States Questions—Advanced Flashcards
In which Plautine comedy does the slave Tranio unsuccessfully attempt to deceive everyone into believing that there is a ghost dwelling in the house of the old man Theopropides in order to hide
the love affair of his young master?
MOSTELLARIA
B1: In which Plautine comedy is the slave Palaestrio pitted against Pyrgopolynices, the character whom the title refers to, in what is considered to be one of the Umbrian playwright’s masterpieces?
MILES GLORIOSUS
B2: In which Plautine comedy, differing from the typical plot of a slave tricking his master, does the girl Phronesium cheat and exploit three of her lovers?
TRUCULENTUS
A napkin, a jar of perfume, and a sparrow are all topics of poems by what poet from Verona?
CATULLUS
B1: Which of Catullus’ poems is a translation of Callimachus’ Lock of Berenice?
66
B2: What term is given to Catullus 64 a “little epic” about the marriage of Peleus and Thetis?
EPYLLION
Regarded as the ‘founder of oratory at Rome’ and the ‘father of Latin prose,’ what figure of early Latin literature delivered the first official speech ever published in Rome according to Cicero, which had been given in opposition to the peace proposals of the Epirot ruler, Pyrrhus?
APPIUS CLAUDIUS CAECUS
B1: In what 5-book work of Cicero, which is a discourse on various topics such as death, spiritual disturbances, and virtue as the guarantee of happiness, mentions a carmen of Caecus, demonstrating Caecus’ interest in poetry?
TUSCULANAE DISPUTATIONES // TUSCULAN DISPUTATIONS
B2: While Caecus is regarded as the founder of oratory at Rome, what figure of early Latin literature and consul of 204 BC does Cicero regard as the first great Roman orator?
(M. CORNELIUS) CETHEGUS
The true identities of Perilla, Hostia, Delia, and Lesbia were all revealed in what work of Apuleius delivered in 158 AD?
APOLOGIA
B1: Apologia was a legal speech given by Apuleius as a defence against what charge?
WITCHCRAFT
B2: What name, which is shared with a US state, was given to the collection of Apuleius’ speeches?
FLORIDA
What comedic playwright, born in Sarsina, primarily Romanized Greek plays, such as his Menaechmi and Amphitruo?
PLAUTUS
B1: What was the Latin term for these Romanized Greek plays?
FABULAE PALLIATAE
B2: According to Cicero, who was the first poet to write fabulae palliatae?
LIVIUS ANDRONICUS
The lines “Lugete, o Veneres Cupidinesque,” “Passer, deliciae meae puellae,” “Cui dono lepidum novum libellum,” and “Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus” all begin poems in what Neoteric poet’s Carmina?
CATULLUS’
B1: Who is the subject of the following lines taken from Catullus 1: namque tu solebas meas esse aliquid putare nugas iam tum cum ausus es unus Italorum omne aevum tribus explicare cartis doctis, Iuppiter, et laboriosis!
CORNELIUS NEPOS
B2: What Neoteric poet is the addressee of the following lines taken from Catullus 96:
Certe non tanto mors immatura dolori est Quintiliae, quantum gaudet amore tuo.
(C. LICINIUS) CALVUS
Who wrote three books of love poems in 16 BC to his fictitious love Corinna, thus using his Amores to mock tropes of love poetry?
OVID
B1: In what meter were the Amores written?
ELEGIAC COUPLET
B2: In Book 3 Ovid writes an elegy on the death of what Augustan age poet, who wrote poems addressed to his lady love, Delia?
TIBULLUS
Hodoeporicum, De Opificio Dei, De Ave Phoenice, and Divinae Institutiones were all works written by what Christian author who tutored Constantine’s son Crispus?
LACTANTIUS
B1: For which of the works mentioned in the tossup did Lactantius write an Epitome
which summarized and reworked its 7 books of contents?
DIVINAE INSTITUTIONES
B2: Because of an inscription found at what ancient Numidian town, now known as
Constantine, is it believed that Lactantius was born there?
CIRTA
What work’s first book begins with a dialogue between the two shepherds Meliboeus and Tityrus, and ends in its tenth book with the author Vergil consoling the poet Cornelius Gallus on account of his love life?
ECLOGUES // BUCOLICS
B1: What is the English meaning of the Eclogues’ alternate title, Bucolics?
COWHERDS’ SONGS
B2: Poems 4 and 8 of the Eclogues are dedicated to what author who was also addressed in a propempticon by the poet Cinna?
(ASINIUS) POLLIO
What poet, a nephew of Seneca the Younger was forced to commit suicide in 65 AD along with the philosopher?
LUCAN
B1: What city in Spain were both Lucan and Seneca born?
CORDUBA/CORDOBA
B2: A lost work by Lucan, a lost tragedy by Ovid, and a tragedy by Seneca the Younger all share what title with a tragedy by Euripides?
MEDEA
In Julius Caesar’s Commentarii De Bello Gallico, who is described as “nōbilissimus fuit et dītissimus apud Helvētiōs?”
