Deck 5: Territorial and Christian Empires: The Roman Empire, 31 B.C.E to 410 C.E

Question 1

After the assassination of Julius Caesar

A) The Roman Republic was restored
B) Alexander the Great conquered Rome
C) Hannibal led a plebeian uprising against the patricians
D) There was a series of civil wars that ended in the one-man rule of Augustus

Answer 1

There was a series of civil wars that ended in the one-man rule of Augustus

Question 2

During the Second Triumvirate,

A) Pompey became dictator for ten years
B) And before their final showdown, Octavian forced the third member, Lepidus, to retire
C) Cleopatra sided with Octavian, insuring his triumph
D) Julius Caesar was assassinated by a conspiracy led by the Triumvirs themselves

Answer 2

And before their final showdown, Octavian forced the third member, Lepidus, to retire

Question 3

In the division of power over the empire,

A) Antony took the west; Octavian took the east
B) Cicero took the west; Antony took the east
C) Octavian took the west; Antony took the east
D) Brutus took the west; Octavian took the east

Answer 3

Octavian took the west; Antony took the east

Question 4

Antony and Octavian attempted to create a bond of alliance between themselves by arranging

A) For Antony to marry Octavian's sister, Octavia
B) For Antony to give his mistress, Cleopatra, to Octavian
C) To share the consulships of Rome on a permanent basis
D) To combine their armies for an attack on Parthia

Question 5

Antony and Cleopatra lost the Battle of Actium because

A) A great storm destroyed their ships
B) Octavian possessed much larger forces than Antony
C) Cleopatra abandoned the battle with her fleet and Antony followed her
D) Antony was killed at the beginning of the battle

Question 6

Rome completed its domination of the Mediterranean when

A) Constantine adopted Christianity
B) Sulla defeated Mithradates
C) Nero defeated the Germans
D) Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra

Question 7

The government established by Augustus after 27 B.C.E. Has come to be called the

A) Dictatorship
B) Royal Realm
C) Democratic republic
D) Principate

Question 8

During his principate, Augustus did all of the following except

A) Abolish the Senate because of the great opposition that he found there
B) Assume the powers of tribune and consul while permitting others to exercise the offices
C) Use his personal wealth to balance the budget and rebuild Rome
D) Accept the title "Father of the Fatherland."

Question 9

Augustus improved the organization of imperial government by

A) Directly controlling the provinces and sending representatives to govern them
B) Create a foreign service drawn from men of the equestrian class eager to advance
C) Eliminating private tax collectors
D) All of these options are correct

Question 10

The Aeneid, which celebrated the heroic foundation of Rome and the values it cherished, was written by

A) Homer
B) Livy
C) Virgil
D) Tacitus

Question 11

The next dynasty, that of Vespasian, came to power in 69 C.E. as a result of

A) A bloody civil war fought by the armies to secure the power for their commanders
B) Being elected by the assembly because they were tired of Julio-Claudian rule
C) Vespasian succeeding in murdering all remaining members of Augustus' family
D) Nero giving up his power because he realized Vespasian was a better man

Question 12

The dynasty of Augustus, the dynasty of Vespasian, and the era of the "Five Good Emperors" all ended with

A) The accession of an incompetent or viciously immoral son
B) A Germanic invasion that sacked Rome
C) An eruption of Vesuvius
D) A major slave revolt

Question 13

In the days of the Five Good Emperors,

A) Most successors were not sons of the emperors, but rather men chosen for their ability to rule
B) Some of the Emperors had to spend years away from Rome securing the frontiers
C) They developed a legacy of integrity and simplicity of rule
D) All of these options are correct

Question 14

The trade route by which precious goods moved from China to the Mediterranean was

A) The Han Highway
B) The Red Sea
C) The Silk Road
D) The Suez Canal

Question 15

Which of the following was not a factor holding the Roman Empire together?

