Collegiate Questions—Novice Flashcards
What duo were stopped by forces led by Lucius Opimius and Scipio Nasica, who opposed the plebeian-favored land reforms proposed by each brother after 133 B.C.?
GRACCHI // TIBERIUS and GAIUS GRACCHUS
B1: The reforms of the Gracchi set the stage for what conflict several decades later, when the Italian colonies demanded citizenship from Rome and went to war in 91 B.C.?
SOCIAL / ITALIAN / MARSIC (WAR)
B2: Gaius Gracchus also passed a law that built the colony of Junonia on what city’s old site?
CARTHAGE
What people won the Battle of Lautulae and were led by Gavius Pontius at a battle where they made an ambushed force of Romans pass under the yoke — Caudine Forks?
SAMNITE(S)
B1: How many wars did the Romans fight against the Samnites?
THREE
B2: Romans were again forced to march under the yoke by what Numidian chieftain, who bribed his way to success in several campaigns until he was defeated by Marius and Sulla?
JUGURTHA
What dictator, whose magister equitum was Minucius Rufus, was known as “the shield of Rome” and cūnctātor for his delaying tactics against Hannibal in the Second Punic War?
(QUINTUS) FABIUS MAXIMUS (CUNCTATOR VERRUCOSUS)
B1: What Roman general was known as the “sword of Rome” for capturing Syracuse in the war?
(MARCUS CLAUDIUS) MARCELLUS
B2: What famous scientist was accidentally killed when the Romans took Syracuse?
ARCHIMEDES
While fighting alongside Fabius Rullianus, who charged towards the Samnites at Sentinum and allowed the Romans to win through a heroic self-sacrifice called a dēvōtiō?
(PUBLIUS) DECIUS MUS
B1: A bizarre account about the emperor Claudius II falsely claims that he committed dēvōtiō to defeat what people? Later members of this people included Alaric and Theodoric.
GOTHS
B2: The emperor Valens actually did die in battle against the Goths, though not in an act of dēvōtiō. At what battle of 378 A.D. did this take place?
(BATTLE OF) ADRIANOPLE
At the Lupercalia, who pointedly refused a crown offered to him by Marc Antony, though his position of “dictator for life” still angered Brutus and Cassius enough to assassinate him?
(GAIUS) JULIUS CAESAR
B1: What region had Caesar nearly completely conquered by 52 B.C., culminating in the defeat of Vercingetorix?
(TRANSALPINE) GAUL // FRANCE
B2: We all know “et tū, Brūte,” but this phrase was Shakespeare’s invention. According to Suetonius, what similar phrase did Caesar actually say during his death? Respond in either English or Greek.
KAI SU, TEKNON / AND YOU, (MY) CHILD / SON?
After his generals won the Second Battle of Bedriacum, what old emperor instituted a tax on public toilets, quipped about becoming a god, and founded the Flavian dynasty?
(TITUS FLAVIUS) VESPASIAN(US)
B1: Vespasian took power at the end of what tumultuous year, succeeding Vitellius?
69 A.D.
B2: Besides Vitellius and Vespasian, name the other rulers in the “Year of the Four Emperors.”
GALBA and OTHO
When reports of a trapped army under Minucius Esquilinus reached Rome in 458 B.C., envoys went to what man’s house and convinced him to leave his plow and become dictator?
(LUCIUS QUINCTIUS) CINCINNATUS
B1: How many days did Cincinnatus serve as dictator before returning to his plow?
15 / 16
B2: What tribe had trapped Minucius’ army on the slopes of Mt. Algidus?
AEQUI(ANS)
What king ordered 11 copies of a shield called the ancīle, had a relationship with the nymph Egeria, and established the cult of the Vestals and the revised Roman calendar?
(NUMA) POMPILIUS
B1: Numa Pompilius was the son-in-law of what important non-Roman leader?
(TITUS) TATIUS
B2: Name the royal residence of the kings that Numa Pompilius supposedly had built.
RĒGIA
Summoned to Italy by the city of Tarentum, who fought battles at Beneventum, Asculum, and Heraclea, winning the latter two but losing so many troops that he could not fight on?
PYRRHUS
B1: Over what Greek kingdom did Pyrrhus rule?
EPIRUS
B2: What type of military unit did Pyrrhus use for the first time in Italy at the Battle of Heraclea, forcing the Romans to invent solutions like flammable weapons?
ELEPHANT(S)
After gaining control of salt pans at Ostia, who built a “wooden bridge” called the Pons Sublicius while serving as the fourth king of Rome after Tullus Hostilius?
ANCUS MARCIUS
B1: What Etruscan originally named Lucumo added one hundred members to the Senate and succeeded Ancus Marcius?
TARQUINIUS PRISCUS
B2: What hill did Ancus Marcius add to Rome, though it is not counted as one of the “seven hills”?
JANICULUM
What emperor saw the four-word phrase in hōc signō vincēs appear in the sky, signaling that he would win at Milvian Bridge in 312 A.D. and convert to Christianity?
CONSTANTINE {I // THE GREAT}
B1: Constantine’s father had been one of the rulers in what political system established a few decades before?
(DIOCLETIAN’S) TETRARCHY
B2: Constantine convened what ecumenical council in Asia in 325 A.D.?
(FIRST COUNCIL OF) NICAEA
What 3-word Latin phrase was finally brought to fruition in 146 B.C. by Scipio Aemilianus after appearing in every speech Cato the Elder made and demanding Carthage’s destruction?
CARTHĀGŌ DĒLENDA EST
B1: Cato the Elder is also known for holding what position in 184 B.C.? Another famous holder of this position was Appius Claudius Caecus.
CENSOR
B2: What other city was sacked by a Roman army in 146 B.C.?
CORINTH
Reigning from 161 to 180 A.D., what emperor co-ruled with Lucius Verus, marked the end of the Five Good Emperors, and wrote Stoic writings commonly called Meditations?
MARCUS AURELIUS
B1: Marcus Aurelius wrote most of the Meditations while campaigning against three foreign tribes beyond the Danube. Name any of them.
MARCOMANNI / QUADI / IAZYGES [OR “SARMATIANS”]
B2: Marcus Aurelius also waged war on the Parthians. What term refers to the pestilence that his soldiers brought back from this campaign, which may have even killed Lucius Verus?
ANTONINE PLAGUE
What emperor supposedly had his soldiers collect seashells during a fake invasion of Britain, tried to make his horse senator, and was known by a nickname that means “little boot”?
CALIGULA / GAIUS
B1: What was the name of Caligula’s prized horse?
INCITATUS
B2: What man was found hiding in the palace by the Praetorian Guard after Caligula’s assassination and was made emperor?
CLAUDIUS
Who had a ring of fire appear around his head as a child, built Rome’s first defensive wall and ran its first census, and was killed by his successor, Tarquinius Superbus?
(SERVIUS) TULLIUS
B1: Who was the mother of Servius Tullius?
OCRISIA
B2: Give the English names for the three animals that were sacrificed at the end of the census in a ritual called the suovetaurilia.
PIG, SHEEP, BULL / COW
