The Persian empires built roads, palaces, and rivalries on a scale that could make any ancient map feel crowded.
These Persian Empire trivia questions travel from Cyrus and Persepolis through Parthian cavalry, Sasanian courts, world-changing battles, faith, art, and enduring traditions.
Rise of the Achaemenids
Q: Who founded the Achaemenid Empire?
A: Cyrus II, or Cyrus the Great.
Q: Around what year did Cyrus defeat the Median king Astyages?
A: 550 BCE.
Q: Which kingdom did Cyrus conquer after Media?
A: Lydia.
Q: Who was the wealthy Lydian king defeated by Cyrus?
A: Croesus.
Q: Which city did Cyrus capture in 539 BCE?
A: Babylon.
Q: What ancient text describes Cyrus entering Babylon and restoring cults?
A: The Cyrus Cylinder.
Q: Which son of Cyrus conquered Egypt?
A: Cambyses II.
Q: Which pharaoh was defeated by Cambyses at Pelusium?
A: Psamtik III.
Q: Who seized the throne after Cambyses and ruled as Darius I?
A: Darius the Great.
Q: What monument records Darius's version of his rise in three languages?
A: The Behistun Inscription.
Q: Which rebel did Darius say had impersonated Bardiya?
A: Gaumata.
Q: What royal house gave the Achaemenid dynasty its name?
A: The house of Achaemenes.
Q: What title did Persian rulers commonly use to express supremacy?
A: King of Kings.
Q: What region in southwestern Iran was the dynasty's homeland?
A: Persis, or Fars.
Q: Which ancient capital of Elam became an Achaemenid administrative center?
A: Susa.
Kings, Courts, and Capitals
Q: Which ceremonial capital did Darius I begin building?
A: Persepolis.
Q: Which ruler completed major parts of Persepolis after Darius?
A: Xerxes I.
Q: What grand audience hall at Persepolis had 72 columns?
A: The Apadana.
Q: What relief subject lines the Apadana stairways?
A: Delegations bringing tribute.
Q: Which city served as a royal residence and treasury before Persepolis?
A: Pasargadae.
Q: Whose tomb stands at Pasargadae?
A: Cyrus the Great's.
Q: Which Mesopotamian city was a winter residence of Achaemenid kings?
A: Babylon.
Q: Which Median city served as a royal summer residence?
A: Ecbatana.
Q: What official language was widely used for Achaemenid administration?
A: Imperial Aramaic.
Q: What script appears in royal Old Persian inscriptions?
A: Old Persian cuneiform.
Q: What elite infantry unit did Greek writers call the Immortals?
A: A 10,000-man royal guard.
Q: Who commanded the king's household and court?
A: The hazarapati, or commander of a thousand.
Q: What precious metal decorated many palace surfaces at Persepolis?
A: Gold.
Q: What winged symbol is often associated with Achaemenid royal imagery?
A: The faravahar-like winged disk.
Q: Which Greek physician served at the court of Artaxerxes II?
A: Ctesias.
Running a Vast Empire
Q: What were Achaemenid provinces called?
A: Satrapies.
Q: What was a provincial governor called?
A: A satrap.
Q: Which king reorganized the empire into tax-paying satrapies?
A: Darius I.
Q: What road linked Susa with Sardis?
A: The Royal Road.
Q: Which Greek historian described the Royal Road's relay system?
A: Herodotus.
Q: What royal inspectors were nicknamed the King's Eyes and Ears?
A: Traveling imperial officials.
Q: What gold coin was associated with Achaemenid kings?
A: The daric.
Q: What silver coin complemented the daric?
A: The siglos.
Q: Which standard helped unify imperial taxation?
A: Standardized weights and coinage.
Q: What underground water channels carried water in arid regions?
A: Qanats.
Q: What policy often let conquered peoples retain local customs and religions?
A: Pragmatic local autonomy.
Q: Which sea did Darius connect to the Nile with a canal?
A: The Red Sea.
Q: What language did Egyptian administrators continue using under Persian rule?
A: Egyptian.
Q: Which Phoenician cities supplied ships to Persian fleets?
A: Cities including Sidon and Tyre.
Q: What institution stored tribute at Persepolis?
A: The royal treasury.
Persia and the Greek World
Q: Which Persian king faced the Ionian Revolt?
A: Darius I.
Q: What battle ended Darius's 490 BCE invasion of mainland Greece?
A: Marathon.
Q: Who led Persia's invasion of Greece in 480 BCE?
A: Xerxes I.
Q: At what narrow pass did Leonidas resist Xerxes?
A: Thermopylae.
Q: Which Greek city did Persian forces occupy and burn?
A: Athens.
Q: What naval battle checked Xerxes's fleet?
A: Salamis.
Q: What 479 BCE battle defeated the remaining Persian army in Greece?
A: Plataea.
Q: Which naval battle the same year defeated Persian forces in Ionia?
A: Mycale.
Q: What Greek alliance was created under Athenian leadership after the invasions?
A: The Delian League.
Q: Which Persian prince hired Greek mercenaries to challenge Artaxerxes II?
A: Cyrus the Younger.
Q: What work tells of the Ten Thousand's retreat after Cyrus died?
A: Xenophon's Anabasis.
Q: At what battle was Cyrus the Younger killed?
A: Cunaxa.
Q: Which peace traditionally dated to 449 BCE may have ended major Greco-Persian fighting?
A: The Peace of Callias.
Q: What 387/386 BCE settlement imposed by Artaxerxes II was called the King's Peace?
A: The Peace of Antalcidas.
Q: Which Greek city-state received Persian support against Athens late in the Peloponnesian War?
A: Sparta.
