Stages 1-7 Culture Questions

Question 1

In what country and town does Caecilius and his family live?

Answer 1

In the town of Pompeii in Italy

Question 2

How many names does a Roman citizen have?

Answer 2

Three: personal name, clan name, and family name

Question 3

What was the Latin word for the door of a house?

Answer 3

ianua

Question 4

What was the main room of the house called?

Answer 4

atrium

Question 5

What were the compluvium and impluvium?

Answer 5

The compluvium was the opening in the roof for light, air, and rain to come through; the impluvium was the shallow pool underneath which collected the rainwater.

Question 6

What was the lararium?

Answer 6

A small shrine at which the family gods were worshipped

Question 7

What was the Latin name for the study?

Answer 7

tablinum

Question 8

What were the peristylium and the hortus?

Answer 8

The colonnaded courtyard and the garden

Question 9

What was the garment for Roman male citizens?

Answer 9

Toga

Question 10

What was the name of the woman’s garment?

Answer 10

Stola

Question 11

What was the tunica?

Answer 11

A short-sleeved shirt worn by men

Question 12

What was the main marketplace called?

Answer 12

the forum

Question 13

What was the cena?

Answer 13

The main meal of the day

Question 14

What utensil that we use regularly did the Romans lack?

Answer 14

the fork

Question 15

What room was the triclinium?

Answer 15

The dining room (the room with ‘three couches’

Question 16

Who were the Lares?

Answer 16

The guardian spirits that the Romans worshipped; the Romans believed that the Lares looked after their households

Question 17

What was a basilica in the Forum?

Answer 17

A lawcourt

Question 18

List three things that a Roman slave couldn’t do.

Answer 18

Get married, own personal possessions, get protection from the law, make their own decisions

Question 19

What was the Latin term for the master of the house?

Answer 19

Dominus

Question 20

How could a Roman slave earn his freedom?

Answer 20

a reward for good service, as a sign of friendship and respect, buy his freedom, be freed in his master’s will

Question 21

What does the term manumission mean?

Answer 21

the act of freeing of a slave, literally freeing from the hand

Question 22

Who was a libertus?

Answer 22

A freedman, an ex-slave

Question 23

What was a female slave called?

Answer 23

liberta

Question 24

Where were many tombs of the dead located?

Answer 24

On roads outside of towns

Question 25

Since admission to the theater was free, who paid for the performances?

Answer 25

Wealthy citizens paid for the performances to gain popularity often for political reasons

Question 26

How long did the performances last?

Answer 26

They lasted all day

Question 27

What was a pantomime?

Answer 27

A popular mixture of opera and ballet.

Question 28

Who played comic actors and what did they wear on their faces?

Answer 28

Males and they wore familiar character masks