Deck 7: Preparing for the Afterlife During the Early Empire

Question 1

When did Octavian begin construction on his mausoleum?

A) before the Senate awarded him the title of Augustus in 27 BCE
B) in the last decade of his life, around 10 CE
C) immediately after the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE
D) the mausoleum was constructed posthumously, after 14 CE

Answer 1

A

Question 2

What aspect did Augustus's tomb share with the mid-fourth-century BCE tomb of Mausolos at Halikarnassos in Asia Minor?

A) a cubical masonry base
B) the name "mausoleum"
C) a circular plan
D) a burial mound planted with trees

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Augustus most likely chose a tumulus form for his tomb in order to associate himself with

A) Egyptian funerary traditions.
B) the deified Julius Caesar.
C) Etruscan and Republican ancient traditions.
D) a Classicizing, Greek style.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The baker Marcus Vergilius Eurysaces enjoyed heightened social status as a libertus, or

A) military general.
B) senator.
C) consul.
D) freedman.

Question 5

The imagery that decorates the tomb of Marcus Vergilius Eurysaces depicts

A) various bread-making stages representing the vocation of Eurysaces.
B) the social advancement of Eurysaces and his wife, Atistia.
C) Eurysaces's close associations with Marc Antony in Egypt.
D) various Greek mythological figures representing the virtues Eurysaces wished to associate with himself.

Question 6

On funerary reliefs of freedmen, men always wear togas to signify their

A) status as husbands.
B) Roman citizenship.
C) membership in the Senate.
D) former status as slaves.

Question 7

A bulla worn around a boy's neck, such as in the Relief of the Servilii, indicated that

A) he was born a slave, but later freed.
B) he was a slave.
C) he was freeborn.
D) he was born free, but later enslaved.

Question 8

The imagery and inscription on the Relief of the Servilii commemorates

A) the wealth of the Servilii family gained in the slave trade.
B) the acquisition of slaves by the Servilii household.
C) the social advancement of the Servilii into the Roman Senate.
D) the progress of the Servilii family from slavery to freedom.

Question 9

The most common type of relief format on the tombs of freedmen was

A) a highly individualistic and unique frieze that did not follow a standard format.
B) a narrative frieze showing the occupation of the deceased.
C) a narrative frieze in a Classicizing style.
D) a horizontal row of bust-length portraits.

Question 10

In art, the equation of size and rank is called

A) linear perspective
B) manumission
C) hierarchy of scale
D) damnatio memoriae

Question 11

The portrait bust reliefs of freedmen emulate what part of patrician society?

A) the shrines to local deities in patrician homes
B) the imagines of the ancestors in patrician homes
C) the senatorial status of important patrician families
D) the achievement of the rank of augustalis

Question 12

All of the following are characteristics of plebeian art during the Late Republic and Early Empire EXCEPT

A) it always sought to emulate the Classical style in both style and subject matter.
B) it commonly contained ambiguous spatial relationships.
C) it often used hierarchy of scale.
D) it could show both living and deceased people in the same scene.

Question 13

The epitaphs on Roman tombs such as that of Publius Vesonius Phileros often requested passersby to

A) commit crimes against the enemies of the deceased.
B) pray for the salvation and blessing of the deceased in the afterlife.
C) offer money at the local temple in the deceased's honor.
D) linger at the tomb and reflect on the life of the deceased.

Question 14

In general, tombs of the Late Republican and Early Imperial period embody what core characteristic of Roman art?

A) the dependence of Roman art on copying sculptural masterpieces from Greece
B) the reliance of Roman art on Etruscan precedents
C) the mixing of different styles and pictorial modes within the same work
D) the uniformity and static quality of Roman art

Question 15

Petronius's fictional character Trimalchio provides insight into

A) the funeral procession of Augustus that took place in the Forum Romanum.
B) the appearance of Late Republican and Early Imperial elite tombs.
C) the medical practices surrounding the embalming of the deceased.
D) the divination rituals that took place at Late Republican and Early Imperial tombs.

Question 16

Describe the original appearance and architectural influences of the Mausoleum of Augustus.

Question 17

Discuss at least two examples of monumental tombs from the Augustan period, and explain what the imagery can reveal about the patrons.

Question 18

Explain where monumental tombs tended to be located and why they were located there.

Question 19

Discuss the significance of the imagery used in the tomb of the baker Marcus Vergilius Eurysaces.

Question 20

Discuss the ways in which Roman freedmen celebrated their status on their funerary monuments.

Question 21

Explain how the portrait relief of the Servilii commemorates the family's advancement in Roman society.

Question 22

Discuss how social standing and artistic taste could be linked in Augustan society.

Question 23

Describe the forms and functions of funerary portrait reliefs of freedmen.

Question 24

Explain how social and familial relationships were portrayed on funerary monuments of the Augustan era.

Question 25

Discuss the disparity of artistic styles that occurs in the Tomb of the Haterii.

Question 26

Explain how plebeian art diverged from the Classicizing style that Augustus promoted.

Question 27

Discuss what Petronius's fictional character Trimalchio reveals about funerary monuments of the Augustan era.

Question 28

Personal taste played very little part in the standardized form of monumental tombs during the Augustan period.

Question 29

Portraits of husbands and wives were rare on the tombs of freedmen during the Augustan period.

Question 30

The Mausoleum of Augustus most closely resembled the monumental tumuli of the Etruscans.