text: [Themes: edutainment, quiz]
  
  Oh man! At least the last time Chronos landed you somewhere in time before a battle, now he has put you right in the middle of it!!! There is panick around you: cries of suffering, cries of anger, mutilated bodies, blood, the clashing of spears, shields and swords. You are being pushed side to side and quickly duck as the arm of the soldier in front of you is raised in order to deliver a blow. You are surrounded by Romans - you immediately recognize their outfits - but as the Roman in front of you falls to the ground with a gargling blood-spitting cry, you quickly notice that you are faced by some frightening warriors. Judging by their crude, scruffy look, their long trousers, long shirts and long swords they are auxilia from Gaul. One of them, in a rage, comes at you, thirsty for your blood and raising his sword yet again in order to deliver you a killing blow. In reaction, you grab the shield of the bleeding Roman at your feet and raise it above your head, just in time to par the blow of the Gallic warrior. But he keeps on hitting you with great force, forcing you on your knees!
  
  "Hurry Chronos...", you cry, "...give me your question before I am beaten to a pulp!!!!"
  
  Sorry participant, it was not my intention to land you right in the middle of the Battle of Cannae in 216 B.C. and certainly not on the Roman side which is now being surrounded by Hannibal and his allies. But hey...I'm not perfect either.
  
  Quickly...answer me the following: which of the following is NOT a Carthaginian victory during the 2nd Punic War (218-201 B.C.)?
  
  > Battle of the Metaurus
  You have answered correctly: The Battle of Metaurus in 207 B.C. was a Carthaginian defeat and a pivotal battle of the 2nd Punic War. It was fought near the Metauro river in Pesaro, north-eastern Italy. Hannibal's brother, Hasdrubal had been asked to come to his brothers aid from Spain. Hasdrubal was to take with him reinforcements, elephants and siege engines so that Hannibal could finally advance upon Rome - he was getting demoralized of Rome's tenacity to supply troops and continue the war. Unfortunately, Rome knew that Hasdrubal was arriving over the Alps to link up with his brother and immediately sent out troops to prevent this. Hasdrubal was suprised by the arrival of two Roman armies led by Marcus Salinator and Gaius Nero. The Carthaginian commander was not prepared, nor were his troops. Hasdrubal was severely defeated, his head severed from his body and thrown into Hannibal's camp. This defeat left Hannibal stranded in Italy, powerless to bring Rome to its knees...
  
  Alright, let me get you out of there, I believe you already have enough of the battle of Cannae although you've only been there for 5 minutes. The Gallic warrior is bashing your shield to pieces...what a dissapointment it will be for the poor guy when he notices that there is nobody under the shield anymore...all that cleaving for nothing ;-)
  
  > jump into time...
  Ouch! You land uncomfortably in some branches, tearing some of your clothes in the process. Well, you are sitting safely in the sturdy branches of a tree and for once it seems that there is no immediate danger around you. Chronos seems to have finally given you a break. You look around you and see much activity some 300 yards away and even below, underneath you. In the distance hundreds of people are building and raising scaffolds, carrying heavy stones, wood and earth. They are building a wall which already stretches over the hill with watchtower in the distance. Now it becomes clear to you: you are gazing upon the construction of the Great Wall of China! Since no bricks are being used but stone and rammed earth instead you can conclude that this wall must be the original construction ordered by the first Emperor of China between 220 and 206 B.C. It looks much less robust and impressive then the wall that still stands in the 21st century. You are relaxing in the tree for about 10 minutes gazing at the workers - which, you observe, are treated pretty harshly by their foremen and the soldiers - when suddenly the grey clouds above you release a torrent of icy rain. Great, just great! You are drenched in no time...
  
  You are correct contestant! You have arrived in China and have made only a tiny jump in time from the battle of Cannae: it is the spring of 214 B.C. It is indeed the Great Wall of China that is being built before your eyes but can you tell me which dynasty is currently ruling over China?
  
  > Qin Dynasty
  That is 100% correct! It is the Qin Dynasty that is currently ruling China in 214 B.C. It would last only from 221 to 206 B.C. or from the rise to power of Zhao Zheng [or as Emperor: Qin Shi Huang] until four years after his death. It was the creation of one man only. It was the state of Qin which would emerge victorious from the period of the Seven Warring states in 475 B.C. after the fall of the Zhou Dynasty. After uniting all of China under his banner Emperor Qin Shi Huang started some major economic (standarizing units of measurement and Chinese script) and political reforms in order to prevent the division of his Empire. He engaged himself in the realization of some great building projects such as the Great Wall, which served to keep the northern Xiongnu tribes out. Another of remnant of Qin Shi Huang's legacy which can still be seen today is his mausoleum, guarded by his famous Terracotta Army. On the other side, culturally his rule was a conservative one as he had all schools of thought closed and many scientific and history books burned.
  
  I'm surprised...you are almost halfway! Time to get you out of the rain before you catch an pneumonia. Wouldn't that be a pity?
  
  > Round and round the time will go...
  ...where it stops nobody will know!!!
  
