CC 302/347 INTRO TO ANCIENT ROME

Sample Questions for First Quiz


Note: Answer key is provided at the end of this document.

PART 1: Multiple Choice (20%)

Answer all questions.

1. What is the traditional date for the founding of the Roman Republic?

a) 753 BCE; b) 509 BCE; c) 287 BCE; d) 31 BCE

2. Who is credited with inspiring Romans to overthrow the Etruscan kings?

a) Remus; b) Romulus; c) Julius Caesar; d) Lucretia

3. Who is the father of Aeneas?

a) Anchises; b) Ascanius; c) Iulus; d) Hector

4. In which war did Rome gain Sicily?

a) First Carthaginian; b) Second Carthaginian; c) First Macedonian; d) Second Macedonian

5. Which one of the following figures did NOT espouse the cause of the populares?

a) Julius Caesar; b) Gaius Gracchus; c) Marius; d) Sulla

6. What is the term for the "Clever Slave" figure in Roman New Comedy?

a) servus callidus; b) honestior; c) popularis; d) vir sapiens

7. Which of the following generals did NOT march on Rome?

a) Cato the Censor; b) Marius; c) Sulla; d) Caesar

8. What was the property qualification for an equestrian in the late Republic?

a) one horse; b) two horses; c) 400,000 sesterces; d) 1,000,000 sesterces

9. Which one of the following figures came to Rome as a slave?

a) Plautus; b) Virgil; c) Terence; d) Marius

10. What was the name of the general's tent in a Roman military camp?

a) castra; b) concilium plebis; c) munitorium; d) praetorium


PART 2. Historical Sequence (10%)

Number the following events by the order of their historical occurrence, proceeding from earliest to latest

____ Civil War between Caesar and Pompey

____ Expulsion of Etruscan kings

____ Foundation of the Principate by Augustus

____ Civil War between Sulla and Marius

____ Hannibalic War (aka Second Punic War)

____ Attempted land reforms of the Gracchi brothers

PART 3. People (20%)

For THREE of the following people, give their approximate dates and describe briefly what they tried to accomplish and how their actions changed Roman society.

a) Cato the Censor

b) Sulla

c) Julius Caesar

d) Tiberius Gracchus

e) Marc Antony

PART 4. Terms and Concepts (20%)

Briefly define and discuss the significance of THREE of the following.

a) latifundia

b) Dido

c) The Struggle of the Orders

d) First Triumvirate

e) devotio

PART 5. Short Essay Question (30%)

Answer ONE of the following questions. Your answer should be at least one substantial paragraph (approx. 4-5 sentences) in length.

a) What two social institutions or practices tended to lessen tensions between the upper and lower classes in Rome?

b) How did the Roman army contribute to the "Romanization" of the peoples it conquered?

c) How was marriage in the Roman upper classes different from that among the poorer classes?



ANSWER KEY

PART 1: Multiple Choice (20%)

1. What is the traditional date for the founding of the Roman Republic?

a) 753 BCE; b) 509 BCE; c) 287 BCE; d) 31 BCE

2. Who is credited with inspiring Romans to overthrow the Etruscan kings?

a) Remus; b) Romulus; c) Julius Caesar; d) Lucretia

3. Who is the father of Aeneas?

a) Anchises; b) Ascanius; c) Iulus; d) Hector

4. In which war did Rome gain Sicily?

a) First Carthaginian; b) Second Carthaginian; c) First Macedonian; d) Second Macedonian

5. Which one of the following figures did NOT espouse the cause of the populares?

a) Julius Caesar; b) Gaius Gracchus; c) Marius; d) Sulla

6. What is the term for the "Clever Slave" figure in Roman New Comedy?

a) servus callidus; b) honestior; c) popularis; d) vir sapiens

7. Which of the following generals did NOT march on Rome?

a) Cato the Censor; b) Marius; c) Sulla; d) Caesar

8. What was the property qualification for an equestrian in the late Republic?

a) one horse; b) two horses; c) 400,000 sesterces; d) 1,000,000 sesterces

9. Which one of the following figures came to Rome as a slave?

a) Plautus; b) Virgil; c) Terence; d) Marius

10. What was the name of the general's tent in a Roman military camp?

a) castra; b) concilium plebis; c) munitorium; d) praetorium


PART 2. Historical Sequence (10%)

__5__ Civil War between Caesar and Pompey

__1__ Expulsion of Etruscan kings

__6__ Foundation of the Principate by Augustus

__4__ Civil War between Sulla and Marius

__2__ Hannibalic War (aka Second Punic War)

__3__ Attempted land reforms of the Gracchi brothers

PART 3. People (20%)

a) Cato the Censor

  • See Kamm pp. 22-4.

b) Sulla

  • See Kamm pp. 38-39, outline 3, and consult your own notes.

c) Julius Caesar

  • See Kamm pp. 45-48, outline 4, and consult your own notes.

d) Tiberius Gracchus

  • See Kamm pp. 30-33, outline 3, and consult your own notes.

e) Marc Antony

  • See Kamm pp. 49-50, outline 4, and consult your own notes.


PART 4. Terms and Concepts (20%)

Briefly define and discuss the significance of THREE of the following.

a) latifundia

b) Dido

  • See Vergil's Aeneid (books 2-4).

c) The Struggle of the Orders

d) First Triumvirate

e) devotio

PART 5. Short Essay Question (30%)

a) What two social institutions or practices tended to lessen tensions between the upper and lower classes in Rome?

b) How did the Roman army contribute to the "Romanization" of the peoples it conquered?

c) How was marriage in the Roman upper classes different from that among the poorer classes?


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