Traitors and Villains of the Ancient World Quiz

Answer: Marcus Junius Brutus Caepio

Marcus Junius Brutus, known as Brutus, was born into a relatively unimportant Roman family. He was adopted by his uncle at 15 and added the latter's cognomen, Caepio, to his own. Brutus aligned himself against the First Triumvirate of Pompey, Crassus and Caesar.

After the defeat of Brutus' allies at the Battle of Pharsalus, he wrote to Caesar and asked for his forgiveness. His letter was answered very kindly by Caesar, who promoted him and made him governor of Gaul. He and his fellow conspirators assassinated Julius Caesar on the Ides of March in 44BCE.

The famous phrase 'Et tu, Brute' is used by Shakespeare a the end of his play 'Julius Caesar', but Suetonius records the phrase to be 'Even you, my child'. This had led to speculation that Brutus could have been the illegitimate son of Julius Caesar, as his mother was Caesar's mistress.

This would have put Caesar's age at 15 at the time of Brutus' birth, and this had led most historians to claim that he cannot be the father. Brutus has been much vilified in literature, Dante places him in the same category Judas Iscariot, being tortured by the Devil but never killed in 'Divine Comedy'.

Answer: Ephialtes

The legendary story of the 300 Spartans holding back the Persian hordes is based on reality. The elite Spartiates and their King Leonidas, along with their Thespian allies, held back a Persian army numbering hundreds of thousands. Xerxes' forces were unable to break through until a local traitor, Ephialtes, showed the Immortals (the elite Persian footsoldiers) over a mountain pass.

The Persians, able to surround the Greek forces, slaughtered them to a man. Not surprisingly, Ephialtes was not welcomed back in his hometown of Mais.

Answer: Aegisthus

Aegisthus did not have an auspicious start to life. Born to his own sister, he killed his uncle to aid his father in rising to the throne of Mycenae. When the Achaean forces left for Troy he refused to go and instead used the time to seduce Klytemnestra, the wife of Agamemnon.

It is not known why Klytemnestra allowed herself to be seduced by Aegisthus, but Agamemnon's ritual slaughter of their daughter can hardly have pleased her. When Agamemnon returned from Troy he and his men were killed by the two lovers, either in the bath or during a feast.

This heinous act was avenged by Orestes, the son of Agamemnon.

Answer: Judas Iscariot

The betrayal and execution of Jesus of Nazareth did not create a major uproar at the time. His followers dispersed quietly and tried to spread his message to the people. The name of Judas Iscariot might never have been known, except that Jesus' beliefs began to find followers and grew into a minor religion by around 60CE. Eventually taking over as the official religion of the Roman Empire, Christianity in its various denominations has stayed the major religion in Europe since then.

After betraying Jesus to the Romans, Judas was racked with guilt and took his silver pieces to the temple priests.

He then ended his own life by hanging himself.

Answer: Antinous

Odysseus, the designer of the Trojan Horse, had a tough time getting back from Troy. His journey, immortalised in "The Odyssey", took him ten years and he travelled all around the Aegean and even to the underworld. When he arrived home he found his home full of suitors, the two notable ones being Antinous, the leader, and Eurymachus. Disguising himself as a beggar he tricked the suitors into letting him string his own bow.

He then used this to massacre them with the aid of his son, Telemachus.

Answer: Marc Antony

Marc Antony (Latin: Marcus Antonius) was born into a noble Roman family and was noted for his courage during his youth. When civil war erupted, he chose to ally himself with Julius Caesar and commanded one of the wings at the battle of Pharsalus. The assassination of Caesar left him without a protector, but he was able to rouse the mob to his cause and forced the conspirators to flee Rome.

Initially Octavian and Antony were allies but they became enemies as their power grew. A ragged peace, sealed by the marriage of Anthony to Octavian's sister, survived for a few years but Anthony's hedonistic lifestyle angered Rome.

They deprived him of his powers, and he responded by taking up arms. He joined forces with his lover, Cleopatra, and they prepared to meet Octavian in a naval engagement.

The Battle of Actium, if it can be called a battle, consisted of Cleopatra fleeing and Antony's fleet surrendering as it began. Antony and Cleopatra fled to Egypt where they both committed suicide (separately) in the face of defeat.

In modern times he is often called Marc Anthony, simply a more modern spelling of his name.

Answer: Paris

If you are interested in the story of Paris, Helen and the Trojan War follow one of these two choices.

1) Never buy "Troy", never watch "Troy". Instead get a copy of "The Iliad" and read one of the greatest stories ever told.

2) Buy "Troy", watch "Troy", then note the following facts in place of the ones in the film; Menelaus does not die, Achilles does not storm Troy (he is long dead by then), Agamemnon does not die, Helen does not leave with Paris but is instead recaptured by Menelaus and taken back to Sparta. I would highly recommend the first choice!

Answer: Caligula

When Caligula rose to the purple (in all likelihood by smothering the Emperor Tiberius) he began his reign with sensible and even progressive policies. This start sadly degenerated as he took pleasure in the torture and execution of prisoners. Soon he abandoned all pretence of normality, taking multiple wives, sleeping with his sisters and finding new ways of publicly executing prisoners.

He alienated the Senators by forcing their wives and daughters to work in brothels(!) and took to executing the rich and stealing their estates under the guise of "inheritance". Promoting himself to deity and his "marriage" to his sister further offended his few supporters. Amazingly, he survived for almost four years before being killed by his own bodyguards.

Answer: Hercules

Hercules (or Heracles/Herakles in the Greek) , son of Zeus, was plagued by Hera (Zeus' wife) throughout his life. She sent two snakes to kill him in his crib but he managed to strangle them both. As he grew up and got older he married and became a fine leader and warrior.

Hera had not forgotten him, however, and made him temporarily insane. When he woke to find that he had killed his children he was told that if he performed a series of labours for his cousin, King Eurystheus, he could be forgiven.

The now legendary "Twelve Tasks of Hercules" took him years to achieve, but he ultimately succeeded. His death, years later, through unintentional poisoning was followed by his rise to Mount Olympus.

Answer: Locusta

Born in Gaul, Locusta developed a keen interest in woodland lore and with it a deep knowledge of herbs and plants. When she arrived in Rome she soon discovered that providing ambitious members of society with herbs to speed up their enemies passing was a very lucrative hobby.

She came to the attention of Agrippina the Younger who used her to poison a mushroom and end the life of the Emperor Claudius. Agrippina's son, Nero, became Emperor and Locusta's future was assured. As the Emperor's favourite, she was safe to poison people at will, but when the Emperor committed suicide she found many, many enemies waiting to exact vengeance.