ORGETORIX
B1: In Julius Caesar’s Commentarii De Bello Gallico, who is described as “Celtilli fīlius,
cuius pater prīncipātum Galliae tōtīus obtinuerat?”
VERCINGETORIX
B2: In Julius Caesar’s Commentarii De Bello Gallico, what tribe is described as “Hōrum
omnium fortissimī sunt?”
BELGAE
What author’s Saturae provide the first extant example of Roman satire?
ENNIUS
B1: Although Ennius wrote the first Roman satires, what author, born in 180 BC at Suessa Aurunca was considered by satirists to be the father of their genre?
(Gaius) LUCILIUS
B2: Who was the first author to compose satire exclusively in dactylic hexameter, which would be the standard for Roman satire?
HORACE
In what encyclopedic handbook of the Tiberian Age are six of the nine artes treated by the author Aulus Cornelius Celsus, although only books 6-13 are extant, all covering the titular subject?
DE MEDICINA
B1: What author from the century prior to Celsus had previously covered all nine of the artes in his Disciplinarum Libri?
VARRO REATINUS / OF REATE [PROMPT ON “VARRO”]
B2: In what late author’s De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii are seven of the nine artes given as wedding gifts?
MARTIANUS CAPELLA
What historian wrote the De Origine et Situ Germanorum and the De Vita Iulii Agricolae, the latter of which was written in honor of his father-in-law?
TACITUS
B1: Which of Tacitus’ historical works begins with the line “Urbem Romam a principio reges habuere” and was written “ab excessu divi Augusti”?
ANNALES
B2: Although he claimed to write “sine ira et studio”, Tacitus nevertheless criticizes what emperor above all others in his writings?
DOMITIAN
Chapters on machinery, clockwork, and water supply make up the last three books of what author’s de Architectura?
VITRUVIUS
B1: How many books make up the de Architectura?
10
B2: What governor of Britain and curator aquarum of Rome also published a full work on managing water supply called de Aquis?
FRONTINUS
What author of early Latin literature wrote the first fabulae praetextae which included his Romulus and Clastidium?
GNAEUS NAEVIUS
B1: What native of Rudiae was the first Roman to write Satire?
QUINTUS ENNIUS
B2: Who wrote the first history of Rome, although in Greek?
FABIUS PICTOR
What author’s at least partially extant works include a treatise written in Greek on Greek pastimes, a treatise on abusive language in Greek, biographies on noted Latin literary figures, and a biography of Rome’s leaders from Caesar to Domitian
SUETONIUS
B1: What is the Latin title of Suetonius’ biography of the emperors?
DE VITA CAESARUM
B2: What is the name of Suetonius’ work that was subdivided into De Illustribus
Grammaticis, De Claris Rhetoribus, De Poetis, and De Historicis?
DE VIRIS ILLUSTRIBUS
Born in 94 BC, who dedicated his didactic poem espousing Epicurean philosophy to a man named Memmius?
(T) LUCRETIUS Carus
B1: What was the name of that didactic poem?
DĒ RĒRUM NĀTŪRĀ
B2: What deity is addressed at the start of Dē Rērum Nātūrā?
VENUS
What author was appointed magister memoriae and commissioned by the emperor Valens to write a simple summary of Roman history in 10 books known as the Breviarium Ab Urbe Condita?
EUTROPIUS
B1: What two historians did Eutropius use as the chief sources for the first seven books of his breviary?
LIVY & SUETONIUS
B2: What other author was commissioned by Valens to write a breviary which focused more on the history of Roman conquests that led to the creation of the Empire?
(RUFIUS) FESTUS
Cato Maior, De Natura Deorum, De Officiis, and De Re Publica are all dialogues written by what author from Arpinum?
CICERO
B1: By what name is Cato Maior better known?
DE SENECTUTE
B2: In addition to modeling works on Plato, what series of speeches against Mark Antony did Cicero model on the Greek orator Demosthenes?
PHILIPPICS
Zoology, geography, ethnography, mineralogy, and marine biology are all topics covered in what author’s 37 book encyclopedia on the natural world?
PLINY THE ELDER
B1: Where was Pliny the Elder born?
NOVUM COMUM/COMO
B2: According to Pliny the Younger, the ghost of what man appeared to Pliny the Elder in a dream, prompting him to write a history of the conflicts between Rome and Germany?
DRUSUS (the Elder)
Along with his contemporary Minucius Felix, what native of Carthage is known as the first Christian Latin author for his speeches which included Ad Nationes and Apologeticum?
TERTULLIAN
B1: To whom was Tertullian’s defense of Christianity, the Apologeticum, addressed?
PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR(S)
B2: The aforementioned author Minucius Felix wrote a defense of Christianity entitled Octavius in response to what author, the tutor of the emperor Marcus Aurelius?
FRONTO
What author, born in Hostilia, wrote short biographies primarily on Greek leaders in his de Excellentibus Ducibus Exterarum Gentium, although he also included biographies of Datames,
Hamilcar Barca, and Hannibal?
CORNELIUS NEPOS
B1: Nepos also wrote about notable Romans in his de Latinis Historicis. What two Romans’ biographies survive?
