What A Roman Knows Trivia Quiz

Answer: Wolf

A bronze statue of a she-wolf is perhaps the best known symbol of Rome. For many years it was believed to date from the 5th century BC. However, in 2007 metallurgists using thermoluminescence dating suggested that the Capitoline Wolf "only" dated back to the Early Middle Ages.

Answer: Prime

A prime number is a natural number divisible only by 1 and itself. XV11 in Roman numerals equates to 17, which is prime.

Answer: Tiber

The Tiber is Italy's third longest river at 406 km long. It flows from its source in the Apennine Mountains to the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is named after a legendary king, Tiberinus Silvius, who drowned in its waters.

Answer: 753 BC

This would seem a remarkably precise estimate, given that the BC/AD dating system wasn't invented by Dionysius Exiguus (Dennis the Short) until what is now known as the early 6th century AD.

Answer: Sweden with "Fångad av en stormvind"

After juries from 22 participating nations had voted, Sweden and France were tied on 146 points. Israel were placed 3rd with 139, and the rather hapless Austrian entrant, Thomas Forstner had received exactly "nul points" and came last. Eventually, Sweden won on "countback" having got more second place votes than France (both had got maximum points from 4 juries). France would have won under the latest tie-break rules as their total was made up of votes from more countries.

Answer: SS Lazio

The mergers were carried out at the behest of Benito Mussolini who wanted a team from the capital that was able to compete with the soccer powerhouses based in northern cities. The colours of AS Roma were previously those of Roman FC.

To this day, Lazio remain Roma's closest rivals, since they both now play their home games at the Stadio Olympico.

Answer: Enrico Fermi

Modigliani won the economics prize in 1985 for his pioneering analyses of saving and of financial markets.

Segre completed his doctorate in physics under Fermi. He shared the 1959 physics prize with Owen Chamberlain for their discovery of antiprotons.

Quasimodo, a poet, won the Nobel prize for Literature in the same year. His poetry was said to "express the tragic experience of life in our own times". He was born in Sicily.

On collecting his prize, Fermi immediately emigrated to the US, without returning to Rome, to escape feared persecution under the fascist regime of Mussolini.

Answer: 2 Euro

Due to the uneasy relationship between French and Flemish speaking regions of Belgium, and the failure of their politicians to agree on any other solution, the Belgian coin features the Latin inscription PACTVM ROMANVM QVINQVAGENARIVM.

Some members of the European Union who hadn't as yet joined the Euro issued coins of their own of differing denominations for example, Cyprus (£1) and Hungary (50 Florint).

Answer: Dalai Lama

Pope John Paul II was the first Pontiff to be given this honour since the founding of the Italian Republic in 1870. In that year, Napoleon 111 removed his garrison from Rome, to defend Paris following the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. The struggle for the unification of Italy continued in their absence. On March 17th 1861, Rome was declared the capital of Italy, following its capture from Papal authority during "Il Resorgimento"

Answer: "Bicycle Thieves"

"Bicycle thieves" or "Ladri di biciclette" (1948) was directed by Vittorio de Sica. It was a neo-realist film, and did not use trained actors, even in the leading roles.

"The Italian Job" involved 3 Austin Mini Cooper S in a remarkable car chase over, under and along Turin's streets whilst being driven by the Remy Julienne stunt driving team.

Answer: A six lane orbital motorway

The building of Autostrada A90 or the Grande Raccordo Anulare (GRA)(popularly called Il Raccordo/The Junction) as a ring road around Rome began in 1948. By the time of its completion as a single carriageway road, the traffic problems in the capital had worsened and its widening to a dual carriageway was required. Work to achieve this was carried out between 1962 and 1979. Upgrading to its current state was not completed until 2009.

Answer: Julius Caesar

Crossing the Rubicon is a metaphor for deliberately proceeding past a point of no return. The phrase originates with Julius Caesar's invasion of Italy upon his return from conquering Gaul. He led his army across the Rubicon River in violation of law, hence making conflict inevitable.

After victory in a four-year civil war he was eventually named Perpetual Dictator but was assassinated soon afterward.

Answer: Crime fiction/Murder Mysteries

The word "giallo" is Italian for yellow. The Mondadori publishing house first published a series of crime novels with yellow covers in 1929.

Answer: La Pieta

The Statue of David is located at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. "The Last Judgement" can be found hanging in the Sistine Chapel. It is a painting.
When he first arrived in Rome, Michelangelo was commissioned by a Cardinal to create a statue of the Roman wine god Bacchus. The intended recipient rejected the work which instead went to the garden of Jacopo Galli, a patron and collector of Michelangelo's works. It is now in the Bargello Museum in Florence.

Answer: 40

The two most popular Italian card games, Scopa and Briscola, are usually played with 40 cards. This pack is made up of 4 suits: coins, cups, swords and clubs. Each contain an ace, 2,3,4,5,6,7, and 3 picture cards.These are usually comprised of a King, Knight and Infantryman but there are regional variations throughout Italy.