Alexander and the Hellenistic Interlude
Q: Which Macedonian king invaded the Achaemenid Empire in 334 BCE?
A: Alexander the Great.
Q: Who was the final Achaemenid king?
A: Darius III.
Q: What was Alexander's first major victory over Persian forces in Asia Minor?
A: The Battle of the Granicus.
Q: At which 333 BCE battle did Darius III flee Alexander?
A: Issus.
Q: What 331 BCE battle broke Achaemenid power decisively?
A: Gaugamela.
Q: Which Phoenician island city resisted Alexander for seven months?
A: Tyre.
Q: What happened to Persepolis after Alexander captured it?
A: Its palace complex was burned.
Q: Who killed Darius III while fleeing east?
A: Bessus and fellow conspirators.
Q: Which successor dynasty ruled much of Iran after Alexander?
A: The Seleucid dynasty.
Q: Who founded the Seleucid Empire?
A: Seleucus I Nicator.
Q: What culture spread through Seleucid cities?
A: Hellenistic Greek culture.
Q: Which Central Asian satrapy became an independent Greek kingdom?
A: Bactria.
Q: What Iranian-speaking people rose southeast of the Caspian Sea?
A: The Parthians.
Q: Who founded the Arsacid dynasty?
A: Arsaces I.
Q: Around what year did Arsaces seize Parthia?
A: 247 BCE.
The Parthian Empire
Q: What dynasty ruled the Parthian Empire?
A: The Arsacid dynasty.
Q: Which king greatly expanded Parthian territory in the second century BCE?
A: Mithridates I.
Q: What city on the Tigris became a major Parthian capital?
A: Ctesiphon.
Q: What older city stood across the Tigris from Ctesiphon?
A: Seleucia.
Q: What cavalry archers' maneuver gave us the phrase Parthian shot?
A: Firing backward while retreating.
Q: What heavily armored cavalry formed Parthia's striking force?
A: Cataphracts.
Q: Which Roman commander invaded Parthia and died at Carrhae?
A: Marcus Licinius Crassus.
Q: In what year was the Battle of Carrhae?
A: 53 BCE.
Q: Which Parthian commander defeated Crassus?
A: Surena.
Q: Which Roman emperor recovered standards lost by Crassus through diplomacy?
A: Augustus.
Q: Which Roman emperor captured Ctesiphon in 116 CE?
A: Trajan.
Q: What trade network enriched Parthia between Rome and China?
A: The Silk Road.
Q: How was Arsacid rule less centralized than Achaemenid rule?
A: Power was shared with noble families and client kings.
Q: Which Armenian king was installed by Parthia, intensifying rivalry with Rome?
A: Tiridates I.
Q: Who overthrew the last Arsacid king in 224 CE?
A: Ardashir I.
The Sasanian Revival
Q: Who founded the Sasanian Empire?
A: Ardashir I.
Q: Which Arsacid king did Ardashir defeat?
A: Artabanus IV.
Q: Which Sasanian king captured Roman emperor Valerian?
A: Shapur I.
Q: At what battle was Valerian captured in 260 CE?
A: Edessa.
Q: Which rock relief site shows Shapur triumphing over Roman emperors?
A: Naqsh-e Rostam.
Q: What was the principal Sasanian capital?
A: Ctesiphon.
Q: Which king is remembered as Anushirvan, meaning immortal soul?
A: Khosrow I.
Q: What academy flourished at Gundeshapur?
A: A center of medicine and learning.
Q: Which Byzantine emperor fought Khosrow I and concluded the Eternal Peace?
A: Justinian I.
Q: Which Sasanian king captured Jerusalem in 614?
A: Khosrow II.
Q: Which Byzantine emperor reversed Khosrow II's conquests?
A: Heraclius.
Q: Who was the last Sasanian king?
A: Yazdegerd III.
Q: What 636 battle opened much of Iraq to Arab Muslim armies?
A: Al-Qadisiyyah.
Q: What 642 battle was called the Victory of Victories by Arab sources?
A: Nahavand.
Q: In what year did Yazdegerd III die, conventionally ending the empire?
A: 651 CE.
Faith, Art, and Lasting Legacies
Q: Which religion was closely associated with Sasanian kingship?
A: Zoroastrianism.
Q: Who is the supreme god in Zoroastrianism?
A: Ahura Mazda.
Q: What sacred Zoroastrian texts are called the Avesta?
A: The religion's collection of scriptures.
Q: What sacred element was kept burning in fire temples?
A: Fire.
Q: Which prophet founded Manichaeism under the Sasanians?
A: Mani.
Q: Which Sasanian king initially protected Mani?
A: Shapur I.
Q: What monumental vaulted hall survives at Ctesiphon?
A: The Taq Kasra.
Q: What type of silver vessel is a hallmark of Sasanian luxury art?
A: Repoussé silver plates and bowls.
Q: What royal activity appears often on Sasanian silver plates?
A: Hunting.
Q: Which textile motifs traveled from Persia into Byzantine and medieval European art?
A: Pearl roundels and paired animals.
Q: What garden term entered English from an Old Persian word meaning enclosure?
A: Paradise.
Q: Which modern holiday celebrates the Persian New Year at the spring equinox?
A: Nowruz.
Q: What board game reached Persia from India and developed into shatranj?
A: Chess.
Q: Which epic by Ferdowsi preserves stories of Iran's legendary kings?
A: The Shahnameh.
Q: What modern country contains the heartland of the ancient Persian empires?
A: Iran.
An Empire-Sized Finish
If you kept Cyrus, Crassus, and Khosrow straight, your history-night credentials are shining. Continue with our Greece trivia or meet more influential figures in famous people trivia.
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