Deck 3: Ancient Rome

Question 1

The Apollo of Veii demonstrates a sculptural high point of what culture or period?

A) Hellenistic Greece
B) republican Rome
C) Rome in the imperial age
D) Etruscan culture

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of these works is the best example of propaganda designed to glorify the person and power of the Roman emperor?

A) Augustus of Primaporta
B) Pont du Gard
C) Apollo of Veii
D) Basilica of Constantine

Answer 2

A

Question 3

What charismatic figure rose to prominence during the period of Roman civil war through his military and administrative skills and then was assassinated for assuming too much power?

A) Cicero
B) Constantine
C) Julius Caesar
D) Trajan

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Strolling through the imperial forum in Rome, what would one be surprised to see

A) a proclamation being read from the steps of a temple
B) the Buddha teaching to young Roman men
C) a triumphal arch commemorating a military victory
D) a busy marketplace selling a variety of goods

Question 5

Which of these works contained a sculptural narrative glorifying the military achievements of a Roman emperor?

A) House of the Silver Wedding (Pompeii)
B) Basilica of Constantine
C) Pantheon in Rome
D) Column of Trajan

Question 6

Which of these was used to carry water to a Roman city?

A) Pantheon
B) Basilica of Constantine
C) Forum of Trajan
D) Pont du Gard

Question 7

Which of these structures, a masterpiece of Roman engineering, was supported by a complex system of interior arches and vaulting?

A) Pantheon
B) Basilica Ulpia
C) Trajan's Column
D) Temple of Portunus

Question 8

How is a dome best described?

A) arches stacked on top of one another
B) a series of arches intersecting around a central axis
C) the intersection of two vaults at right angles
D) a series of connected arches open on two ends

Question 9

In a domed Roman temple, where would one find an oculus?

A) atop a column
B) in the cella
C) in the ceiling
D) on the pediment

Question 10

What would one expect to find in an excavation at Pompeii?

A) remains of Etruscan colonial settlements
B) ruins of the republican Senate building
C) artifacts revealing the nature of Roman daily life
D) inscriptions honoring Constantine as first Christian emperor

Question 11

Where would one most easily find an atrium?

A) in a private home in Pompeii
B) standing on the Republican forum
C) on a frieze glorifying the emperor
D) supporting a dome in a Roman temple

Question 12

Plautus and Terence are primarily responsible for the advancement of what Roman art?

A) portrait sculpture
B) literary satire
C) lyric poetry
D) dramatic comedy

Question 13

Virgil's greatest poetic work, the Aeneid, most closely resembles what Greek model?

A) Sophocles' Oedipus the King
B) Marcus Aurelius' Meditations
C) Sappho's lyric poems
D) Homer's epic, the Iliad

Question 14

What Roman building served as a setting for great public entertainment-gladiatorial combats and slaughters of animals?

A) Colosseum
B) Basilica Ulpia
C) Temple of Portunus
D) Pantheon

Question 15

Which statement best describes the Temple of Portunus in Rome, built during the late Republican period?

A) a memorial to the achievements of a Roman emperor
B) an example of a Roman Greek-style temple
C) the largest and most important building in imperial Rome
D) the last great Roman building built in ancient times

Question 16

What is the best description of a cross vault?

A) arches stacked on top of one another
B) a series of arches intersecting around a central axis
C) the intersection of two vaults at right angles
D) a series of connected arches open on two ends

Question 17

The term scaenae frons is most relevant in a discussion of what Roman art?

A) fresco painting
B) portrait sculpture
C) architectural decoration
D) dramatic comedy

Question 18

Which statement best describes the Rome's distinctive contribution to architecture?

A) built classical temples on a massive scale
B) showed great originality in sculptural decoration
C) invented post-and-lintel construction
D) developed the arch as a flexible form

Question 19

What would an Epicurean like Lucretius, author of On the Nature of the Universe, most likely claim to be true?

A) knowledge is attainable only through death
B) a divine order controls all worldly events
C) the good lies in moderate pleasure and freedom from pain
D) adversity should be faced with dignity and self-control

Question 20

Which was a monument to Rome's imperial power and achievement?

A) the Forum of Trajan
B) House of the Silver Wedding (Pompeii)
C) the Pont du Gard
D) portrait bust of Cicero

Question 21

The art of mosaic was most useful in the pursuit of what Roman art?

A) pictorial decoration
B) musical entertainment
C) constructing arches
D) portrait sculpture

Question 22

Which was a Roman building that employed a central dome?

A) Colosseum
B) Basilica Ulpia
C) Basilica of Constantine
D) Pantheon

Question 23

In what aspect was Roman civilization markedly different from Greek civilization?

A) its love for philosophical speculation
B) its interest in the practical and useful
C) a tendency toward civil war
D) brilliant artistic innovation

Question 24

Which of these Roman writers took the Greek poet Sappho's lyric poetry as principal influence and model?

