Rise and Fall of Ancient Rome Trivia Quiz

Answer: Aeneas

Romulus and Remus were, according to legend, reared by by a female wolf. Paris and Hector were indeed Princes of Troy, but at the time of the Trojan Wars with the Greek cities. Anchises was the father of Aeneas, his mother being the goddess Aphrodite. Aeneas was a brave Trojan hero who was the lover of Dido of Carthage.

Answer: Tarquinius Superbus

Tarquinius Priscus organised a census which put the leaders of extended families on an advisory body called the Senate (which became a lot more powerful in the Roman Republic), but he was not the last king of Rome. Servius Tullius instituted the class structure in ancient Rome. Ancus Marcius was the king between 642-616 BCE. Tarquinius Superbus was the last ending his reign in 509 BCE.

Answer: Servian Wall

The Servian wall was completed around Rome and at 7.5m high and made it almost impregnable well into the 4th century CE. The Antonine Wall was built north of Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain to keep out invaders from the north. The Theodosian and Constantine Walls were around Rome either, they were built around Byzantium.

Answer: Carthage

Cato was instrumental in encouraging the Roman Republic to go to war with Carthage for a third and final time. The 3rd Punic war ended in the almost complete destruction of Carthage, when it was set ablaze and many citizens ruthlessly murdered. This also happened in Corinth but it was not the subject of Cato's quote.

Answer: Zama

At Cannae, Hannibal was victorius. Iit could be argued that it was his most comprehensive tactical victory. At Lake Trasimene and Trebbia, Hannibal was again victorius. Only at Zama in 202 BCE was he defeated by the superior Roman discipline and the fact that Hannibal's allies' calvary had joined the Roman side.

Answer: Mark Antony

Mark Antony was Caesar's friend but he was not part of the original Triumvirate, although he was part of the second, which included Octavian and Lepidus as well as himself. The original Triumvirate gave each of the members powerful political and social support.

Answer: Trajan

The senate of Rome proclaimed that Trajan was the 'optimus princeps' or best of the emperors. It was quite a statement to make but under Trajan the Empire reached its peak geographically and ecomonically. He erected many buildings in Rome and cared for the poor. Commodus was said to be "more cruel than Domitian and more foul than Nero" by the senate.

Answer: Sassanids

The Sassanids were from the city of Persepolis, the Persian empire's former royal city. They wanted to restore the glory of the Persian Empire. There army was focused on cavalry and they believed in the Zoroastrian religion. The Ghassanids were tribesmen who hired by the Byzantium Emperor to patrol the desert frontier. Berbers were desert peoples from north Africa who were hardy desert warriors.

Answer: 330 CE

Contantine the Great founded Constantinople to become the new centre of the Roman World in his image. It outlasted the 'Eternal City' itself as an imperial capital. It was not until 1453 CE that the last remnants of the once great Byzantine Empire fell. They considered themselves Romans although they didn't have possession of Rome or speak Latin.

Answer: Romulus Augustulus

Romulus Augustulus was a 'boy emperor' who had the names of the First King and Emperor. This was mockery because these late Western Emperors were all puppets of the Germanic chieftains who controlled Rome. (In fact, since the 1940s unkind parallels have sometimes been drawn with the relationship between Hitler and Mussolini). Romulus was deposed, and a Germanic chieftain called Odoacer became 'King of Italy': the Imperial insignia had been sent to Byzantium.

When Romulus Augustulus lost power the Western Roman Empire ceased to exist.