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Ancient Roman Trivia #1

Can you guess these facts from the history of ancient Rome?
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: September 5, 2018
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First submittedJuly 17, 2013
Times taken68,246
Average score68.2%
Rating4.76
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Answer
Twin brothers that founded Rome (according to legend)
Romulus
Remus
Language of Rome
Latin
City-state that Rome fought three wars against from 264–146 BC
Carthage
Name for those wars
The Punic Wars
Gladiator who sparked a huge slave revolt from 73–71 BC
Spartacus
King of the Roman gods
Jupiter
Famous road connecting Rome to Brindisi
Appian Way
Term for a bridge built to convey water to cities
Aqueduct
Advisory council of 300-500 wealthy Roman citizens
Senate
General who conquered Gaul and became dictator
Julius Caesar
Day of the year in which the above was assassinated
March 15th
First emperor of Rome
Augustus
Temple to "all gods" with a concrete dome
Pantheon
Emperor who supposedly "fiddled while Rome burned"
Nero
Huge Roman arena also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre
Colosseum
Emperor under whom Rome reached its greatest territorial extent
Trajan
Emperor who built a wall in northern England
Hadrian
Poisonous substance sometimes used to sweeten wine
Lead
Emperor who moved the capital and who converted to Christianity
Constantine
Name for the Greek-speaking Eastern Empire
Byzantine Empire
Most famous church in Constantinople
Hagia Sophia
60 Comments
+2
Level 74
Jul 22, 2013
fun quiz. thanks.

2.23 left.

+11
Level 81
Aug 22, 2013
Shouldn't just "Julius" work for that answer? Got it anyway. Missed lead. Didn't know that it tasted good. No wonder kids like to eat it. paint chips. Chinese toys. Those delicious delicious toys...
+5
Level 40
Aug 3, 2015
I agree that "Julius" should work, since "Augustus" does.
+18
Level ∞
Mar 29, 2016
"Render onto Julius the things that are Julius's?"

"I come to bury Julius, not to praise him?"

Sorry, but it's just not right

+16
Level 86
Aug 6, 2016
Well, "Render onto Caesar the things that are Caesar's" refers to Tiberius... Or maybe Caligula, it depends on when the events depicted in the gospels happened.
+4
Level 81
Aug 6, 2016
I can reference lines from the Bible that treat Pharaoh as a proper name in the same way those lines seem to treat Ceasar, and a quiz that disqualifies Pharaoh as a character in the Bible under the assumption that it is a title and not a name.

So while you may be right, that doesn't seem like the strongest argument.

+9
Level 83
Oct 16, 2016
In the commentaries Caesar refers to himself as Caesar, I think the clue is just fine
+4
Level 81
Jan 30, 2019
and Pharaoh refers to himself as Pharaoh.
+5
Level 83
Mar 15, 2019
Caesar became an honorific after Julius Caesar's death as a result of him adopting Octavian. It was just a name until then.
+11
Level 59
Jul 10, 2020
Well, roman names work different. In fact his given name was Gaius and Julius the name of his family (gens), with caesar being some kind of official nickname. Those names were acquired some time during your life and it was what you were commonly referred to. So people called him "Caesar" and not "Julius", close friends maybe called him "Gaius".

Same goes with Cicero, for example, his given name was Marcus and he was form the Tullian family, but the name we know him by and the romans did too is Cicero, which comes from very remarkable dimples he had, and so he called him Cicero, which can be translated as chick-pea.

Going back to Caesar, the case is a little bit different because his name was indeed also inherited by his father, whose name was also Gaius Iulius Caesar. Historians argue about the origin of the name Caesar, and we can't be sure, but it definitely was not a title during his lifetime.

Calling him Julius is like referring to Elizabeth II as Windsor.

+1
Level 34
May 13, 2024
A cognomen, I believe. Like an inherited family title that became synonymous with "Emperor" in order to legitimize the rule of later "Caesars"
+4
Level 37
Aug 10, 2021
When someone hears or reads the name 'Caesar', 9 out of 10 times they'll think about Gaius Julius Caesar and the man who conquered Gaul, first Roman to invade Britain and the guy who was basically an emperor (though he wasn't!). However, when they hear or read 'Julius', they'll most likely not think about Gaius Julius Caesar and the man who conquered Gaul, first Roman to invade Britain and the guy who was basically an emperor.
+4
Level 67
Sep 30, 2021
Julius is the name of the Pringles mascot, so that's where my mind goes.
+7
Level 37
Aug 22, 2013
Lead... to sweeten... wine. That would explain a lot about Nero.
+11
Level 75
Aug 30, 2014
I was always taught they got lead poisoning from their water pipes. I like the wine idea better.
+5
Level 44
Mar 23, 2018
a little of both apparently.
+1
Level 59
Apr 29, 2024
There probably wasn't enough lead in the water to do anything, which is supported by skeletal analysis. The whole "lead pipes bringing down the Roman Empire" theory was big in the 80s, partially because it was convenient way to get people in the US to start replacing lead pipes.

That said, given that Roman water systems were constant flow (unlike what we have in the US, which increases the risk of lead poisoning from pipes), I'm pretty okay with people believing that the myth.

