Gone to the Dogs Trivia Quiz

Answer: Seaport

Whilst Ostia, as a suburb of Rome, was equipped with a theatre, several temples and a casern for the fire brigade, it served as the main port to supply Rome with goods transported from far countries: corn (mainly from Egypt), olive oil, tin (from Great-Britain or even more to the north).
The harbour of Ostia was looted by pirates in 68 BC, and soon rebuilt. At the end of the Roman Empire, Ostia decayed, and "went to the dogs" during the Ninth Century.
During the Twentieth Century, archaeologists have excavated and reconstructed most of Ostia. You can nowadays visit the reconstructed Ostia every Tuesday till Sunday (except on Christmas Day and May 1st), at a fairly moderate fee.

Answer: Volcanic eruption

You didn't have many clues to go on, but this was a very famous incident. The three towns involved were Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae, and these were buried under volcanic ashes, pumice and other debris on the given date. By the way: the harbour of Oplontis was buried, too, but it didn't get as much attention in history classes as the aforesaid cities.
We still have an eye witness report to the eruption of the Vesuvius, which eruption caused this catastrophe. Indeed, Pliny the Elder sailed from Misenum (a bit to the West of Neapolis, currently known as Naples) to assist evacuation efforts, and his cousin Pliny the Younger stayed in Misenum watching the events from a distance of about 10 miles. Both have recorded their impressions, but Pliny the Elder died during the rescue operation.
Most accounts date the eruption of the Vesuvius on August 24th. One of Pliny's letters however mentions November 23rd, and archaeological findings in the excavation of Pompeii support the latter date.
Nowadays more than half of Pompeii and the other towns have been excavated , and serves as one of the main tourist attractions near Naples. Sadly tourism and conservation don't go well together.
The red herrings all refer to later events. The bubonic plague struck Europe in the mid of the Fourteenth Century. The fire started on Pudding Lane is known as the Great Fire of London (1666). Twice in history, a single bomb wiped out almost an entire city: atomic bombs destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Answer: Marcus Porcius Cato Major

Carthage was a major city in what is now the country Tunisia. Founded by Phoenicians, the city had a predominant position in the Mediterranean trade.
When Rome subdued the rest of the Italian mainland, a clash with Carthage became inevitable. Rome went to war with Carthage on two occasions (264 - 241 BC and 218 - 201 BC).
Then came along Marcus Porcius Cato Major (234 - 149 BC), whom we'll call Cato hereafter. Cato's military career took place during the Second Punic War. In 184 he retired from all public offices but the Senate, where he is reported by various historians to have concluded each and every speech with the words "Ceterum censeo delendam esse Carthaginem" - translated as "Furthermore, I believe Carthage should be destroyed".
In the year that Cato died, Carthage was accused of having violated some petty restriction. Roman legions were sent to Africa to besiege Carthage, and their generals remembered Cato's famous words. After three years, Carthage went completely to the dogs.
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (236 - 183 BC) defeated Carthaginian troops at the end of the Second Punic War.
Quintus Fabius Maximus Cunctator (280 - 203 BC) cut the supply lines to Carthaginian troops in Italy, thus defeating the famous general Hannibal.
Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus (229 - 160 BC) was another Roman general, who conquered Macedonia.
The ancient city of Carthage was excavated and is nowadays a tourist destination as a suburb of Tunis.

Answer: Library

The city of Alexandria in Egypt was renowned for the lighthouse (one of the Seven World Wonders) and for the library - supposedly the largest library of its time.
The lighthouse was destroyed by an earthquake in the Fourteenth Century. As for the library, there is much debate on the date it went to the dogs: several dates are put forward, from 48 BC when Caesar besieged Alexandria, until 391 AD when Emperor Theodosius ordered all pagan remains to be destroyed.
The new library of Alexandria is much more than only a library. It also contains an internet archive, four museums, fifteen permanent exhibitions, research centres, a system for virtual reality experiments, and so on. The articles of organization for this cultural-scientific complex were written in 2001, and the library opened in 2002. More than one and a half million people per year visit this new library.
I assume that all the red herrings existed in the ancient city of Alexandria. Yes: Egyptians drank beer, so there had to be at least a local brewery. But there are no reliable statistics as to which brewery, furniture shop or slave market was the largest (worldwide) during Roman times.

Answer: Colosseum

The Colosseum was an amphitheatre in the Roman centre. Construction began around 70 AD and the opening show took place in 80 AD. It was used to host gladiator fights (against each other or against wild animals), most frequently sponsored by wealthy civilians.
The official name was Amphitheatrum Flavium, but it is popularly known by its unofficial name Colosseum - named after the statue of Nero in the same pose as the Colossus of Rhodes. Some languages have maintained the spelling Colosseum.
The Coliseum could seat myriads of spectators. One ancient source (from the Fourth Century) states 87,000 spectators were allowed, but recent findings correspond more or less to 50,000 seats.
Various events have damaged the Colosseum. As gladiator fights were organised to commemorate the dead and to honour the ancient Roman deities, the adoption of Christianity as a state religion took away the original use. Later the Colosseum was used as a cemetery or as a fortress. Today, the Colosseum is one of the main tourist attractions in Rome.
The Circus Maximus was a vast hippodrome. Alas, only the grass and a few dispersed stone blocks indicate where the Circus once was.
The Domus Aurea was a palace built at the orders of Emperor Nero. It has vanished totally.
The Cloaca Maxima was the largest sewer in Rome. It still functions, but is not what I would call a top of the bill tourist attraction.

