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Ancient Rome
Test Manual
SHORT-ANSWER
1. Briefly trace Rome's historical development during the republican period.
2. Illustrate the uses of Roman art as political propaganda to glorify the emperor and the power of
Rome.
3. Briefly compare the principles of Roman architecture to the architectural style of classical
Greece.
4. Summarize the Romans' most important innovations or achievements in large-scale public
architecture.
5. Explain the role of painting and sculpture in the daily lives of ordinary Romans. Refer
specifically to the excavated cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
6. Analyze the propagandistic purpose of Virgil's Aeneid, referring specifically to Roman history
and the emperor Caesar Augustus.
7. Summarize the philosophical interest of the Romans in Epicurean and stoic teachings.
COMPLETION
1. Imperialism is the term for the political and social policy in which a single nation or city
dominates other territories as its subject nations.
2. Historians give the Latin name Pax Romana to the 200-year period in which Rome’s empire
enjoyed relative peace and stability.
3. The two most important and innovative elements of Roman architecture were use of the arch
and concrete .
4. The desire to preserve and copy objects from more ancient cultures is termed the antiquarian
spirit, exemplified in Romans enthusiasm for Greek sculpture gardens and libraries.
5. Roman comedy was the literary form that later most influenced William Shakespeare and
other dramatists.
6. Horace and Juvenal are known for their works of literary satire , the witty ridiculing of
human folly or vice.
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7. The stoic emperor associated with the end of Rome’s golden age of peace was Marcus
Aurelius .
8. The Buddha taught that suffering could be understood only through the fundamental assertions
about human existence that Buddhism calls the Four Noble Truths .
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ESSAY & DISCUSSION
1. “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.
2. 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.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
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 *
2. The philosophy of stoicism was most popular among what class of Roman society, from which the
Roman senators were drawn?
a. patricians *
b. Epicureans
c. barbarians
d. plebeians
3. 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 *
4. Which of these works is the best example of propaganda designed to glorify the person and power
of the Roman emperor?
a. Augustus of Prima Porta *
b. Pont du Gard
c. Apollo of Veii
d. Basilica of Constantine
5. What charismatic figure rose to prominence during the period of Roman civil war through his
military and administrative skills?
a. Cicero
b. Constantine
c. Julius Caesar *
d. Trajan
6. Which of these was used to carry water to a Roman city?
a. Pantheon
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b. Basilica of Constantine
c. Forum of Trajan
d. Pont du Gard *
7. 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
8. Strolling through the imperial forum in Rome, one would 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
9. A dome consists of
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
10. One would expect to find an oculus in a temple's
a. column
b. cella
c. ceiling *
d. frieze
11. An atrium would most likely be found
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
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 *
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 *
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
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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
15. A cross vault consists of
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
16. The scaenae frons was most useful in the pursuit of what Roman art?
a. fresco painting
b. portrait sculpture
c. architectural decoration
d. dramatic comedy *
17. Which statement best describes the Rome's distinctive contribution to architecture?
a. perfected the classical temple
b. showed great originality in sculptural decoration
c. invented the post-and-lintel form
d. employed the arch in various combinations *
18. 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
19. Which of these works best symbolized Rome's political power and imperial achievement?
a. the Forum of Trajan *
b. House of the Silver Wedding (Pompeii)
c. the Pont du Gard
d. portrait bust of Cicero
20. 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
21. Which of these Roman buildings employed a central dome?
a. Colosseum
b. Basilica Ulpia
c. Basilica of Constantine
d. Pantheon *
22. Roman civilization was markedly different from Greek civilization in its
a. love for philosophical speculation
b. interest in the practical and useful *
c. tendency toward civil war
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d. brilliant artistic innovation
23. Sappho's lyric poetry was the most important model for which of these Roman writers?
a. Cicero
b. Julius Caesar
c. Catullus *
d. Virgil
24. 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
25. Catullus is primarily responsible for the advancement of what Roman art?
a. portrait sculpture
b. literary satire
c. lyric poetry *
d. dramatic comedy
26. What Roman building employed an oculus?
a. Colosseum
b. Basilica Ulpia
c. the Pont du Gard
d. Pantheon *
27. What Roman building, with its flat coffered ceiling and interior rows of columns, served as a
setting for law courts and other public business?
a. Colosseum
b. Basilica Ulpia *
c. Temple of Portunus
d. Pantheon
28. "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 preoccupation’s." This passage expresses the personal philosophy of what Roman figure?
a. Marcus Aurelius *
b. Virgil
c. Juvenal
d. Catullus
29. In the teachings of the Buddha, one would expect to find
a. an explanation of the doctrine of original sin
b. a parable of a father's joy at the return of his wayward son
c. an explication of the Four Noble Truths *
d. the story of Justinian's love for Theodora
30. The purpose of human knowledge according to the Buddha was
a. union with a heavenly father
b. the historical redemption of the Hebrew nation
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c. the extinction of all striving and desire *
d. obedience to the revealed scriptures of God
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