States Questions—Novice

Question 1

In what modern country were the Roman cities of Limonum Pictonum, Nemausus, Lugdunum, Massilia. and Lutetia?

Answer 1

FRANCE

B1: What is the modern name of Lugdunum?

LYONS

B2: What modern French city would the Romans have called Arausio?

ORANGE

Question 2

At what event in ancient Rome would the dator ludōrum drop a mappa to signify the start?

Answer 2

CHARIOT RACE

B1: What were the starting gates in a Roman circus called?

CARCARĒS

B2: What was the name of the dividing wall around which the chariots raced?

SPINA

Question 3

What modern country would the Romans have called Hispania?

Answer 3

SPAIN

B1: What modern country would the Romans have called Lusitania?

PORTUGAL

B2: What modern country was at times in Roman history called Achaea?

GREECE

Question 4

Where in Rome would you hear neniae being recited by praeficae wearing togae pullae?

Answer 4

AT A FUNERAL

B1: What were neniae?

FUNERAL DIRGES

B2: What term was given to large underground tombs with niches for urns?

COLUMBARIA

Question 5

Which aqueduct in Rome, built in 312 BC, passed from the Apennines through the Caelian and Aventine Hills, emptied near the Forum Boarium, and was the first Roman aqueduct?

Answer 5

AQUA APPIA

B1: What aqueduct, which was completed in 140 BC, was the longest of the aqueducts servicing Rome?

AQUA MARCIA

B2: Which aqueduct, completed in 52 AD did Nero divert water from to create the lake for his Domus Aurea?

AQUA CLAUDIA

Question 6

The making of what item that you would find at a Roman dinner party is described here “the intestines of fish are thrown into a vessel, and are salted; and small fish…are all salted in the same manner; and they are seasoned in the sun and frequently turned.”

Answer 6

GARUM/LIQUAMEN

B1: What sort of animals were fattened up in gliraria, before being roasted and dipped in honey?

DORMICE

B2: What sort of drink would you get by mixing honey and wine?

MULSUM

Question 7

What Latin word could be used to classify albata, russata, prasina, and veneta, which were the four original chariot-racing companies in Rome?

Answer 7

FACTIONĒS

B1: In a Romam circus, what shapes did the lap counters take?

EGG(S) & DOLPHIN(S)

B2: How many laps did a typical chariot race have?

SEVEN

Question 8

Memphis, Thebae, Antinopolis, and Alexandria were all cities in what Roman province?

Answer 8

EGYPT/AEGYPTUS

B1: Tripolis, Damascus, Palmyra, and Antioch were all cities in what Roman province?

SYRIA

B2: In what modern country would you find Toletum, Gades, Bilbilis, and Carthago Nova?

SPAIN

Question 9

Which of the Roman baths, built in the southern part of the city in the early 3rd century A.D., were considered to be the most splendid?

Answer 9

BATHS OF CARACALLA

B1: Which of the baths, built in the northern part of the city in the early 4th century A.D., were the largest?

BATHS OF DIOCLETIAN

B2: Name one other Roman who built a bath complex in Rome?

AGRIPPA / TITUS / TRAJAN / DECIUS

Question 10

Who in ancient Rome would wear a tunica recta and a flammeum?

Answer 10

A BRIDE

B1: What was a flammeum?

A VEIL

B2: What color was the flammeum?

SAFFRON / ORANGE / RED(ISH)

Question 11

What are all of the following items associated with: nodus herculaneus, dos, flammeum, tunica recta?

Answer 11

BRIDE / WEDDINGS / MARRIAGE / CONFARREATIO

B1: Prior to her marriage, into how many braids would a bride’s hair have been parted by a spear known as the hasta caelibaris?

SIX

B2: What was the term for the person who would bring the bride and groom together by their right hands, a ceremony known as the dextrarum iunctio?

PRONUBA

Question 12

What river served as the border between Cisalpine Gaul and Italy?

Answer 12

RUBICON

B1: What is the ancient name for the modern Po River?

PADUS

B2: What river was called Ister or Danuvius by the Romans?

DANUBE

Question 13

Which of the following was on the Capitoline Hill: Mausoleum of Augustus, Casa Romuli, Temple of Juno Moneta, Pantheon?

Answer 13

TEMPLE OF JUNO MONETA

B1: Where in Rome were the Mausoleum of Augustus and the Ara Pacis?

CAMPUS MARTIUS

B2: On what hill was the Casa Romuli?

