Here begins a series of questions based upon Roman history and legend as represented in various works of art. Following the graphic and its question is a link where your answer may be verified.
1. In this mosaic, the ancestral hero of the Romans embraces the founder of Carthage, whom he abandons in his search for a new home; the couple represents
a. Achilles and Briseis
b. Aeneas and Dido
c. Paris and Helen
d. Ulysses and Penelope
2. The twin sons of Mars and Rhea Silvia, who allegedly were suckled by a she-wolf, were named Romulus and Remus by an individual named
a. Amulius
b. Faustulus
c. Lausus
d. Numitor
3. Poised between her father Tatius and her husband Romulus is a Sabine woman named
a. Camilla
b. Hersilia
c. Sabina
d. Tullia
4. In a battle of champions between Rome and Alba Longa, the Horatii brothers vowed to fight another set of triplets named the
a. Curiatii
b. Gracchi
c. Flavii
d. Veii
5. Seated in the shadows is one of Rome's first consuls, a man who sentenced his own sons to death in 509 BC for plotting to restore Tarquin the Proud to the throne; his name is
a. Gaius Marcius Coriolanus
b. Lucius Junius Brutus
c. Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus
d. Publius Decius Mus
6. At the battle of Cannae in 216 BC, a Carthaginian general was responsible for the deaths of 50,000 Roman troops; his name is
a. Hamilcar Barca
b. Hannibal
c. Hanno
d. Hasdrubal
7. A member of the First Triumvirate in 60 BC, this successful general was ultimately defeated at Pharsalus in Greece and murdered in Egypt; his name is
a. Clodius
b. Crassus
c. Lepidus
d. Pompey
8. Julius Caesar declared "The die is cast!" when he started a civil war in 49 BC by crossing a boundary marked by a river called the
a. Po
b. Rhine
c. Rubicon
d. Tiber
9. A decisive naval battle between the forces of Octavian and those of Mark Antony and Cleopatra took place in 31 BC off a promontory in Greece called
a. Actium
b. Illyricum
c. Pharsalus
d. Piraeus
10. Flanked by Muses in this mosaic is a Roman poet who is best known for his epic poem, the Aeneid, which was published unfinished after his death in 19 BC; his name is
a. Catullus
b. Martial
c. Ovid
d. Vergil
11. By his death in AD 14, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus had accepted many official titles, in addition to Augustus, except for this one:
a. consul
b. dictator
c. imperator
d. princeps
12. The capture of Jerusalem in AD 70 is commemorated in this arch that was built in honor of the emperor named
a. Domitian
b. Severus
c. Titus
d. Vespasian
13. Deemed one of the five good ones, this emperor, who traveled extensively, fostered the arts, and built the Pantheon in Rome, died in AD 138; his name is
a. Commodus
b. Hadrian
c. Severus
d. Trajan
14. In AD 330, the capital of the empire was moved from Rome to Byzantium by this "great" emperor named
a. Constantine I
b. Justinian I
c. Theodosius I
d. Valentinian I
15. An outstanding general, who recaptured Italy from the Ostrogoths in AD 553, was blinded by order of Justinian and reduced to begging in the streets; his name is
a. Balbus
b. Belisarius
c. Brutus
d. Burrus