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Quiz about Roman Emperors
Quiz about Roman Emperors

10 Tough Questions about Roman Emperors


Roman emperors are fun. Especially because of how they died. Some got ill, others were killed by relatives or by guards, some died in a unique way. This quiz is about this last category... Can you name the unfortunate rulers?

A multiple-choice quiz by muivers. Estimated time: 6 mins.
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Author
muivers
Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
100,328
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
3219
Last 3 plays: daver852 (10/10), Guest 104 (8/10), Guest 208 (10/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. This emperor's real name was Gaius. Initially he was very popular because of his father's reputation as a general. In the end everyone hated him. He was stabbed to death in a theater and his body was flushed through the main sewer of Rome. By what nickname is Gaius generally known? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. This emperor was poisoned by his fourth wife, Agrippina. None of his previous marriages had been succesful, but this one really topped it off. Agrippina wanted her son from a previous marriage on the throne. She gave her new husband his favoured dish: mushrooms. When he started vomiting, a doctor tried to clean his throat with a feather. Unfortunately, the feather too was drenched in poison. Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. He was one of four emperors in one year (68 AD). The mob in Rome absolutely disliked him. When a new candidate for the throne approached Rome, the mob captured the emperor. They took him to the Forum, tortured him, drove a hook through his neck and dragged him to the river Tiber. Who was he? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. This emperor was strangled on December 31st 192 AD. His mistress had hired a gladiator and the gladiator, a certain Narcissus, did his job efficiently. The emperor was the bad guy in the movie 'Gladiator'. (How ironic!) Who was he? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. In 217 AD this emperor was killed by a body-guard. The emperor had belly problems. When he went behind a tree to relieve his imperial intestines, a man called Martialis stabbed him. He is best known to most because of the beautiful baths he built in Rome, parts of which still remain. His name refers to a 'mantle worn in Gaul'. Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. This emperor was struck by lightning in 283 AD. His name in Latin means 'dear' and he was the successor of Probus. Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. This little known emperor died very oddly. He hated the sun and was therefore carried around in a completely closed sedan. He must have died suddenly but nobody noticed at first. Only when his decomposing body started to smell did his soldiers dare to open the door. Too late to help obviously. Who was this emperor (d. 284 AD)? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. In 364 AD, returning from Persia, this emperor died mysteriously. Most scholars believe he inhaled the fumes of a freshly painted room, which proved fatal to him. He was hardly missed by his army. Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. This man was no official emperor: in 366 he rebelled and tried to seize power. The real emperor defeated him and his army, tied him to two bent trees and then... let go of the trees. The unfortunate rebel was torn in two pieces... Can you name this man, who shares his name with a historian of the 5th century? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. This emperor ruled the Eastern Roman Empire in the 5th century. His wife hated him, so when he fell into a coma (as he had done several times before), she hurried to bury him in a sarcophagus, forbidding everyone to enter the burial room. Every day she went and listened to the weakening voice of her now dying husband. And then there was silence in the sarcophagus. Who was the unfortunate man? (He shares the name of two well known philosophers). Hint



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Mar 14 2024 : daver852: 10/10
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Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. This emperor's real name was Gaius. Initially he was very popular because of his father's reputation as a general. In the end everyone hated him. He was stabbed to death in a theater and his body was flushed through the main sewer of Rome. By what nickname is Gaius generally known?

Answer: Caligula

Gaius Iulius Caesar, despite the last part of his name, never was an emperor. He tried though, but 26 or 27 stabs (I'll not start that discussion again) ended his ambitions. Augustus may have been poisoned by his dear wife Livia. Tiberius may have been strangled by his successor Caligula, although it's probably just a rumour. Caligula was the man you were looking for.

Interestingly, his name refers to a little boot of a soldier.
2. This emperor was poisoned by his fourth wife, Agrippina. None of his previous marriages had been succesful, but this one really topped it off. Agrippina wanted her son from a previous marriage on the throne. She gave her new husband his favoured dish: mushrooms. When he started vomiting, a doctor tried to clean his throat with a feather. Unfortunately, the feather too was drenched in poison.

Answer: Claudius

Agrippina had a son, Nero, from her marriage with Lucius Domitius, nicknamed Ahenobarbus (with the red beard). She wanted him on the throne, before Britannicus, the son of her new husband, turned 14 and was designated as successor to his father. That father was Claudius. You may know him as Clau-Clau-Claudius.
3. He was one of four emperors in one year (68 AD). The mob in Rome absolutely disliked him. When a new candidate for the throne approached Rome, the mob captured the emperor. They took him to the Forum, tortured him, drove a hook through his neck and dragged him to the river Tiber. Who was he?