PALATINE

Question 14

At what event would you see imagines processed through the street followed by torch bearers, hear neniae, and see praeficae?

Answer 14

FUNERALS

B1: What was the Latin term for the organizer of the procession, what we would call an undertaker?

DESIGNATOR

B2: In terms of a funeral what was the process of conclamatio?

ELDEST SON SHAKES THE BODY AND SHOUTS THE DEAD MAN’S NAME

Question 15

What Latin term was given to the custom of clients going to a patron’s house in the morning to greet them?

Answer 15

SALUTATIO

B1: What Latin term was given to the custom of an eldest son calling his father’s name and shaking the body at a funeral?

CONCLAMATIO

B2: What was the purpose of lustratio?

PURIFICATION/NAMING A CHILD

Question 16

Who in Rome wore caligae?

Answer 16

SOLDIERS

B1: What term was used for indoor slippers worn by wealthy Romans?

SOLEAE

B2: What was the term given to leather shoes for outdoor wear?

CALCEI

Question 17

What garment was worn by candidates seeking political office?

Answer 17

TOGA CANDIDA

B1: What toga was worn by magistrates, such as the consul?

TOGA PRAETEXTA

B2: What toga was worn by victorious generals?

TOGA PICTA

Question 18

What term was given to the priests in charge of the worship of Mars and Quirinus who incorporated dancing or jumping into their rituals?

Answer 18

SALII

B1: What priests interpreted the flights of birds to figure out the will of the gods?

AUGURS

B2: What priests used the entrails of animals, particularly livers to determine the will of the gods?

HARUSPEX/HARUSPICES

Question 19

Which of these provinces was furthest east: Achaea, Dalmatia, Cyprus, Narbonensis, Asia?

Answer 19

CYPRUS

B1: Which of the listed provinces was located in modern France?

NARBONENSIS

B2: Which of the listed provinces is located in modern Turkey?

ASIA

Question 20

Where would you see a libum farreum, a flammeum, and a nodus herculaneus?

Answer 20

AT A WEDDING

B1: What term was given to the matron of honor?

PRONUBA

B2: What was the term used for the bride’s wedding dress?

TUNICA RECTA

Question 21

The Via Appia had its southern terminus at what port city on the heel of Italy?

Answer 21

BRUNDISIUM

B1: Which of the following roads was not at least partially in Italy: Via Egnatia, Via Salaria, Via Aurelia, Via Flaminia

VIA EGNATIA

B2: The Via Salaria went northeast from Rome, ending at what sea?

ADRIATIC

Question 22

Differentiate in purpose between the compluvium and the impluvium

Answer 22

compluvium HOLE IN THE CEILING OF ATRIUM TO LET IN WATER; impluvium BASIN OR POOL TO CATCH WATER

B1: What was the larārium?

SHRINE TO THE HOUSEHOLD GODS

B2: What was the purpose of a sōlārium or a clepsydra?

TO TELL TIME

Question 23

Which of the following governmental offices during the Republic were not elected yearly: quaestor, praetor, consul, censor.

Answer 23

CENSOR

B1: How long was the term of office for a censor from 433 BC onward?

18 MONTHS

B2: What assembly, named because originally it divided Roman citizens into groups of one hundred men, was responsible for selecting the censors, as well as the consuls and praetors?

COMITIA CENTURIATA

Question 24

Lanista, tiro, and rudis are all Latin terms referring to what Roman custom?

Answer 24

GLADIATORS

B1: These images refer to unique weapons or tools that specific gladiators might use. Give the name of the Roman gladiator who traditionally fought using image B.

DIMACHAERUS

B2: What type of gladiator would use image D?

LAQUEARIUS

Question 25

What would the Romans have called Paris?

Answer 25

**LUTETIA** ## Footnote B1: What would the Romans have called York? **EBORĀCUM** B2: What would the Romans have called Milan? **MEDIOLĀNUM**

Question 26

So it’s the first question and you may be a little nervous. Will you know the answer? I bet you do. Tell me, what is the main room of a Roman house?

Answer 26

**ATRIUM** ## Footnote B1. What is the Latin word for the garden in a Roman house? **HORTUS** B2. What is the word for the dining room in a Roman house? **TRICLINIUM**

Question 27

What was the first office in the **cursus honorum**?

Answer 27

Answer: **QUAESTOR** ## Footnote B1. Which office was only open to plebeians? Answer: **TRIBUNE** B2. How many **quaestors** were elected each year? Answer: 20

Question 28

Name three of the seven hills on which Rome was built.

