Deck 5: Classical Rome: From Republic to Empire

Question 1

For the first two hundred years after the overthrow of the Etruscan kings, the Roman republic was

A) violent and volatile, ruled by patricians.
B) peaceful and agricultural.
C) ruled by military orders dominated by plebeians.
D) ruled by the plebeian-dominated Senate.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The Pax Romana differed from the Hellenistic world in which of the following ways?

A) It extended much farther to the east.
B) It extended much farther to the west.
C) It was less uniformly prosperous.
D) It was more a collection of political entities than a unified empire.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

At the battle of Actium, the Romans gained final control of the Hellenistic world by defeating the

A) last of the Antigonids.
B) last of the Ptolemies.
C) last of the Seleucids.
D) forces of Pergamum.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Romans thought of themselves as

A) simple and practical.
B) metropolitan and exotic.
C) a powerful mix of many foreign cultures.
D) a nation of soldiers and businessmen.

Question 5

The earliest Roman kings were actually

A) Sicilian.
B) Etruscan.
C) Greek.
D) Carthaginian.

Question 6

After Italy was conquered, Rome's chief rival in the Mediterranean during its rise to power was

A) Carthage.
B) Egypt.
C) Macedonia.
D) Judea.

Question 7

Which of the following was NOT among the core values or characteristics that the Romans ascribed to themselves?

A) duty
B) discipline
C) sacrifice
D) pride

Question 8

Between 264 and 146 BCE, Rome fought the three Punic Wars against which Mediterranean power?

A) Carthage
B) Egypt
C) Macedonia
D) Judea

Question 9

What was the role of the paterfamilias in the Roman household?

A) near-total life-and-death authority over the family
B) generally a benevolent guide to familial interactions with society
C) a relatively equal partner with the matron of the household
D) an arbiter of justice and major family decisions, but otherwise subordinate to the matron

Question 10

What does Etruscan writing tell us about its people?

A) that the Etruscans experimented with democratic rule
B) that the Etruscans lacked a strong religious theology
C) that the Etruscans were a warlike people
D) very little, because it has not been deciphered

Question 11

A major client responsibility in the patron-client relationship was to

A) look out for the patron's legal needs.
B) provide for the patron's economic needs.
C) support patrons politically.
D) provide military defense for a patron.

Question 12

The plebeians' greatest bargaining strength against the patricians stemmed from

A) plebeian landowning and wealth.
B) the patrician need for agricultural neighbors.
C) the patrician need for manpower to fight wars.
D) the sheer force of their numbers.

Question 13

Roman religion began with

A) adoption of the Greek pantheon of gods.
B) the gods of the household.
C) the mystery cults of the Hellenistic world.
D) adoption of the cult of Isis from Egypt.

Question 14

The Roman "New Men" were

A) plebeians that gained enormous wealth and bought political power.
B) plebeians that rose to the ranks of patricians.
C) young members of the senate.
D) upstart military commanders that gained political power.

Question 15

One result of the struggle between the patricians and the plebeians in the early years of the Roman Republic was

A) the installation of a city-state government.
B) an overthrow of the patricians.
C) a sharing of the patricians' power with the plebeians.
D) abolition of the Roman senate.

Question 16

Roman families tended to have

A) a few sons and no more than one daughter.
B) a few daughters and one inheritor son.
C) large numbers of children, with an equal number of sons and daughters.
D) large numbers of children, often with more daughters than sons.

Question 17

The chief purpose of Roman religion was to

A) ensure entrance into the afterlife.
B) bring civic benefits and protection to society.
C) give hope to its practitioners.
D) pay respect to ancestors and societal forefathers.

Question 18

Along with his philosophical writing, Cicero is best known today for his

A) erotic poetry.
B) letters.
C) tragedies.
D) histories.

Question 19

Which of the following characterized the Principate initiated by Augustus?

A) general lack of prosperity
B) relatively little warfare
C) institutional stability
D) regular collapse of imperial rule

Question 20

Early Roman writing borrowed most heavily from the

A) Carthaginians.
B) Egyptians.
C) Persians.
D) Greeks.

Question 21

What Hellenistic philosophy made the greatest impact on Rome during and after the second century BCE?

A) Skepticism
B) Epicureanism
C) Stoicism
D) Cynicism

Question 22

Which purpose was NOT served by the forum?

A) gladiatorial contests
B) conducting business
C) running the government
D) socialization

Question 23

The use of tempera was made unnecessary by the adoption of

A) genre subjects.
B) fresco painting.
C) landscape painting.
D) mosaics.

Question 24

Voussoirs were used to

A) shape arches.
B) form aqueducts.
C) hold up the bases of pillars.
D) provide a rectilinear shape to temples.

Question 25

Virgil modeled the Aeneid on

A) Greek idylls.
B) primitive Etruscan poetry.
C) Cicero's personal letters.
D) Homer's epic works.

Question 26

The creation of mosaics was learned by the Romans from the

A) ancient Persians.
B) Hellenistic Greeks.
C) Ptolemaic Egyptians.
D) Hellenic Greeks.