Answer: Vitellius

Galba was the emperor who succeeded Nero. He was killed by Otho. Otho committed suicide to avoid a battle against Vitellius. When Vespasianus showed up near Rome, the terrified Vitellius hid in his office, behind his own mattress. To no great success ...
4. This emperor was strangled on December 31st 192 AD. His mistress had hired a gladiator and the gladiator, a certain Narcissus, did his job efficiently. The emperor was the bad guy in the movie 'Gladiator'. (How ironic!) Who was he?

Answer: Commodus

Commodus was our beloved monster. According to the movie 'Gladiator' he strangled his own father Marcus Aurelius, but that's just fiction. But in the end his opponents got at him. Narcissus killed him while he was in his bath. Not surprising, really: he used to take up to eight showers a day. Verus was his uncle and Pertinax was a rebellious general of those days.
5. In 217 AD this emperor was killed by a body-guard. The emperor had belly problems. When he went behind a tree to relieve his imperial intestines, a man called Martialis stabbed him. He is best known to most because of the beautiful baths he built in Rome, parts of which still remain. His name refers to a 'mantle worn in Gaul'.

Answer: Caracalla

Poor Caracalla. Septimius Severus was his father, who died peacefully in York. Caracalla and his brother Geta co-ruled for two years, until Caracalla got fed up with his brother and stabbed him to death (their mother was present at the scene and did nothing to prevent it). Elagabalus was a complete nut: he collected cobwebs, sank his own fleet and entered the senate naked, in a wheelbarrow drawn by naked women.
6. This emperor was struck by lightning in 283 AD. His name in Latin means 'dear' and he was the successor of Probus.

Answer: Carus

Carus was emperor for 11 months 282-2383 AD. that man.
7. This little known emperor died very oddly. He hated the sun and was therefore carried around in a completely closed sedan. He must have died suddenly but nobody noticed at first. Only when his decomposing body started to smell did his soldiers dare to open the door. Too late to help obviously. Who was this emperor (d. 284 AD)?

Answer: Numerianus

Diocletianus, Constantinus and Theodosius are generally considered well-known emperors. Numerianus was the one. He had not yet chosen a successor, so his general Dicoletianus (real Greek name: Diokles) took the opportunity. He accused the dead emperor's brother-in-law of murder and instantly executed the poor, innocent fellow.

After that everyone accepted him as the new emperor. Guess why!
8. In 364 AD, returning from Persia, this emperor died mysteriously. Most scholars believe he inhaled the fumes of a freshly painted room, which proved fatal to him. He was hardly missed by his army.

Answer: Iovianus or Jovian

After the death of Constantius II, Iulianus took control of the empire. This pagan emperor tried to restore peace both within the empire and at the borders. He had minor successes against the Persians but he was killed in action. Iovianus was his successor, for want of any serious candidate.

When he died, Valentianus took over. Other theories about Iovianus' death are: he was poisoned, he inhaled fumes of a fire, he had a heart-attack.
9. This man was no official emperor: in 366 he rebelled and tried to seize power. The real emperor defeated him and his army, tied him to two bent trees and then... let go of the trees. The unfortunate rebel was torn in two pieces... Can you name this man, who shares his name with a historian of the 5th century?

Answer: Procopius

You didn't really believe there was anyone named Bombasticus in Rome, did you? Valens had Procopius killed because of his rebellion. Procopius' generals were merely sawn in pieces. After Valens had died, Theodosius became the last emperor of the unified empire.
10. This emperor ruled the Eastern Roman Empire in the 5th century. His wife hated him, so when he fell into a coma (as he had done several times before), she hurried to bury him in a sarcophagus, forbidding everyone to enter the burial room. Every day she went and listened to the weakening voice of her now dying husband. And then there was silence in the sarcophagus. Who was the unfortunate man? (He shares the name of two well known philosophers).

Answer: Zeno

There was only one philosopher named Plato (actually his name was Aristocles, Plato being his nickname) and no emperor by that name. However, there were two philosophical Zeno's (Zeno of Citium and Zeno of Elea) and one emperor named Zeno (althought he was born a barbarian with the name Tarasicodissa! I kid you not) Anthemius and Romulus Augustulus were emperors of the Western Roman Empire, Romulus actually being the last one of his kind.

He was 7 years old, when a Gothic warlord deposed him and seized control over Italy. Hope you enjoyed the quiz.
Source: Author muivers

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor coolupway before going online.
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