Answer 28

Answer: SEE BELOW ## Footnote B1. Now name the other four Answer: **PALATINE, AVENTINE, CAPITOLINE, ESQUILINE, QUIRINAL, VIMINAL, CAELIAN** B2. On which of these hills would a Roman have shown you Romulus’ hut? Answer: **PALATINE**

Question 29

The **metae**, **carceres** and **spina** were all part of what structure in Rome?

Answer 29

Answer: **CIRCUS (MAXIMUS)** ## Footnote B1. What were the **metae**? Answer: GOAL/TURNING POSTS B2. How many were at each end of the **spina**? Answer: THREE

Question 30

What procession in Rome would have a combination of musicians, dancers, mimes masks and family members in black or dark colors?

Answer 30

Answer: FUNERAL PROCESSION ## Footnote B1. What were these wax masks of the ancestors called? Answer: **IMAGINES** B2. Where in a Roman house might you find these **imagines** Answer: **IN THE ATRIUM/ALA**

Question 31

Unusual for magistrates in Rome, this officer serves for 18 months.

Answer 31

Answer: **CENSOR** ## Footnote B1. How often were they elected? Answer: EVERY 5 YEARS B2. The **Censor** had various duties, of course, but what was their particular duty concerning the membership of the senate. Answer: THE COULD REMOVE A SENATOR FOR A LACK OF MORAL BEHAVIOR

Question 32

What days of the month can the **Ides** be?

Answer 32

Answer: 13TH OR 15TH ## Footnote B1. On that days can the **Nones** be? Answer: 5TH OR 7TH B2. On what day are the **Ides** this month? Answer: (APRIL) 13TH

Question 33

Reds, Greens and Blues were usually associated with what Roman activity?

Answer 33

Answer: CHARIOT RACING ## Footnote B1. What were **gradus** at the **Circus Maximus**? Answer: ROWS OF SEATS B2. What were **praecinctiones** at the **Circus Maximus**? Answer: AISLES GOING ACROSS (HOROZONTAL

Question 34

There you are, in Pompeii, standing in the reception hall of your patron. What would a Roman call this room?

Answer 34

Answer: **ATRIUM** ## Footnote B1. Fortune is with you and your patron gives you a little hand-out of food and some coins. What would a Roman call this hand-out from a patron to his client? Answer: **SPORTULA** B2. Fortune is really with you that day and your patron invites you to dinner. In what room would you eat? Answer: **TRICLINIUM**

Question 35

Where would a Roman go to watch the chariot races?

Answer 35

Answer: **CIRCUS (MAXIMUS)** ## Footnote B1. And there you are in the Circus! Sitting next to you, a Roman says “**Quam factionem amas**?” What has the Roman asked you? Answer: WHICH RACING COMPANY YOU LIKE. B2. Supposing that you like the Greens, how would you answer the Roman? Answer: **PRASINAM/PRASINAS AMO**.

Question 36

What’s in a name? For the Romans, quite a bit. Take Lucius Cornelius Sulla for instance. Which of those would be the man’s **nomen**?

Answer 36

Answer: CORNELIUS ## Footnote B1. What would a man’s nomen tell you about him? Answer: HIS CLAN/FAMILY B2. Marcus Domitius Ahenobarbus married Cornelia and their first child was a girl. What would they name her? Answer: DOMITIA

Question 37

What long garment, extending to her feet and bound at the waist would a Roman woman wear?

Answer 37

Answer: **STOLA** ## Footnote B1. If a stola did not have sleeves, what would a woman use to bind the top together? Answer: **FIBULA(E)** B2. What was the Latin name of the wedding dress a Roman bride wore? Answer: **TUNICA RECTA**

Question 38

There you are in the Roman Forum, minding our own business and some stranger walks up and asks **Ubi sunt thermae**? What is the stranger looking for?

Answer 38

Answer: (PUBLIC) BATHS ## Footnote B1. It is a hot day and later you decide to go the the baths as well. You have heard a lot about the new, fancy baths that have just been built a short walk from the Circus, near the Aventine Hill and named for one of the Severan emperors. Which baths are you going to? Answer: BATHS OF CARACALLA B2. After you pay your entrance fee, to what room do you go to change? Answer: **APODYTERIUM**

Question 39

What is the Latin term for an elementary school teacher?