+3
Level 56
Mar 21, 2019
Nero had a lot of bad press.
+1
Level 77
Aug 22, 2013
Didn't know about that lead.
+2
Level 48
May 20, 2014
At least high school Latin class was good for something.
+2
Level 67
Aug 6, 2016
Forsan et haec olim meminisse juvabit.
+1
Level 70
Aug 9, 2016
ut non inveniat quod
+3
Level 85
Oct 18, 2017
Carpe donuts!
+1
Level 81
Nov 25, 2020
Morrissey's translation: I can smile about it now but at the time it was terrible.
+1
Level 67
Aug 7, 2016
Could you accept St Sophia?
+9
Level 83
Mar 15, 2019
It's not named after a saint, though -- the name means "holy wisdom".
+3
Level 82
Dec 20, 2016
All I could think of was Via Appia. Left off the "n"
+2
Level 75
Jan 13, 2017
Always Fail with Hadrian.

I know like dozens of Adrian, Adrià, Adrianne, Ariadne, etc.

That H is just Evil

+16
Level 70
Jan 13, 2017
Why no mention of the most famous Roman ..... 'Gluteus Maximus'?
+26
Level 81
Nov 18, 2017
Because he was an ass
+4
Level 93
May 22, 2019
ba dum tshhh
+2
Level 81
Nov 25, 2020
Biggus Dickus - he has a wife you know.....
+2
Level 84
Sep 30, 2021
Do you find it writhible?
+1
Level 61
Jun 10, 2018
You should accept the latin names.

iupiter

traianus

hadrianus

constantinus

+2
Level 72
Sep 6, 2018
Simple thought - If the questions are in English why would the answers be in Latin??? Poem I learned in Latin class: Latin is a language, at least it used to be. First it killed the Romans and now it's killin' me.
+2
Level 20
Oct 6, 2021
I thought it was Iuppiter (two t's)
+1
Level 57
Jan 30, 2019
lol, so much of the ones i got wrong were just me not knowing how to spell or thinking of the right answer before thinking nahhh that cant be right
+2
Level 69
Jan 30, 2019
Please could you allow Aya Sofia or Aya Sofya? I keep forgetting the non-Turkish version
+1
Level 81
Mar 15, 2019
I often try this just because it is fewer letters, but it rarely works.
+2
Level 70
Mar 15, 2019
Given how lenient answers are, that probably should work. This is a quiz in English though and that's not what it's called by English speakers. I'm bilingual and I firmly believe it's more appropriate to pronounce words and use place names in the language being used. English is a very flexible and forgiving language, so it really doesn't much matter much so long as you're successfully conveying what you're trying to say but it's probably best to just avoid confusion in the first place.
+1
Level 83
Mar 15, 2019
There's a few Roman history quizzes on my page if anyone wants to have a go
+3
Level 44
Mar 15, 2019
I think that Octavius should be accpeted for Augustus
+4
Level 83
Mar 15, 2019
His name was Octavian and it is
+1
Level 52
Jun 13, 2019
His name was actually Gaius if we are being specific.
+1
Level 72
Dec 20, 2020
That's his first name, not surname..
+2
Level 25
Jul 23, 2021
Octavian is a convention from historians. It's either octavius or augustus.
+2
Level 47
Apr 28, 2020
Anyone else get Hagia Sophia from Assassin's Creed?
+11
Level 59
Jun 29, 2020
No, we got it from school.
+1
Level 36
Apr 1, 2021
Antoninus Pius also built a wall in northern England... Although not nearly as famous it seems.
+2
Level 57
Jul 27, 2021
the Antonine wall's in Scotland rather than England
+2
Level 37
Sep 8, 2021
Scoring

You scored 22/22 = 100%

6.7% of test takers also scored 100%

The average score is 15

Your high score is 22

Your fastest time is 1:54

So far my best score in any Jetpunk Quiz - other than numbers and letters speed-typing of course!

+2
Level 66
Sep 30, 2021
The title should be Ancient Rome Trivia, not Ancient Roman Trivia, which suggests that these types of questions were trivia back then. Perhaps only for lead-damaged individuals.
+1
Level 60
Oct 1, 2021
so many things I knew but failed to translate into english...

via Appia, Carthago, Byzanz, Constantin,

+1
Level 57
Oct 5, 2021
I had no idea about the lead, but I have always thought leaded petrol smells really nice. I suppose I should be glad I wasn't a Roman.
+1
Level 75
Feb 22, 2023
Did anyone else start to type in Zeus?
+1
Level 34
May 13, 2024
I never take the two seconds needed for my mind to distinguish between the Greek and Roman names. I always start typing one or the other.
+1
Level 64
Jul 22, 2023
I tried Saint/St/Santa/Sancta/Aya + Sophia/Sofia/Sofia/Sofya and didn't get the point. It is all the same place. Strictly speaking, it is no longer a church or a museum, having recently been reconverted to a mosque.
+1
Level 69
Aug 1, 2023
I think the question is fine as it is, since the building is clearly a Byzantine church (albeit with added minarets). The use of this particular Byzantine church has changed throughout history between church, mosque and museum - and who knows what it might become next!
+1
Level 43
Dec 13, 2023
Its not named after St. Sophia. Hagia Sophia means "Holy Wisdom" with its formal name being The Church of God's Holy Wisdom (according to wikipedia anyways)
+1
Level 66
Jul 24, 2023
Can you accept Appia instead of just Appian? I only knew the road as Via Appia, so it wasn't reasonable to add an English suffix to it