A) Cicero
B) Juvenal
C) Catullus
D) Virgil

Question 25

The philosophy of stoicism, propounded by the Roman slave-philosopher Epictetus, declared what basic principle or idea?

A) All humans are brothers and citizens of the world.
B) The gods need not be feared, having no power over our lives.
C) Human suffering arises in selfish attachment and craving.
D) Truth can be reached only by contemplation of the Good.

Question 26

In which of these works would one expect to read a bitterly humorous criticism of Rome's decadence and corruption?

A) Ovid's Metamorphoses
B) Juvenal's Satires
C) Catullus' love poetry
D) Virgil's Aeneid

Question 27

In which of these buildings, a centerpiece of Trajan's forum, could a Roman have strolled through a forest of Corinithian columns on the way to an appearance before a law court?

A) Colosseum
B) Basilica Ulpia
C) Temple of Portunus
D) Pantheon

Question 28

What was the greatest achievement of Cicero, the late Republican intellectual?

A) satirical attacks on Rome's hypocrisy and corruption
B) witty social comedies of mistaken identity and farcical plots
C) a long philosophy poem reflecting Epicurean belief
D) eloquent speeches in defense of Rome's republican government

Question 29

"Firmly, as a Roman and man should, think at all times how you can perform the task at hand with precise and genuine dignity, sympathy, independence, and justice, making yourself free from all other preoccupations." This passage expresses the personal philosophy of what Roman figure?

A) Marcus Aurelius
B) Julius Caesar
C) Juvenal
D) Catullus

Question 30

What would one expect to find in the teachings of the Buddha?

A) a speculation on the origins of the cosmos
B) a parable of a father's joy at the return of his wayward son
C) an explication of the Four Noble Truths
D) a spirited defense of republican government

Question 31

According to the Buddha, what was the purpose of human knowledge?

A) blissful union with a heavenly father
B) the historical redemption of the Hebrew nation
C) the extinction of all selfish striving and desire
D) obedience to the revealed scriptures of God

Question 32

What best describes a principal achievement of the emperor Diocletian?

A) He overthrew the Etruscan kings and founded the Republic
B) His rule resolved a long and violent civil war
C) He sponsored the Pantheon and other architectural projects.
D) His reforms momentarily halted the late Empire's decline

Question 33

As adopted by the Romans in their early history, how is the form of government called a republic best described?

A) Important decisions are made by a direct vote of the citizens.
B) The people choose representative to govern in their interests.
C) Power is shared between a hereditary ruler and elected representatives.
D) Patricians and plebeians alternate in holding government power.

Question 34

What event or development transformed the Roman empire in the centuries before the rise of Christianity?

A) An Egyptian religious cult converted an emperor and threatened Roman traditions.
B) A violent civil war arose between patrician and plebeian factions.
C) Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes destroyed important Roman cities.
D) Barbarian armies swept through the empire, disrupting the civil order.

Question 35

If asked to illustrate the Roman genius for creating lavish architectural interiors as a setting for recreation and pleasure, which of these structures would you most plausibly cite?

A) Baths of Caracalla
B) Pont du Gard
C) Colosseum
D) Temple of Portunus

Question 36

What term or phrase best describes the Roman stoic principle that the best citizens declare themselves citizens of the world and hence "deliberate about nothing as if [they] were detached from the community?"

A) cosmopolitan ideal
B) "Man is the measure of all things"
C) Pax Romana
D) "We have nothing to fear in death"

Question 37

Briefly trace Rome's historical development during the republican period.

Question 38

Illustrate the uses of Roman art as political propaganda to glorify the emperor and the power of Rome.

Question 39

Briefly compare the principles of Roman architecture to the architectural style of classical Greece.

Question 40

Summarize the Romans' most important innovations or achievements in large?scale public architecture.

Question 41

Explain the role of painting and sculpture in the daily lives of ordinary Romans. Refer specifically to the excavated cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Question 42

Analyze the propagandistic purpose of Virgil's Aeneid, referring specifically to Roman history and the emperor Caesar Augustus.

Question 43

Summarize the philosophical interest of the Romans in Epicurean and stoic teachings.

Question 44

"The most important Roman cultural achievements were all derived from Greek models; despite their accomplishments in law and government, the Romans made few significant artistic or philosophical contributions to the cultural heritage of Western civilization."Agree or disagree with this statement by discussing three examples from Roman civilization, including at least one example of literature or philosophy. For each Roman example, analyze the ways that it is derived from Greek models, or its degree of originality and advancement beyond the achievements of Greek civilization.

Question 45

Discuss the role of the arts in serving imperial power in Roman civilization. Discuss three examples of the Roman arts (including one example of literature), analyzing the ways in which each work's artistic merit serves to justify, explain, or defend imperial power.