Midterm 1

Question 1

virgil

Answer 1

• Roman poet under first emperor, Augustus

- wrote ‘Homeric’ epic on the Trojan prince Aeneas, called Aeneid

Question 2

Aeneas

Answer 2

• Trojan prince fleeing the sack of Troy
• leads Trojan refugees to Italy
• founded Rome
• son of Venus and Anchises

Question 3

Pietas

Answer 3

• devotion, loyalty, selfless sense of duty to one’s family, people, country, and gods
• the focus of ancient Roman morality and what people should aspire to possess
• Virgil writes that Aeneas demonstrates pietas

Question 4

Caesar Augustus

Answer 4

• first emperor of the Roman Empire
• adopted by his great uncle Julius Caesar
• restores the golden age in Rome, which led to an era known as the Pax Romana

Question 5

Sallust

Answer 5

• wrote Catiline’s Conspiracy
• Roman historian and politician
• sees the decline of virtues/morals and the greed for power and money among Romans as some of the causes for the decline and fall of Rome

Question 6

Catiline

Answer 6

-born in an aristocratic family (patrician)
-plans to overthrow the consuls
-

Question 7

metus hostilis

Answer 7

-an idea by Sallust that ‘fear of an external enemy’ kept Roman culture focused and controlled, however after Rome defeated Carthage , the city had no more enemies or wars to fight, and so the people and rulers became corrupt and greedy for power and money

Question 8

Carthage

Answer 8

• the chief military and economic rival of Rome
• destroyed by Rome in 146 BCE after the third Punic war
• Sallust viewed the defeat of Carthage by Rome, as one of the reasons for the decline and fall of Rome

Question 9

Gibbon

Answer 9

• 18th century Member of Parliament and English historian
• figure of the enlightenment
• wrote The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
• viewed barbarians, loss of civic virtue, and Constantine’s conversion to Christianity and its spread as some of the reasons for the decline and fall of Rome

Question 10

Marcus Aurelius

Answer 10

• Roman emperor
• the last emperor of the Pax Romana
• father of Commodus and Lucilla
• in Fall, he wishes for Livius to be the new emperor
• in Gladiator, he wishes for the empire to be returned to a republic

Question 11

Commodus

Answer 11

• son and successor of Marcus Aurelius, even though his father does not wish him to be the new emperor
• emperor of Rome
• brother of Lucilla
• in some films he kills Marcus Aurelius

Question 12

Constantinople

Answer 12

• capital city of the Roman Empire
• a christian city
• established in 330 AD by the Roman emperor Constantine

Question 13

translatio imperii

Answer 13

• Latin for “transfer of rule”

- Emperor Constantine established Constantinople, a New Rome, as the new capital of the Roman Empire

Question 14

Quo Vadis

Answer 14

• latin for “Where are you going?”
• 1951 American epic film made by MGM
• directed by Mervyn LeRoy
• also a 1895 Polish historical novel
• pro-christian

Question 15

Nero

Answer 15

-emperor of Rome (r. 54-68 CE)
-Quo Vadis
-murdered his mother and wife
-had the city of Rome burned and blame the christians
-

Question 16

Petronius

Answer 16

• Nero’s arbiter of elegance (most trusted advisor)
• Marcus Vinicius’ uncle in Fall
• accused of treason, but did not wait for a sentence, instead he committed suicide

Question 17

Marcus Vinicius

Answer 17

• Roman military commander
• lover of Lygia
• Quo Vadis

Question 18

Lygia

Answer 18

• daughter of a king, who was killed by the Romans so she became a hostage of Rome
• adopted by a retired Roman general
• Lygian
• lover of Marcus Vinicius

Question 19

Leni Riefenstahl

Answer 19

• German film director and actress
• directed propaganda films (especially Nazi Party films)
• Triumph des Willens
• pro-Hitler

Question 20

Lucilla

Answer 20

• daughter of Marcus Aurelius
• sister of Commodus
• in Fall, she plans to kill Commodus
• Lover to Livius in Fall and in love with Maximus in Gladiator
• mother of Lucius

Question 21

Livius

Answer 21

• Roman general
• protagonist in the Fall of the Roman Empire film
• Marcus Aurelius choice to take over the Empire, and become emperor, once he dies
• Lover of Lucilla
• once friend of Commodus turned enemy

Question 22

Timonides

Answer 22

• seen in The Fall of the Roman Empire
• Marcus Aurelius’ servant and loyal friend
• convinces the barbarians to join the Romans
• a secret Christian believer

Question 23

Pax Romana

Answer 23

• latin for “Roman Peace”
• a long period of peace and stability during the early Roman Empire
• considered to have started with Caesar Augustus and ended with Marcus Aurelius

Question 24

maximus

Answer 24

• protagonist in Gladiator
• Hispano-Roman general, forced into becoming a slave
• seeks revenge against Commodus for the murder of his family
• Marcus Aurelius choice to hold the emperor’s powers in trust until a new republic can be formed

Question 25

Antonio Proximo

Answer 25

- an old gladiator trainer who buys Maximus in North Africa - former gladiator himself he was freed by Marcus Aurelius - becomes mentor to Maximus

Question 26

colosseum (fluvial amphitheater)

Answer 26

-an amphitheater in the centre of the city of Rome -in Gladiator, it was used for Commodus' organized 150 days of game -

Question 27

senator gracchus

Answer 27

- member of the Roman Senate - opposes Commodus' rule - wishes to return the empire into a new republic - ally of Lucilla and Maximus