A) Ferocious repression of all rebellions
B) Widely spread Romanization through citizen colonies and military service
C) Local town councils that maintained infrastructure, collected taxes, and loyally reported to the imperial administration
D) Well-engineered roads and bridges, with an organized transport system

Question 16

In order to improve the lives of the Romans, Augustus

A) Encouraged an opulent life-style of luxurious clothes and jewels for the rich
B) Favored the growing gap between rich and poor
C) Promoted legislation to encourage marriage, children, and traditional morality
D) Forced only non-Romans to serve military duty

Question 17

Which of the following was not one of the reasons for Rome's declining birthrate under the Empire?

A) To have fewer children in order to preserve their inheritance intact
B) Seriously mistaken views by physicians on sex and female fertility
C) Augustus' new laws on marriage and family
D) Use of birth control methods and abortion

Question 18

The Colosseum was used for the bloody display of

A) Gladiators
B) Wild animal slaughter
C) Mass executions of condemned criminals
D) All of these options are correct

Question 19

The bloody displays of arena and circus served the purpose of showing

A) The empire's dominance over its enemies
B) The generosity of the emperor who paid for the games, increasing loyalty to him
C) People how to face death bravely and honorably
D) All of these options are correct

Question 20

The end of the Roman Peace (Pax Romana) was marked by

A) The assassination of Marcus Aurelius' decadent son, Commodus, in 192
B) The suicide of Nero in 68
C) The moving of the capital to Constantinople in 330
D) The crucifixion of Christ in 33

Question 21

Beginning with the rule of Septimius Severus in 193, the Roman Empire

A) Continued to enjoy the prosperity and tranquility of the era of the Five Good Emperors
B) Became more militarized, with generals placed in positions of power
C) Expanded, crushing Persia
D) Was defeated by Armenia

Question 22

The increase of luxury spending by the rich during the high empire damaged the economy because

A) Money drained from the West to the Far East, where most luxury goods were produced
B) Less money circulated, limiting growth opportunities for the middle class
C) The Roman poor had to receive increasing food subsidies, further reducing the treasury
D) Many of the wealthy went bankrupt

Question 23

Which major problem did the Roman Empire face in the late second and third centuries?

A) Major plagues
B) Economic recession
C) Inflation
D) All of these options are correct

Question 24

Which of the following political and administrative changes did Diocletian not make?

A) Ending the principate by adopting the title of "lord" (dominus) and having himself worshipped as a living god
B) Returning all civil power to the Senate, which would choose the consuls
C) Dividing the empire between four rulers: two augusti who would each choose a caesar
D) Concentrating most of the army at inland bases, to be quickly moved to any threatened part of the border

Question 25

The reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian was noted for

A) The revival of the Senate
B) Vigorous administrative measures and reorganization of the empire
C) Military defeat by the Parthians
D) A return to a simple, republican style of life by the emperor

Question 26

It can be said of the rule of the Roman Emperor Diocletian that

A) He ended the chaos of the past fifty years, but at the cost of weakening the will of many Romans to support public life or fight for the empire
B) His policy of restoring many republican institutions ultimately weakened imperial rule
C) His vigorous renewal of pagan religious life prevented the triumph of Christianity for more than a century
D) He continued the corrupt practices of his predecessors

Question 27

Constantine shifted the capital of the Roman Empire to Byzantium, later called Constantinople, because

A) He had a major quarrel with the Roman Senate
B) Rome was sacked by the Visigoths
C) He wished to locate the capital nearer to vital military frontiers
D) He felt more Greek than Roman

Question 28

The German tribe invited to cross the Danube to settle, which then defeated the Romans at the Battle of Adrianople and sacked Rome in 410 was the

A) Ostrogoths
B) Huns
C) Visigoths
D) Franks

Question 29

The influential philosophy of Neoplatonism believed that

A) By living a life of self-mutilation and deprivation one could approach God
B) Through ecstatic dances and hallucinations God would come to them
C) Each person contained a spark of divinity that could be cultivated by contemplation and proper living
D) Sacrificing regularly to the emperor would assure personal and public benefit

Question 30

Which of the following was not a mystery cult?

