Quiz 3 Identifications

Question 1

Retell briefly some omens foretelling Caligula’s death and then relate how he is assassinated

Answer 1

Coming doom from lightening strikes on the Ides of March, blood splashed on him on the day of his death while sacrificing a flamingo, dreamt of being kicked from the heavens by God’s boot

Left the theater and headed down covered walkway, stopped to look at a group of Trojan boys who were going to participate in games, stabbed in the throat by Cassius Chaerea and in chest by Cornelius Sabinus, people thought it was a trick

Question 2

Explain the importance of Seneca’s Apocolocyntosis (what happens in it and how is Claudius represented?)

Answer 2

Pumpkinification of divine Claudius, Claudius goes into heaven but is sent to the underworld where he gambles and chases die on the floor, nephew Caligula saves him from this fate by making him a law clerk there, satirizes Claudius’ obsession with legal proceedings

Question 3

Evidence of Claudius’ tendency to be manipulated by his wives or freedmen (4 distinct examples)

Answer 3

Agrippina- convinces Claudius to bring Seneca back from exile to be Nero’s tutor and so Seneca can help in brokering Nero’s marriage to Octavia, thereby assuring Nero’s succession as heir to the empire

Narcissus- freedman who is his secretary of Correspondences, to punish/execute Messalina

Pallas and Felix- freedmen who are his treasurer and awarded military commands and the governorship of Judea

Question 4

Description of the March Cybele festival activities of the dies sanguinis ‘day of blood’, the Hillaria, and the Lavatio ‘the washing’

Answer 4

March 24 - Dies Sanguinis: self flagellation with the blood spilling on the tree and altar, self-castration (for some), Taurobolium: baptism in bull’s blood (added in 140 CE)

March 25- Hillaria: day of feasting, carousing, and merriment, celebration reaffirming the resurrection of Attis

March 27- Lavatio: the washing, the bathing or purifying of the cult statue of Cybele in the Almo river (perhaps reenacting the cleansing of the statue when it was first brought from Phrygia in 204 BCE)

Question 5

4 specific examples of Nero’s reckless extravagance (besides the building of the Golden House)

Answer 5

Partying with banquets from noon to midnight with prostitutes and dancing girls, often traveling with 1k carriages with mules shod with silver, wagering 4k gold pieces on each pip of winning throw at dice, spending 8k gold pieces a day on visiting the Armenian king Tiridates and giving him 1 million gold pieces as a parting gift

Question 6

Importance of the Neronia and list of 3 additional public entertainments/games of Nero’s reign

Answer 6

Neronia were games held every 5 years with competitions in music, gymnastics, and horsemanship

Sponsored chariot races in the Circus Maximus, stage plays, gladiatorial games, wild-beast hunts, and a naval battle on an artificial lake

Question 7

4 examples of Domitian’s (or his commander’s) military deeds

Answer 7

Campaigned successfully at the Rhine against the Chatti, governor of Brittanica Agricola crushed the Caledonians at the battle of Mons Graupius, raised military pay by 1/3 and added veteran privileges to them and their families, put down the rebellion of Lucius Antoninus (Governor of Upper Germany)

Question 8

Tacitus’ description of Rome’s great fire in 64 CE, Nero’s immediate reaction, and his way of punishing the Christians for it

Answer 8

Sang the Fall of Troy (Seut and Tacitus) as he watched the inferno engulf the city, punished Christians for it by crucifying them and setting them alight

Question 9

Define ekphrasis and give 2 examples of it in Petronius’ Feast of Trimalchio

Answer 9

A speaking out, a detailed description of a work of art in literature

Frescoes on the wall in Trimalchio’s entry hall showing his advancement from slave to wealthy freedman, zodiac entree with the clod of turf in the center representing the cosmos

Question 10

Characterize Trimalchio including his attitude toward wealth, his own slaves, and morality

