Roman Customs Flashcards
For Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus, which name identified his stirps?
Scipio
What was the storage chest/strongbox for a rich family?
arca
What was the daily visit of a client to his patron?
salutatio
From what material was the toga made during the Republic?
wool
What was the most important grain for the Romans?
wheat
What was the power of the husband over his wife ?
manus
What did the Romans call lunch?
prandium
Which room was a bedroom in the domus?
cubiculum
What was the task of the fullones
clean clothes
Where would a catillus have been found?
bakery
Where was an unburned body placed inside a columbaria ?
sarcophagus
Which family’s men wore only the subligaculum under their togas?
Cethegi
Who was the head slave on an estate?
vilicus
What did Cato call his after dinner party of conversation with drinking?
convivium
What type of meat did the Romans consider to be of the poorest quality?
goat
Which gens used the praenomen Mamercus ?
Aemilian
How many balls were used in trigon?
2
What was the property of a slave or child?
peculium
What was the favorite item of jewelry for Roman women?
pearl
What were the starting stalls at a circus?
carceres
Originally cognati within ____ degrees of consanguinity were not supposed to marry.
6
What did a fritillus hold?
dice
On which hill was the Casa Romuli located?
Palatine
What was the most common type of racing chariot?
quadrigae
Which item would a Roman NOT put in a salad?
A. lettuce B. cress C. tomato D. mallow
C. tomato
The power of a father over his son was terminated when the son became __.
the flamen dialis
When was the Saturnalia?
December
What were lateres cocti?
bricks
What was the traditional material for an engagement ring?
iron
How much was a man charged to enter a thermae?
1 quadrans
A memorial for a lost body was a/an _____.
cenotaphium
What was the least popular form of theatrical performance?
tragedy
Which officials supervised slave auctions in Rome?
aediles
Which was NOT used in sealing a letter?
A. cera B. linum C. signum D. spatha
D. spatha
Which animal was NOT sacrificed in the suovetaurilia?
A. bull B. sheep C. pig D. horse
D. horse
What was the preferred nationality of a rhetor?
Greek
Which was NOT a chariot faction?
A. russata B. atra C. veneta D. praesina
B. atra
Where did the dextrarum junctio take place?
wedding
What footwear would a laborer wear in the streets of Rome?
caligae
Which vehicle was used for rapid travel with little baggage?
cisium
Who was not an agnate of the paterfamilias?
his emancipated son
How many sides of a talus were counted?
4
In which chair would the patron sit?
solium
During the Republic which class was most involved in collecting taxes?
equestrian
What was the Roman raincoat/overcoat?
paenula
If PVP occurred at the start of a name on a tombstone, it meant the person had ___.
died as an infant
What was a calamus?
pen
Which atrium had more than four supporting columns?
tetrastylon
What toga did the dictator wear?
praetexta
Which was the bottom layer of a Roman road?
statumen
Gaius Cestius was honored by a tomb in the shape of a ___.
pyramid
What were the stepping stones in a street?
pondera
In what commodity did mangones deal?
slaves
Who built the first permanent theater in Rome?
Pompey
Which fruit was the last to be cultivated in Italy?
A. peach B. lemon C. cherry D. pear
B. lemon
Which was NOT worn by a 16-year old male celebrating the Liberalia?
A. tunica recta B. toga pura C. toga praetexta D. toga libera
C. toga praetexta
What was the Roman “ hot tub”?
alveus
Primordia refers to to the first few days of ___.
a child’s life
What color dye came from the murex?
crimson
In which room of the bath were oils rubbed into the skin?
unctorium
For Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus, which name identifies his gens?
Cornelius
Which clan provided its women with a laudatio during the Republic?
Julian
What were the curved upper roof tiles?
imbrices
Who built two wooden theaters which rotated to form an amphitheater?
Curio
Which was NOT used in tyrotarichus?
A. apples B. cheese C. eggs D. fish
A. apples
When was the Liberalia celebrated?
March
Who founded the first public library in Rome?
Pollio
What was the father’s office in the domus?
tablinum
What was the usual color of the border around the neck of a stola?
purple
What was the length of a Roman hour in modern minutes on a midsummer day?
75
During the Republic, gravepits for the poor were located on the ___ Hill.
Esquiline
What type of gladiator would a Samnite most likely have fought?
Thracian
What were the bolts that locked an outer door?
pessuli
How much time did the nundinae encompass?
8 days
How many slaves did Horace say a gentleman must have?
10
For how many centuries after the founding of Rome was divorce unknown?
5
In what year did January become the first month of the year?
153 B. C
What was used as proof of hospitium?
tessera
What was the best kind of bread?
siligneus
Which emperor required widows to remarry?
Augustus
Adrogatio had to be approved by the ____.
comitia curiata
What was the original term for supper?
vesperna
From what wood were the most expensive tables made?
citrus
Who constructed the first naumachia?
Caesar
Which was usually served during the gustus?
eggs
What was the act of a father acknowledging a child as his child?
susceptio
Who were slaves freed before friends but not a magistrate?
Latini Iuniani
What was the general term for a meat market?
macellum
The minimum burial rite required ___ handfuls of dirt.
3
To what height did Augustus limit insulae in Roman feet?
60
What was the origin of a nomen ending in -na?
Etruscan
What article of clothing was a subucula?
tunic
What tool was used to pack down the floor in an early domus?
fistuca
How many circuses were in or near Rome?
6
What was the main ingredient of epityrum?
olives
What was the earliest form of plebeian marriage?
usus
What were horrea?
warehouses
Who gathered the flowers and plants for the bride’s wreath?
the bride
What did a capsa normally contain?
scrolls
Who was the primus palus?
a gladiator