A) Epicurianism
B) Isis and Serapis
C) Mithraism
D) Cult of Dionysus

Question 31

The willingness of many Romans in the Imperial period to follow the various mystery religions is evidence of

A) A growing lack of confidence in the emperor
B) A longing for religious fulfillment that was not satisfied by the worship of traditional gods
C) The rise of neo-Platonic philosophy during the Imperial period
D) The triumph of Hellenistic science undermining belief in traditional gods

Question 32

The mystery religions

A) Reflected the multiculturalism of the Roman Empire because of their diverse cultural origins
B) Reached a peak in the Hellenistic period and declined during Roman rule
C) Were exclusively for female worshipers
D) Were exclusively for male worshipers

Question 33

Which of the following Jewish groups emphasized violent revolt against the Romans?

A) Pharisees
B) Sadducees
C) Zealots
D) Essenes

Question 34

Which of the following Jewish groups withdrew from society and attempted to live pure lives?

A) Pharisees
B) Sadducees
C) Zealots
D) Essenes

Question 35

Which of the following is not true of the career of Jesus?

A) He called for the overthrow of the Roman government
B) He taught a message of peace, love and care for the suffering and poor
C) He was reported to have performed miracles and cures
D) He was seen by his apostles to have risen from the dead after his crucifixion

Question 36

Paul of Tarsus taught that all followers of Jesus

A) Must be circumcised and follow Jewish dietary laws
B) Must follow Jewish dietary laws but didn't have to be circumcised
C) Needed neither to be circumcised nor follow Jewish dietary laws
D) Needed to come and sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem

Question 37

The main ceremony of the early Christians was the Eucharist,

A) A commemoration of the last supper, a sharing of wine and bread
B) A ritual dance and mock re-enactment of the crucifixion
C) The sacrifice of a baby and the sharing of its blood
D) A public procession with crosses to provoke the Romans

Question 38

The numerous misunderstandings that Romans had about early Christianity were probably caused

A) By the origins of Christianity outside of the Roman Empire
B) By the fact that Christians seemed to violate the social order by including the poor, slaves and women as equals in their congregations
C) By the belief that Christianity led to the worship of the devil
D) By Muslim propaganda

Question 39

The emperor Constantine affected the future of Christianity by

A) Ending the persecutions
B) Supporting the Church by giving them tax advantages and returning property
C) Building the first great churches and making the Holy Land a place of pilgrimage
D) All of these options are correct

Question 40

Once Christianity became the official religion of the empire,

A) The artistic depictions of Christ started to change from the Good Shepherd to the lord of the universe
B) The organization of the Christian church began to duplicate the civil order of Rome
C) Christian bishops became bold enough to criticize the conduct of the emperor
D) All of these options are correct

Question 41

The Council of Nicaea

A) Proclaimed Constantine to be emperor
B) Stated that Christ had always existed
C) Demanded persecution of pagans
D) Declared war on the Visigoths

Question 42

In what way did Christian behavior reshape Roman society?

A) By rejecting celibacy
B) By rejecting gladiatorial games and the exposure of unwanted children
C) By banning the reading of the Homeric epics
D) By banning the observance of the Passover

Question 43

Melania the Younger

A) Urged Diocletian to persecute Christians
B) Was regarded as a model of Christian holiness because of her dedication to celibacy and the foundation of monasteries
C) Was the wife of the Visigoth king who sacked Rome, and was noted for her rapacity
D) Was the most famous and influential of the high priestesses of the Serapis cult

Question 44

In the City of God, St. Augustine argued that even though the city of Rome had been sacked by the Visigoths, Christians

A) Should not worry since the city would be rebuilt
B) Should focus on the worthiness of their own souls because the faithful would dominate at the end of time
C) Should despair, since this was God's punishment
D) Should work together with the pagans to build the perfect civil society

Question 45

St. Augustine's attitude toward sexuality was that it was

A) An aspect of original sin that humans were born with and must keep constant vigil against
B) An expression of God's love for the pleasure between men and women
C) Only proper with a prostitute, and should be avoided between husband and wife
D) Only to be practiced between man and man or woman and woman

Question 46

Which of the following was not an aspect of the growing monastic movement?

