King Edmund and the Danes d 869 (18)

1. Draw a picture of a Viking ship

2. Where is East Anglia?

East Anglia is the eastern part of England, today chiefly Suffolk and Norfolk and parts of Cambridgshire adn Essex

3. Why was Edmund a brave king?

Because he was willing to die rather than to renoounce his Christian faith.

Chapters with alternative titles

Intentionally or not there are discrepancies between the Chapter headings and the headings on the infographics in 25 of the 45 Chapters. Many of these are slight (The Egyptians/The People of Egypt) or offer descriptions (Saint Aidan/A Humble Christian). The biggest difference is perhaps 40. The Friend of the Climbing Boys/The Working Man's Friend

2. The Egyptians/The People of Egypt

3. Hammurabi/The people of Babylon

5. Phoenician Sailors/The Phoenicians

6. Athens and Sparta/Greeks and Persians

8. How Horatius held the bridge/Horatius

9. Hannibal crosses the Alps/A Great General

12. King Arthur and his knights/King Arthur

16. Saint Aidan/A Humble Christian

17. Caedmon the Cowherd/Our first poet

18. King Edmund and the Danes/King Edmund

19. King Alfred the Great/King Alfred

20. Two Great Sailors/Viking Sailors

22. Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury/

The King and the Archbishop

25. King John and the Great Charter/The Great Charter

27. Marco Polo/A Great Traveller

28. William Wallace/A Brave Scotsman

30. Queen Philippa and the Men of Calais/The Men of Calais

31. Cardinal Wolsey/The King and the Cardinal

32. Sir Walter Raleigh/A Sailor at Court

36. The Black Hole of Calcutta/Trouble in India

37. George Washington/A Great American

38. A Blind Roadmaker/John Metcalfe

39. The Battle of Trafalgar/A Great Sea Battle

40. The Friend of the Climbing Boys/The Working Man's Friend

Athens and Sparta/Greeks and Persians (6)

1. Tell how the Greeks defeated the Persians

The famous Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC. The battle was between the Greeks and the Persians. A Spartan runer (named Phaedippides) famously ran 135 miles to get help at one point but to no avail. The Spartans did not want to help the Athenians at this time. Somehow, despite being vastly outnumbered the AThenians were able to hold off the Persians and they retreated. The Athenian army seems to have failed at its centre at first but then the wings were able to force back the Persians leading to their rout and theur retreat to their ships.

2. How did the Spartans hold uop the Oersians in the mountains

The Persians then returned with an even larger army and this time the Athenians and Spartans co-operated. At one point the Spartans held the Persians in a mountain pass.A traitor showed the Persians another way to get through and so the Spartans ended up surrounded. They bravely fought on, however, until every one of their soldiers wsa dead. Although the Persians defeated the SPartan army they were unable to overcome the Athenian navy and again had to return hime defeated.

3. What is a 'maathon' race? How did it get it name?

A marathon is, of course, a long distance running race. The standard distance is 26.2 miles. Its name is from what happened at the battle mentioned above. Marathon is about 25 miles from Athens, hence the distance, although it is clear from Herodotus that the journey was much, much longer. It took two dys to run. When the modern Olympic Games were established in 1896, the legend inspired the creation of the marathon footrace to commemorate the historical run. The exact distance of the race varied in its early years but was officially standardised to the current distance during the 1908 London Olympics, so that the finish line could be placed directly in front of the Royal Family's viewing box at White City Stadium.

And One More

 

Yet More DoG Fun

 

Hannibal on an Elephant

Attributed to Nicolas Poussin, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

 

A Great General - Hannibal 247-c 181 BC Crosses the Alps (9)

1. From whch city did Hannibal come?

Hannibal was from Carthage in North Africa, an important trading hub, and a town already mentioned in the book in the chapter on the Phoenicians. Today it is in Tunisia.

2. Why did Hannibal use elephants?

Purton suggests that it was simply for the height they gave enabling Hannibal's soldiers to shoot down on the Romans. Other sources suggest that they were a powerful psychological weapon, their strangeness and their monstrous size and scent being likely to break enemy morale instantly. The elephants would be driven directly into enemy infantry lines to shatter their tight, organised formations, creating gaps for Hannibal's soldiers to exploit. Their sight, smell and terrifying sound would have caused Roman and allied horses to bolt, neutralising the Romans' mounted units. During Hannibal's infamous trek over the Alps in 218 BC the formidable appearance of the elephants helped deter raids from hostile local tribes.

3. Pretend you are Hannibal and tell of your adventures

Having consulted with my men, I decided that the best way to surprise the Romans and overpower them was to come at them from the north, over the alps, in order to catch them by surprise. It took months of preparation and a long time to get to the point of attack but it was a good strategy and when they first saw us, especially the elephants, they were clearly terrified. However, they are a powerful nation and after a while they readjusted and they were able in the end to defeat us.