Political Revolution in Rome (133-78 BC)

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  

1. To start the ball rolling, this guy was elected Tribune in 133 BC and was the first major player in this era, due to his radical methods of passing a land bill. Who was he? Gaius Gracchus Sulla Gaius Marius Tiberius Gracchus

2. Tiberius' method of passing his land bill was considered to be 'revolutionary' and 'radical'. What exactly did he do? He got the people to vote on it, even though Rome wasn't democratic He had nobles murdered by his followers so that the Senate had no supporters to denounce the bill He used an army to intimidate the Senate into passing the bill He bypassed the Senate to get his bill passed in the tribal assembly

3. Let's look at some of the actual provisions of the Roman land bill. Which of these options contains THREE CORRECT clauses of the bill? 1000 iugera for the first son of a family, no renting of public land, no selling of public land No renting of public land, 250 iugera for each of a family's first 2 sons, excess land to be redistributed to the poor No building on public land allowed, 2000 iugera for each of the first two sons of a family, no selling of land The land of an individual to be carved up into equal portions for the poor, 500 iugera for compensation, no renting of land

4. Which one of these Tribunes was appealed to by the Senate to block Tiberius' bill? Livius Drusus Sulpicius Saturninus Octavius

5. The Senate's authority was justified on total legal grounds, and their authority was also provided by the Constitution. True False

6. Now as it turned out, Tiberius had a brother who decided to follow in his older brothers' famous footsteps. Gaius Gracchus was elected tribune in 123 BC, and immediately set about doing what? Conciling with the Senate Plotting revenge against the Senate Secretly assassinating Senators Fixing the flaws of the Constitution so that the Tribunate couldn't cause anymore trouble

7. Gaius passed a number of laws using his powers as Tribune, the majority aimed at undermining the power of the Senate. One of them in particular destroyed a large chunk of the Senate's political power, called the Lex Acilia. What did this law propose? The Senate's decisions would no longer be binding on political proposals Control of the law courts to be transferred from the Senate to the Equites The Senate were to be disintegrated gradually over a period of two years The Concilium Plebis would replace the Senate as the main ruling body of Rome

8. The beginning of the end was marked by one of Gaius' proposals which was technically a good thing, but opposed by the Senate and the people alike. What did this proposal involve? Making the rich land of Carthage liable to public land division Granting citizenship to the Allies and Latins Rome's army was to be open to volunteers, rather than conscripts Tribunes were to receive extra benefits like more land, payment and servants

9. The Senate called upon a colleague of Gaius in the Tribunate to oppose all of Gaius' proposals. What was his name? Livius Drusus Sulpicius Saturninus Cinna

10. Okay, time for a discriminator question at the halfway line. In order to dispose of Gaius in a legal fashion, the Senate passed a decree which granted leave to the Consuls to ensure the safety of Rome at whatever cost. What IS the MODERN (OR MOST COMMONLY USED)name of this decree? Answer: (S _ _ _ _ _ _S C _ _ _ _ _ _ _ M U _ _ _ _ _ M (three words, and in Latin!))

11. The next most notable figure in politics after the Gracchi was none other than Gaius Marius. Early in his career, he was able to secure a marriage to a woman of a very notable and VERY well known (hint hint!) family. What was this family name, OR what was the COGNOMEN of one of the most famous members of this family? Answer: (I feel like a nice salad. How about you..? (One word answer is accepted!))

12. Marius' next big break came when he was appointed a senior subordinate to the Consul, Metellus, in a major war. What war was this? Italian/Social war Jugarthine war Germanic war Punic war

13. Marius made a trip back to Rome for the Consular elections, and pulled off his campaigning so successfully that he won. What did Marius primarily do? He slandered Metellus and the Senatorial class He had Metellus secretly killed, because he openly opposed him He uncovered a secret affair between Metellus and a prostitute He distributed free money to the public and to anybody short of cash

14. Marius won the Germanic wars largely due to doing something revolutionary, and for this, Marius is also known best. What did Marius do? He introduced strict minimum and maximum age limits for the soldiers He abolished the Roman army and replaced them with a special militia He opened up the army to the lower, and thus the poorer, classes He permitted women to fight as soldiers due to the shortage of men

15. Marius made the terrible political blunder of allying himself with a particular Tribune after the Germanic war. Who was this tribune? Saturninus Cinna Sulpicius Carbo

16. Sulla was born of a patrician family, and had a red blotchy face that Plutarch likened to "mulberry with bits of of oatmeal in it"! Sulla made his way into politics, first rising to prominence in the Jugarthine War. He was appointed to what political position in this war? Pro-Consul Aedile Quaestor Tribune

17. Marius did it again - he allied himself with yet another Tribune to recover some personal predominance in politics! Who was this Tribune? Cinna Sulpicius Carbo Flaccus

18. According to Scullard, "a momentous event in Rome's history took place." What had Sulla done which was so incredibly important? He took the entire Senate hostage until they agreed to restore his 'Dignitas' He allied himself with Marius and together, used their army to conquer Rome He used his army to massacre all the nobles of Rome He had marched his army upon Rome in an act of violence

19. After Sulla had won back Rome and defeated his enemies, he did something pretty gruesome. (Well, in Rome's day, anyway!) What did he do? He dug up Marius' body and had it displayed in the town centre He displayed the heads of all 2000 Marian troops along Rome's walls He put up proscription lists ordering the death of all his enemies, 2000 in all He had Marius' son gutted, skinned and quartered

20. Sulla's consequent reforms for Rome were like a breath of fresh air, and remained in place for the next 100 years. True False