A) Escape from the growing social and economic chaos of late antiquity
B) Living lives of self-denial in order to concentrate on spiritual values
C) To save money to be used when the empire returned to prosperity
D) To find shared spiritual values in a communal society of Christians

Question 47

Relics of holy people and saints were so important to early Christians that

A) People believed the remains of martyrs contained sacred power of salvation
B) They associated their own resurrection of the flesh with the bodies of martyrs
C) A lucrative trade in relics arose and each church wanted to have relics in their altars
D) The Shroud of Turin was stolen by criminal speculators

Question 48

In search of spiritual perfection, many early Christians

A) Fled to the desert to live as hermits
B) Undertook self-denial, living on minimum food and sleep
C) Formed monastic communities
D) All of these options are correct

Question 49

Mark Antony deserted his wife Octavia, Octavian's sister, for Cleopatra of Egypt.

Question 50

Augustus was made ruler of the empire, but unfortunately had little money and had to depend on the Senate for funding

Question 51

Augustus refused to allow Romans to worship him as a god.

Question 52

Augustus' successors of his own family were good rulers both professionally and personally.

Question 53

The emperor Marcus Aurelius was also a noted Stoic philosopher, who wrote a book called Meditations.

Question 54

Roman roads were so well built that it was cheaper to send goods by land than by sea.

Question 55

Many public buildings throughout the empire were built with money from private philanthropists or the emperor.

Question 56

Under the influence of Roman rule, the Greek language died out in the Hellenistic eastern Mediterranean.

Question 57

In the late empire, the army became the king-makers, leading to instability and frequent changes in imperial rule.

Question 58

When Diocletian came to power in 285, he believed the emperor had become too strong and he re-established the democratic assemblies.

Question 59

Many mystery cults offered a better afterlife to people disenchanted with the problems of the late empire.

Question 60

At the time of Jesus, the Jews were united religiously, politically, and socially.

Question 61

The apostle Peter agreed with Paul that only circumcised Jews should be admitted to fellowship with the Christian community.

Question 62

The destruction of the Temple ended many major divisions within Judaism.

Question 63

Early depictions of Christ as the Good Shepherd show him as a simple peasant, but after the Church became official and acquired wealth, he is depicted in the royal purple cloth of emperors.

Question 64

The Council of Nicaea upheld Arius's ideas on Christ.

Question 65

St. Augustine and other Christian leaders taught that the new Christian state was not incompatible with the Church, but should be active in supporting and protecting it.

Question 66

Melania the Younger argued that Christians should not practice celibacy.

Question 67

A major influence of the monastic ideal on the lives of everyday Christians was to teach that Christian lives should be modest and simple, avoiding too much comfort and pleasure.

Question 68

The Second Triumvirate consisted of Lepidus, Antony, and ______________________.

Question 69

________________ was the Queen of Egypt who had a relationship with both Caesar and Antony.

Question 70

As emperor, Octavian is usually known as __________________, the title given him by the Senate.

Question 71

________________ was the author of the epic poem, the Aeneid.

Question 72

The last emperor of Augustus' family, __________________, slit his throat to avoid being captured and executed, saying, "How ugly and vulgar my life has become."

Question 73

____________________, one of the Five Good Emperors, was a Stoic philosopher.

Question 74

The main structure at Rome for the display of gladiator fights and mass criminal executions was the ___________________.

Question 75

The North African general who became emperor and transformed the Roman government into a military dictatorship was _______________________.

Question 76

______________________ adopted the title "lord" and attempted to control prices, wages, professions, and worship.

Question 77

The emperor ___________________ built a new capital of Rome in the East.

Question 78

The Western empire declined politically and economically and many people sought refuge on great landed estates, called __________________.

Question 79

Rome was plundered in 410 by the Germanic tribe, the _____________________.

Question 80

The mystery cult that appealed to soldiers, and whose followers were exclusively men, was__________________.