Quiz 1: Roots of the Western Tradition

Who were the Etruscans?

• The wealthy, noble class of Rome.

• Northern invaders from across the Alpine Mountain range. They sacked Rome in 390 BCE.

• A wealthy, aristocratic elite who dominated the territory north of the Tiber River before and during the time of the Roman monarchy.

• A powerful Roman rival from coastal regions south of Rome.

After the overthrow of the last Etruscan king of Rome, the Roman people established a representative form of government by splitting the position of the monarch and electing two consuls every year. This period, which extended from 509 to 27 BCE is known as the __________________.

• Roman Republic

• Pax Romana

• Lex Hortensia

• Magna Grecia

Rome's ultimate victory over Carthage in these three long wars marks the greatest accomplishment in Rome's march to becoming the master of the Mediterranean.

• Punic Wars

• Samnite Wars

• Gallic Wars

• Civil Wars

After the fall of the monarchy, in the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, the plebeians were not represented in the Roman assemblies and held little power against the patricians who dominated the Roman Senate. To address this lack of influence they established the _________________.

• Comitium

• Latifundia

• Concilium Plebis

• Concilium Tributum

In the wake of Rome's victory over Carthage, as land concentrated in fewer and fewer families , and more and more veterans lost their family farms, these two noblemen led the moves to land reform. Both lost their lives as a result of violence instigated against them.

• Julius Caesar and Gnaeus Pompey

• Lucius Sulla and Gaius Marius

• Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus

• Marcus Cicero and Lucius Cataline

To address the unequal representation in government and to extend the protections of Roman government to more Romans in 450 BCE, a council of 10 drafted an extensive code of laws known as the _____________ .

• Pax Romans

• Lex Hortensia

• Jus Naturale

• Twelve Tables

To redress the refusal of the Senate to fully support his military commands and allow him to recruit a force sufficient to his needs, this commander broke precedent and personally recruited poor and landless men into the army.

• Lucius Sulla

• Gaius Marius

• Julius Caesar

• Gnaeus Pompey

Breaking precedent and appointing himself dictator for life, he became the catalyst for transforming Rome's Republican government into the one man rule of the Empire.

• Gaius Gracchus

• Marc Antony

• Octavian

• Julius Caesar

In building his career, Julius Caesar significantly expanded Roman territory outside of Italy by invading and conquering this territory north of the Alps.

• Egypt

• Greece

• Gaul

• Spain

These large scale concentrations of land in the hands of a few wealthy men fostered a profound economic change by emphasizing commercial agriculture and driving large numbers of small farmers off the land and into the cities such as Rome where they had no urban skills.

• latifundia

• comitia

• ager publicus

• villa ruralis