Deck 6: The Augustan Principate

Question 1

Most scholars believe that the relief on the Belvedere Altar represents Julius Caesar's ____________, or ascent to Heaven as a god.

A) adlocutio
B) sestertius
C) damnatio memoriae
D) apotheosis

Answer 1

D

Question 2

In Rome, Octavian was referred to with all of the following titles EXCEPT

A) princeps
B) Augustus
C) deus
D) divi filius

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Through Augustus's reorganization of the Forum Romanum, the temple of ____________ became the centerpiece of the symbolic heart of Rome.

A) Divus Iulius
B) Venus Genetrix
C) Jupiter Optimus Maximus
D) Mars Ultor

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Augustus's addition of the Parthian arch to the Forum Romanum celebrated

A) the capture and public execution of the Parthian king.
B) the negotiated return of the Roman military standards from the Parthians.
C) the capture and humiliating procession of the Parthian king through the streets of Rome.
D) a bloody, hard-fought victory over the Parthian armies.

Question 5

The Temple of Mars Ultor in the Forum Augustum commemorated

A) Mars's aid to Augustus in pursuing Caesar's assassins.
B) the negotiated return of the Roman military standards from the Parthians.
C) Augustus's divine lineage through Julius Caesar.
D) the apotheosis of Augustus.

Question 6

Augustus famously boasted that he "found Rome a city of ____________ and left it a city of ____________."

A) marble; brick
B) brick; concrete
C) brick; marble
D) concrete; marble

Question 7

The imagery in the statue of Augustus from Primaporta includes references to all of the following EXCEPT

A) Classical Greek statuary.
B) the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra.
C) Augustus's divine descent from Venus.
D) the Parthians' return of the Roman military standards.

Question 8

Augustus's title princeps meant

A) "commander-in-chief."
B) "deified mortal."
C) "son of a god."
D) "first citizen."

Question 9

Portraits of Augustus and his wife Livia exhibit similarities in their

A) portrayal of youthful, idealized features derived from Greek deities.
B) veristic style that celebrated wisdom and virtue.
C) combination of veristic portraiture with heroic nudity.
D) resemblance to Archaic Etruscan sculpture.

Question 10

The processional friezes of the north and south sides of the Ara Pacis Augustae were inspired by

A) scenes of religious sacrifice in Etruscan tombs.
B) the processional frieze of the Parthenon in Athens.
C) the apotheosis scene on the Belvedere Altar.
D) the summi viri series in the Forum Augustum.

Question 11

The processional frieze of the Ara Pacis Augustae depicts

A) a quadrennial event with allegorical figures.
B) a generic event attended by founding heroes.
C) a specific event with recognizable figures.
D) a mythological event by Olympian deities.

Question 12

The Theater of Marcellus combined elements of

A) Greek-style sculptural friezes and Roman subject matter.
B) Etruscan temple plans and Republican theaters.
C) Tuscan and composite engaged columns.
D) Doric, Ionic, and probably Corinthian architectural orders.

Question 13

In the Second Style Room of the Masks in the House of Augustus, the mural painters used all of the following techniques to suggest illusionistic space EXCEPT

A) atmospheric perspective.
B) linear perspective.
C) representation of cast shadows from a theoretical source of light.
D) painting the walls to resemble marble revetment.

Question 14

Third Style Roman mural painters abandoned illusionistic backgrounds in favor of predominately ____________ backgrounds.

A) scaenae frons
B) sacro-idyllic
C) monochromatic
D) atmospheric

Question 15

Vitruvius's influential treatise, dedicated to Augustus, was entitled

A) De architectura.
B) Aeneid.
C) Ara Pacis.
D) Metamorphoses.

Question 16

Discuss how coins were used in Augustus's political propaganda.

Question 17

Explain the ways in which Augustus referred to his divine lineage through art and architecture.

Question 18

Describe Augustus's reorganization and embellishment of the Forum Romanum.

Question 19

Discuss how the Forum Augustum facilitated Augustus's propagandistic goals.

Question 20

Discuss how members of the imperial family were represented in portraiture compared to Augustus.

Question 21

What was the Res Gestae, and what does it tell about building projects during the Augustan principate?

Question 22

Explain the use of mythological and allegorical subjects on the Ara Pacis Augustae.

Question 23

Describe how Augustus made references to the Golden Age of Athens in his artistic commissions.

Question 24

Discuss the political and social agendas of the processional frieze on the Ara Pacis Augustae.

Question 25

Describe the various perspective techniques that Roman mural painters used to create the illusion of space and distance.

Question 26

Describe and give examples of the Third Style of Roman mural painting.

Question 27

Discuss the significance of Vitruvius's De architectura.

Question 28

Although Julius Caesar broke with Republican tradition by placing his own portrait on a Roman coin, he also set a precedent that all the Roman emperors would follow.

Question 29

The residences traditionally attributed to Augustus and Livia are both located on the Palatine Hill in Rome.

Question 30

In portraits, Augustus always appeared as emperor, never as participating in the other roles he held such as imperator and pontifex maximus.