STUDY QUESTIONS
For Jan. 21 - The Roman Empire

"Roman Empire" - Rome Rules The World

1. What, in general, contributed to the fall of the Roman Republic?  When did this occur?
2. Who was in the First Triumverate?
3. How did Julius Caesar rise to power?  When was he assassinated?  By whom? Why?
4. Who was in the Second Triumverate?  How did Octavian assume sole power in Rome?  What role did Cleopatra play in all of this?
5. What does the title "Augustus" mean?  What was Augustus' attitude toward the Republic and traditional Roman ways?
6. How did Augustus rule the Empire? What improvements to Rome and Roman life did he oversee?
7. Who wrote the Aeneid?  What is it about?
8. Who were the "bad" emperors that followed Augustus, and what is memorable about each of them?
9. Who were the "five good emperors" and what made them "good."
10. What contributed to the deterioration and ultimate fall of the empire in the west?
11. How did Christianity become the official religion of the empire?  Under which emperor(s) did this occur?
12. When did the empire divide into east and west?
13. When was Rome sacked by barbarians?  What date is regarded as the official end of the Roman Empire in the west?

Roman Forum Tour
 

1. What does the Arch of Constantine commemorate?

2. What is peculiar about the decorations on the arch?                                           

3. What does the Arch of Septimius Severus commemorate?                                 

4. What is a damnatio memoriae?                                                                       

5. What is the Curia?                                                                                             

6. Why did the Curia survive through the Middle Ages?                                         

7. What purpose did the forum serve?                                                                   

8. What was the Cloaca Maxima?                                                                           

9.  Who were the Vestal Virgins?                                                                        

10. What was their duty?                                                                                   

11.  What was there punishment for breaking their vow?                                      

12.  What was the purpose of the Temple of Vesta?                                            

13. What is the Rostra?                                                                                     

14.  How did it get its name?

Augustus Images of Power

1. Describe the Mausoleum of Augustus.  How might it have promoted Augustus' image as a powerful emperor? With what earlier structure is it compared?
2.What is the Ara Pacis?  How does it glorify Augustus?  Examine the sculptural images.
3. What significant "imperial" imagery is present on the Statue of Augustus at Prima Porta?
4. Thinking back to all of your reading on the empire and its art and architecture, how did the Roman emperors impress the Roman people with their wealth and power?

Arch of Titus

1. Where is this triumphal arch to be found?
2. What victory of Titus is celebrated in the relief sculpture on the arch?
3. What images are depicted in the relief sculptures?
4. What is the inscription on the arch?

The Roman Baths

1. What did Romans do at the Baths?
2. What were the "rules" for women and men?  What did the wealthy men and women sometimes bathe in?
3. What was the function of each of these areas:
            Tepidarium            Caldarium            Palaestra
            Frigidarium            Furnace
4. Read about Aqueducts and Roman Pillars.