Question 27

Plautus launched a new age of theater in Rome by

A) making tragic Greek theater relevant again.
B) freshening the old plots from Hellenistic New Comedy.
C) developing a new style of political commentary brought forth through drama.
D) introducing completely new character forms that the theater had not seen before.

Question 28

The Roman discovery of the correct mathematical ratio of 1:2 for an aspect of building allowed them to build what construction safely?

A) the keystone
B) the arch
C) the ashlar
D) the voussoir

Question 29

What was the dominant literary theme of the Silver Age?

A) critical views of Roman society and state
B) glorification of the Roman past
C) poetic but trivial focus on life's pleasures
D) celebration of the new multicultural spirit of empire

Question 30

Sculptures in the style of the marble Ara Pacis reached their highest potential as

A) a means of preserving history.
B) beautification tools for cities.
C) propaganda tools.
D) pure expressions of artistic vision.

Question 31

The Romans used two types of artillery: one hurled spears and the other

A) manned catapults.
B) manned battering rams.
C) shot arrows.
D) hurled stones.

Question 32

During the later empire, pantomimes became a symbol of

A) the decadent trend in music.
B) the use of music to promote traditional Roman values.
C) an intersection of New Comedy and music.
D) the desire of the masses for the classical arts.

Question 33

Livy's great accomplishment was

A) popular satirical commentary on Roman politics.
B) the new development of poetic Latin prose.
C) the writing of a massive history of Rome.
D) breathing new life into old Greek and Roman myths and legends.

Question 34

Cicero can be credited with

A) bringing widespread appreciation to the philosophy of foreign cultures.
B) being the boldest philosopher to challenge the Roman state through comedic theater.
C) creating a philosophical vocabulary for Latin.
D) exposing the vapid nature of religion based on the old Greek pantheon of gods.

Question 35

What concept did Stoicism lend to Roman law?

A) equality of the individual under the law
B) service-based law
C) natural law
D) the lawyer as the professional interpreter of the law

Question 36

Horace was well known for helping to create

A) poetic satire.
B) the fiction novel.
C) Roman state creation myths.
D) Roman epic poetry.

Question 37

How did portraiture change under the reign of Augustus?

A) It moved in the direction of busts instead of full-body sculptures.
B) It tended to reject major public or historical figures as subjects.
C) It embraced the realism of the Hellenistic era.
D) It reverted to the idealism of Hellenic Greece.

Question 38

What set Tacitus apart from other Roman historians?

A) the expansive breadth of his histories
B) his criticism of Roman society
C) his focus on contemporary Rome
D) his refusal to stress typical Roman values

Question 39

What signified the end of ancient Stoicism?

A) the rise of Christianity
B) the death of Marcus Aurelius
C) the spread of the cult of Isis
D) the banishment of its followers by the state

Question 40

What did Epictetus advise as part of his philosophy?

A) fighting against one's fate
B) the struggle against troubles as they arise
C) engaging with the world and society in order to affect positive change
D) indifference to material things

Question 41

What did the works of Virgil seek to express, and what was their effect on the Roman people and empire?

Question 42

Describe the duration of the Principate and the state of the empire during its time.

Question 43

Which of the following is true of political participation after 287 BCE?

A) Only patricians could be elected to any office.
B) All Romans (with insignificant exceptions) could be elected to any office.
C) All plebeians could vote, but not all plebeians could run for elected office.
D) All Romans could be elected to any office, but only patricians could vote for them.

Question 44

The paterfamilias was the

A) male in the family with the greatest political influence.
B) male in the family with the most children.
C) oldest living male of a family.
D) firstborn male of the family patriarch.

Question 45

What changes did Augustus (Octavian) make to the Roman state and empire upon becoming emperor?

Question 46

Explain the circumstances under which Hellenistic states fell to the rising Roman Empire.

Question 47

Compare and contrast the political system that developed in Rome with the political systems that prevailed in Alexander's successor states. Why did republicanism evolve in the one and divine kingship in the other?

Question 48

Describe the social dynamic of the Roman family and the power of the paterfamilias.

Question 49

How did Rome acquire the kingdom of Pergamum?

A) It was conquered in a direct takeover.
B) It was willed to Rome by its dying ruler.
C) It collapsed, and Rome stepped in to restore order.
D) It joined Rome in an alliance against eastern powers.

Question 50

Compare and contrast the writings of the Roman poets Lucretius and Catullus. How did they represent different strands of Greek influence on Roman culture?

Question 51

How was the Pontifex Maximus chosen?

A) appointment by the emperor
B) election
C) ascendance through hierarchical promotion
D) dynastic heredity

Question 52

What were the major values embraced by the Roman people? Discuss the role played by agriculture, the family, and religion in shaping Roman civilization.

Question 53

In what ways was Roman religion a product of the blending of its native customs and the religions of the territories it conquered?

Question 54

The priests that observed the flight of birds were the

A) civic priests.
B) pontiffs.
C) augurs.
D) haruspexes.
Essay Questions

Question 55

Discuss the social tensions that divided Rome in its early history. How were these tensions ultimately resolved?