CATO THE ELDER and ATTICUS
B2: What other work of Nepos, which shares its name with a work by Jerome, survives
only in a few fragments?
DE VIRIS ILLUSTRIBUS
“Virum mihi camena insece versutum” begins what work, the earliest extant composition of Latin literature, which was a translation of Homer’s Odyssey by Livius Andronicus?
ODUSIA
B1: What meter did Livius use in his translation, which is also known as Italic meter?
SATURNIAN VERSE
B2: In his translation, what Latinized name does Livius give to the titular character of the Greek version?
ULIXES
Varro, Vergil, Columella, and Cato the Elder all wrote about what subject?
FARMING/AGRICULTURE
B1: Which of Vergil’s works dealt with the proper maintenance of a farm?
GEORGICS
B2: What name is shared by Varro’s and Columella’s treatise on farming?
DE RE RUSTICA
What native of Umbria, likely from the town of Asisium, opens his “Monobiblos” with the name Cynthia as he addresses his lover in the first of his four books of elegies?
PROPERTIUS
B1: What native of rural Latium, perhaps from Gabii or Pedum, addresses his lover Delia in many of his elegies?
TIBULLUS
B2: In what work of the era of the Five Good Emperors does the author Apuleius reveal the true names of Cynthia and Delia?
APOLOGIA
What author, born in Augusta Treverorum, adapted Cicero’s De Officiis to act as a guidebook on ethics for priests in his diocese of Mediolanum, which he titled de Officiis Ministrorum?
ST. AMBROSE/AMBROSIUS (of Milan)
B1: What emperor, for whom he later delivered a funeral oration, did Ambrose
excommunicate over a massacre at Thessalonika?
THEODOSIUS I
B2: What notable bishop and author of de Trinitate and de Civitate Dei was baptized by Ambrose?
AUGUSTINE (of Hippo)
Based on the Catalogue and Theogony of Hesiod, what work begins with the line “In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas corpora” and ends in its 15th book with Julius Caesar being taken into the heavens in the form of a comet?
METAMORPHOSES
B1: What other mythological work of Ovid features addresses from Penelope to Odysseus and Dido to Aeneas?
HEROIDES
B2: What mythological play did Ovid write, although no longer extant, which shares its title with plays written by both Quintus Ennius and the younger Seneca?
MEDEA
A work by Tacitus published in 98 AD and chapters 21-28 of Book 6 of Caesar’s De Bello Gallico both deal with what subject?
GERMANS
B1: What work of Tacitus serves as an ethnography of British peoples and as a biography of his father-in-law?
AGRICOLA
B2: What was Tacitus’ full name?
PUBLIUS CORNELIUS TACITUS
What cognomen is shared by two natives of Cordoba, the elder of whom wrote Suasoriae and Controversiae, while the younger of the pair, a Stoic, wrote a vast amount of works including Naturales Quaestiones and Apocolocyntosis?
SENECA
B1: What other Cordoban native wrote the 10-book epic Pharsalia on the civil war of
Caesar and Pompey?
LUCAN
B2: What other Silver Age author wrote a 17-book epic on the Second Punic War, the
longest surviving poem in Classical Latin?
SILIUS ITALICUS
What 1st century BC work, thanks to the Oblongus and Quadratus manuscripts, is transmitted to us in its entirety, laying out the Epicurean ideals of its author, Lucretius?
DE RERUM NATURA
B1: What “goddess of creation” does Lucretius invoke in his De Rerum Natura?
VENUS
B2: Name one of the two 5th century BC Greek philosophers who first proposed the
atomic theory used by Lucretius in his discussion of atoms.
LEUCIPPUS // DEMOCRITUS
Who wrote a parody of Greek romance novels, following the adventures of Encolpius and Giton, while also mocking the excesses of Nero’s court with his description of Trimalchio’s
dinner?
PETRONIUS
B1: What was the name of that novel?
SATYRICON
B2: What form of satire is Satyricon, which mixes both prose and poetry?
MENIPPEAN
Born along the Alban Hills in the town of Tusculum, what Roman citizen and bearer of numerous offices is remembered as a champion of ancient Roman virtues and a fierce opponent of what he considered Hellenistic cultural contamination?
CATO THE ELDER
B1: In which work of his does Cato recount the founding of Rome and numerous other Italian cities?
ORGINIĒS
B2: Identify one of the two works of Cicero in which Cato the Elder is praised and idealized.
DĒ RĒ PUBLICĀ or DĒ SENECTUTE
Despite hostile rumors claiming that his plays were written by Scipio Aemilianus or Gaius Laelius, Andria and Phormio are plays commonly attributed to what author, who was born a slave in Carthage?
(PUBLIUS) TERENTIUS (AFER) / TERENCE
B1: What play of Terence was famously interrupted by gladiatorial shows and tightrope walkers during its first and second performances?
HECYRA
B2: Which play contains the famous quotation, “Homo sum, humanī nil ā mē aliēnum putō.”
HEAUTON TIMORUMENOS/ THE SELF TORMENTOR
