against rebels and impostors.
Q 26Which supreme deity does Darius repeatedly credit for his kingship in his inscriptions?
Ahura Mazda
Under Artaxerxes I, Zoroastrianism became the de facto religion of the empire.
Q 27Herodotus says Darius served in what humble-sounding role in Cambyses's Egyptian campaign before seizing power?
Spear-bearer
The doryphoros was probably the king's personal spear-carrier, an important post.
Q 28Darius conquered lands along which river in 515 BC, extending the empire to modern Pakistan?
The Indus
He wintered in Gandhara first and controlled the valley from there to modern Karachi.
Q 29Which Macedonian king surrendered his country to Persia around 512 BC during Darius's Balkan campaign?
Amyntas I
The Persians called Macedonians 'Greeks with hats that look like shields', and Macedonian troops later fought for Xerxes.
Q 30Which uprising of Greek cities in Asia Minor, from 499 to 493 BC, opened the Greco-Persian Wars?
The Ionian Revolt
Aristagoras of Miletus started it after a botched expedition against Naxos, and Athens sent help.