Q 01/05

The Latin word senatus, which gave the Roman Senate its name, comes from a word meaning what?

A) Wise man

B) Free man

C) Old man

D) Rich man

Answer · why

C) Old man

Old man is what the Latin senex means, so the Senate was literally an assembly of elders. In the Republic a seat there was held for life.

Q 02/05

Which birds, sacred to Juno, are said to have woken Rome's defenders during a Gallic night attack on the Capitol?

A) Geese

B) Ravens

C) Doves

D) Owls

Answer · why

A) Geese

Geese raised the alarm after both the guards and the watchdogs had failed to hear the Gauls climbing the hill. The attackers had already sacked the re...

Q 03/05

Which Roman farmer left his plough to take emergency command, beat the Aequi and resigned barely two weeks later?

A) Publicola

B) Torquatus

C) Scipio Africanus

D) Cincinnatus

Answer · why

D) Cincinnatus

Cincinnatus became a byword for civic virtue because he went straight back to his farm. The city of Cincinnati, Ohio, takes its name from a society of...

Q 04/05

Roman office-seekers campaigned in a toga chalked to a brilliant white, a custom that gave English which word?

A) Delegate

B) Candidate

C) Advocate

D) Magistrate

Answer · why

B) Candidate

Candidate comes from candidus, Latin for shining white: men seeking office wore the bleached toga candida to speeches and public debates.

Q 05/05

Which four letters, an emblem of the Roman Republic's government, still appear on the coat of arms of modern Rome?

A) ROMA

B) SPQR

C) INRI

D) URBS

Answer · why

B) SPQR

SPQR is short for Senatus Populusque Romanus, the Senate and People of Rome. Before the letters came into use, the state's name on its coins was simpl...