Answer 39

Answer: **LITTERATOR** ## Footnote B1. After a **litterator**, a Roman boy would go to a **grammaticus**. This teacher gave the boys a different set of studies that would, in the words of Cicero, “move children’s minds towards humanity and courage” What literary work was studied in the earliest schools of **grammatici**? Answer: THE ODYSSEY B2. What Roman would not entrust the education of his sons to a slave and said that the 5 proper studies for a Roman were: Oratory, agriculture, law, medicine and war. Answer: CATO THE ELDER

Question 40

From lowest to highest, give the three offices in the **cursus honorum**

Answer 40

Answer: **QUAESTOR, PRAETOR, CONSUL** ## Footnote B1. Although not part of the cursus honorum, the office of aedile was an important for a politician to gain favor with the voters. What duty of the aedile gave this power? Answer: (duty) TO PUT ON PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENTS/ GAMES/FEASTS B2. Two of the aedileships were reserved for patricians. What extra name was given to the patrician aediles and what distinction was given to them in public? Answer: CURULE, SAT ON IVORY CHAIRS INSTEAD OF WOODEN BENCHES.

Question 41

As you are walking through the streets of Rome you hear two men arguing. One says: “**retiarii sunt optimi**!” What are the men arguing about?

Answer 41

Answer: GLADIATORS/GAMES ## Footnote B1. How is a **retiarius** armed? Answer: WITH NET AND TRIDENT B2. The second man says “**Stulte! Bestiarii sunt optimi**” What does the second man like? Answer: HUNTERS/BEAST FIGHTERS

Question 42

In ancient Rome, what was a **basilica**?

Answer 42

A LAW COURT ## Footnote B1: In the Roman Forum, what was the speaker's platform called? **ROSTRA** B2: In the Roman Forum, what was the senate house called? **CURIA**

Question 43

What room in the Roman baths was the cold-plunge room?

Answer 43

**FRIGIDĀRIUM** ## Footnote B1: What room in the Roman baths was the exercise court? **PALAESTRA** B2: What room in the Roman baths was the changing room? **APODYTERIUM**

Question 44

What Roman praenomen was abbreviated P.?

Answer 44

PUBLIUS ## Footnote B1: ...Sp.? SPURIUS B2: ...Q.? QUINTUS

Question 45

What did the Romans call the dividing wall in a circus?

Answer 45

**SPĪNA** ## Footnote B1: What object would the editor munerum, or giver of the games, drop to signify the beginning of the race? **MAPPA** B2: What did the Romans call the finish line at the circus? **CALX**

Question 46

The Roman festival of **Matrōnālia** is roughly equivalent to what modern holiday?

Answer 46

MOTHER'S DAY ## Footnote B1: On what day was **Matrōnālia** celebrated? MARCH 1 B2: What festival, also held in March, celebrated the coming of age of Roman boys? **LĪBERĀLIA**

Question 47

What object, presented to Roman children on the **dies lustricus**, was worn as a luck charm to keep away the evil eye?

Answer 47

**BULLA** ## Footnote B1: When would a girl dedicated her **bulla** to her **Lar Familiaris**? ON THE EVE OF HER WEDDING B2: When would an adult Roman man wear his **bulla**? IN A TRIUMPHAL PROCESSION

Question 48

What were **usus**, **coemptio**, and **confarreatiō**?

Answer 48

MARRIAGE CEREMONIES / WEDDINGS ## Footnote B1: At a **confarreatiō**, how many wittnesses were required to make the event legal? TEN B2: At a **confarreatiō**, what was name of the young attendant who held the offering known as the **cumera**? **CAMILLUS**

Question 49

**Essedariī, Myrmillōnēs, Secutōrēs**, and **Retiāriī** were all what in ancient Rome?

Answer 49

GLADIATORS ## Footnote B1: What type of gladiator was a **tīro**? A ROOKIE / NOVICE B2: What did the term **missus** signify about a gladiator? HE WAS SPARED

Question 50

What chest was generally kept in the **tablīnum** of a house as a recepticle for important documents?

Answer 50

**ARCA** ## Footnote B1: When a Roman received his clients during the **Salūtātiō**, he would greet them either in the **tablīnum** or what other room? **ATRIUM** B2: While passing through the **ātrium**, the clients might see **imaginēs** hanging from the walls. What were they? (WAX) DEATH MASKS (OF ANCESTORS)

Question 51

To what general category do all of the following belong: **turbinēs, trochī, pilae, crepundia?**

Answer 51

TOYS ## Footnote B1: What was a **crepundia**? A RATTLE B2: What knucklebones were used by children to play jacks? **TALĪ**