Answer: Diocletian

Diocletian's Palace, as it is named, lies on the shore of the Adriatic Sea. Three sides of the building are fortified, only the wall adjacent to the sea is not.
Diocletian (244 - 311) became Emperor in 284 AD. As he found the Roman Empire too vast to rule on his own, he installed the Tetrarchy: two main Emperors, each with their co-assistant, would jointly reign over the Empire.
Diocletian decided to abdicate in 305 AD. He then moved to the aforesaid palace in Split.
Once the Roman Empire crumbled (at the end of the Fifth Century), Diocletian's Palace has gone to the dogs. It was abandoned until the Seventh Century, when merchants fleeing from various violent gangs made their home and their shops inside the remains of the Palace.
UNESCO listed Diocletian's Palace as World Heritage Site in 1979, and sponsors efforts to restore the building.
Galba (3 BC - 69 AD), Trajan (53 - 117) and Commodus (161 - 192) were earlier Emperors. Each of this red herrings died while in office.

Answer: Pont du Gard

Nîmes is a quite important city in the South of France. It was a flourishing colony during the Roman times, as it is situated on the main road between Spain and Italy. But it has no fresh water supply in the immediate vicinity.
So the Romans designed an aqueduct to lead fresh water from the natural spring Fontaine d'Eure, some 20 km (12 miles) to the North as the crow flies. As the straight line is blocked by several obstacles (foothills of the Massif Central, dense vegetation), the Romans led the aqueduct in a curve, so it spans about 50 km (31 miles).
Most of the aqueduct was built underground, but several bridges were needed too. The Pont du Gard is the best preserved of about a dozen bridges leading the aqueduct. It was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985. The Pont du Gard served already as a tourist attraction (if one could use this term) since the 18th Century, and over 1.4 million of tourists were sighted in 2001.
The Pont d'Avignon is another famous bridge in the South of France. But it does not serve as an aqueduct. All that happens there (according to the popular song) is some dancing.
The Pont Neuf (literally: "New Bridge") is the most ancient extant bridge in Paris, roughly 750 km (450 miles) from Nîmes.
Pont-l'Evêque is a town in Normandy, that also gave its name to a well known mould cheese variety.

Answer: Bath

Bath is the current name of Aquae Sulis, a city renowned in Roman times for the baths over there. The hot springs in the valley of the river Avon provided the thermae with healthy water, so Aquae Sulis had the function of a health spa. Roman baths (in Latin: thermae) were quite popular meeting places.

The hot bath (caldarium), lukewarm bath (tepidarium) or cold bath (frigidarium) were not only ideal to scrub off any dirt, but also to relax. The complex of the thermae also had an exercise terrain and meeting rooms.

The best equipped thermae even had a library and an art gallery. Meals were sometimes served, too.

Answer: Trier

The Roman colonization halted at the Rhine. During the reign of Emperor Augustus, efforts were made to bring the rest of Germany under Roman control, but these efforts were thwarted when Varus and three of his legions were utterly defeated in the Teutoburger Wald.
All four of the German cities mentioned as options have had Roman City walls. But only Trier (in Roman times known as Augusta Treverorum) is still equipped with a gate at the ruins of the city wall: the famous Porta Nigra, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Trier has other Roman remnants as well: the ruins of three baths have been excavated, the Constantine Basilica has been completely restored, and the Römerbrucke (a bridge across the Moselle) is still in use.
Koblenz (known in Roman times as Castella aput Confluentes) hosts the ruins of a Roman bridge. Excavations have revealed remnants of two fortifications and a local temple.
Aachen (to the Romans known as Aquae Granni) has not many Roman remnants. Only two fountains near the natural hot springs, and a bathhouse, remind us of the Romans.
Cologne was during the Roman era entitled Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium. Luckily the name has been shortened over time to Cologne. One of the most interesting Roman remnants excavated in Cologne was a boat dating back to the Empire of Trajan (around 100 AD).

Answer: Tarragona

Tarragona is situated on a hill that rises steeply from the Mediterranean Sea. This particular situation has given the town a tremendous strategic importance: hard to conquer, it was used by the Romans as their base camp for several war expeditions.
During the Roman era (more specifically from about 218 BC until roughly 400 AD), the city of Tarragona was the capital of one of the Roman provinces on the Iberian peninsula. Under the Roman Republic this province was named Hispania Citerior, and during the Roman Empire it was named Hispania Tarraconensis.
Many Roman buildings arose in Tarragona, between vast city walls: a forum (market place), temples, baths, a casern, a circus (for horse racing), a basilica (Palace of Justice), a theatre, an amphitheatre (for gladiator games), an aqueduct, and a tower named after the family of the Scipiones - allegedly their burial site (although this theory has been refuted).
Alas, most of these buildings have gone to the dogs. The aqueduct is still intact, as well as the Scipio tower, but the rest was ruined as a result of various factors (conquest, lack of maintenance, recycling building material from historic sites to create new constructions...)
Madrid is not on any Spanish Costa, but in or near the geographical centre of the country.
Las Palmas is the capital city of one of the provinces on the Canary Islands. The Romans have visited the Canary Islands, but did not leave many material for archaeologists.
Antalya is not in Spain, but a major tourist resort in Turkey.