  You find yourself in a barren, rocky landscape and completely on your own. Seeing some smoke in the air in the distance behind a hill you head towards it. You soon look down upon what once - judging by its walls - was a fairly large town that recently has been sacked and now lies almost entirely in ashes. At first glance it seems to be completely deserted. Urged on by your historical curiosity you head down the hill and approach the remains of the settlement. Already from a distance you were aware that recently a violent event had taken place here, but nothing prepared you for what you would get to see once you got close to the walls. Sure there are mutilated corpses lying around in great numbers - which is normal after a siege - but a nauseating feeling gets hold of you once you see a heap of heads surrounded by swarms of flies. Who, in his right mind would commit such atrocities? Further on, you immediately turn away when you notice a burning pyre with char coaled bodies - bodies of children! The smell of these burning bodies make you vomit. As you quickly walk away from these gruesome sights, you freeze when, in the distance, you see a group of horsemen. They are about a dozen in number and have some wretched prisoners with them. It's obvious that they have seen you wandering around also because a few of them break away from the group and head towards you in a gallop...
  
  Yes dear participant! You don't want to end up in the hands of those light cavalrymen. They are the scouts of an ancient King and, next to Ivan the Terrible, probably one of the greatest sickoo's in the history of the world. With much pride he would let the following be inscribed on the walls of his palace: "their men young and old I took prisoners. Of some I cut off their feet and hands. Of others I cut off ears and noses and lips. Of the young men's ears I made a heap. Of the old men's heads I made a marinet. I exposed their heads as a trophy in front of their city. The male children and the female children I burned in flames. The city I destroyed and consumed with fire"
  
  Obviously, you don't want to mess around with him or his men. Who is this 'great' king? And I'll give you another tip: You are in north-eastern Iraq in the year 881 B.C.
  
  > Ashurnasirpal II
  Thank goodness for you, that this is a good answer time traveler. Ashurnasirpal II currently reigns over Mesopotamia in 881 B.C. At this moment he has been on the throne of the Neo-Assyrian Empire for two years and has embarked on a number of campaigns to subdue revolts in the northern provinces. The brutality he showed in dealing with the insurgents refrained neighboring states from messing with him, allowing him to embark on a vast program of expansion. He either forced his neighbours to become his vassal or extracted tribute from them for their independence. Ashurnasirpal was the first king in history to make extensive use of cavalry and chariots, allowing his army to move quickly from one region to another. He moved his capital to the city of Kalhu (Nimrud) and built his Grand Palace there with the help of slave labor. The king was also a shrewd administrator, installing Assyrian governors in the far edges of his Empire instead of making use of local client rulers. He occupied the lands he conquered through assimilation and deportation, the latter a practice also used by the Hittites. Ashurnasirpal died in 859 B.C. and was succeeded by his son Shalmaneser III.
  
  Well, well, you don't quit surprising me contestant...however, the end is not in sight yet! Be glad that you don't end up stuck here though...you would have lost a tongue, an eye, a hand or even maybe your head!
  
  > move on...
  You are warped to Syracuse, Sicily...
  
  It's a cloudy and windy day and it's 472 B.C. Your first thought is one of wonder as you try to understand why you've ended up there as you can't recall a specific historic event taking place in Sicily around that period in time. You find yourself standing upon a hill which decends into a theater hewn into the side of the hill. Since the top is covered by trees and bushes you decide to take a closer look. It seems like the entire population of Syracuse has gathered at the theater since it is packed with people. A play is being performed below. You can see a woman - or a man dressed as a woman - lamenting at a tomb when suddenly a second actor appears on stage, dressed as a ghost. From such a distance it must have been hard to hear what the play was about and what was being said if not for the chorus, a group of 50 individuals, interacting with the two actors in verse and song.
  
  Now while resting at the base of an apple tree and eating an apple while enjoying the Greek tragedy, answer me the following dear contestant: Many Greeks have fought the Persian invaders during the Greco-Persian Wars between 499 and 479 B.C. As a history buff you will probably know some, if not most, of all the major commanders, politicians and naval commanders of this war. However, you may not know that a famous Greek fought as a common soldier at Marathon in 490 B.C., Salamis in 480 B.C. and Plateae in 479 B.C. Who was this famous Greek soldier?
  
  > Pythagoras of Samos
  No, it was not the mathematician Pythagoras of Samos. He was born around 570 B.C. and thus would have been much too old to fight as a common soldier in the Greco-Persian War. Pythagoras is most famously known for his geometric Pythagorean theory which states that in a right-angled triangle the area of the square on the hypotenuse - the side opposite the right angle - is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares of the other two side. The formula is known today as follows: A²+B² = C². At the age of 40, Pythagoras moved to Crotone in Calabria in southern Italy to set up his school, which was based on scientific and philosophic thought intermingled with a mystical cult. Pythagoras quickly gained a large following and in time became active in regional politics. An influential politician that was excluded from the brotherhood, Cylon, roused the local populace against Pythagoras. This led to his downfall and that of his sect.
  
  Well, seems like you will be able to follow the Greek tragedy 'The Persians' till the very end as I will be leaving you here on Sicily in 472 B.C. Let's be honest, of all the places and periods you've visited until now, this is not the worst place to be stranded.