Answer 10

Obsessed with morality, used to be a slave but treats his own horribly, recklessly extravagant, treats his wife like a queen

Question 11

Briefly retell Pliny the Younger’s account of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius and the circumstances of his uncle’s death

Answer 11

Tells that uncle wanted to see what was happening, didn’t freak out, took a bath and then a nap, tried to climb the mountain to see clearer, died at edge of the ocean trying to escape

Question 12

4 instances of Nero’s cruelty to family members or ‘friends’

Answer 12

Agrippina the Younger- attempts to kill her with a collapsible boat, she survives and he sends his agents to slay her with swords

Octavia - divorced her, banished her, and later had her executed for adultery

Poppaea Sabina - kicked her to death while pregnant for nagging him about returning late from the races

Seneca - tutor/advisor forced to commit suicide as a traitor

Question 13

Compare and contrast the 2 versions of Britannicus’ death (in Suetonius/Tacitus)

Answer 13

Tacitus: Nero moved against B, employed the poisoner Locusta, first dose failed and Nero said fuck it, B was then poisoned at a dinner party with his sister and a lot of other important people there

Suetonius: Assassin avoids being made by adding poison to Bs drink when he asks for it to be cooled, instantly died, Nero said B died of epilepsy

Question 14

3 instances of Domitian maintaining standards of moral rectitude

Answer 14

3 vestal virgins are put to death for breaking vows of chastity, chief vestal is burned alive, promoted religious festivals especially for Jupiter and Minerva, prosecuted authors who satirized distinguished men and women in their works

Question 15

4 major building projects of Domitian

Answer 15

Completion of Colosseum, temple of Jupiter the Guardian on the Capitoline, Forum of Nerva, Flavian Temple, concert hall

Question 16

Brief description of 2 of the dishes served at Trimalchio’s feast (1 must be boar/cap)

Answer 16

Spartan mastifs bound in, wild boar is brought in wearing freedman’s cap with baskets of dates hanging from its tusks, peahen eggs, when cracked open look like pastries but when unfolded turn into an oriole (bird)

Question 17

Provide an overall description of Nero’s Domus Aurea ‘Golden House’

Answer 17

Place of entertainment, 300 rooms and no sleeping quarter, walls were frescoed with a different theme in each room, covered parts of the Palatine with a man-made lake and a colossal statue of himself at the entrance

Question 18

List of 3 major building projects of Claudius

Answer 18

Finished the aqueduct begun by Caligula, drained the Fucine lake (to reclaim fertile land for cultivation), Excavated and built the harbor at Ostia with a large lighthouse, built a stone aqueduct with lofty arches

Question 19

List of 4 of Claudius’ public entertainments

Answer 19

Instituted annual Circus games on his father Drusus’ birthday, Secular games to mark 800th anniversary of Rome’s founding, Annual gladiatorial games in honor of his first ascension took place in the Praetorian camp where he was first proclaimed emperor, Mock sea-battle staged on Fucine lake before it is drained

Question 20

List of 3 politically motivated marriages for Claudius (and their significance)

Answer 20

Urgulanilla- father won military triumph and was divorced of scandelous behavior and suspicion of murder

Paetina- daughter of ex-consul, divorced for slight offenses

Agrippina the Younger- Mother of Nero, many believed his demise was at her hands

Question 21

Description of the outrages of the Usipi (in Tacitus’ Agricola)

Answer 21

German auxiliaries who rebelled and slew their Roman officers, seized ships and plundered Britain like pirates, resorted to cannibalism when desperate

Question 22

Briefly relate Pliny’s ghost story involving the philosopher Athenodorus

Answer 22

Athenodorus wanted to buy a house, asking price really low, discovered story and bought house, set up his desk and worked, heard chains and saw apparition, told ghost to wait until he was finished, ghost got mad and made a ruckus until Athenodorus followed him, marked spot where ghost disappeared with a leaf and found body buried in chains, had it properly buried