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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Caesar do that many disagree with after his aunt, Julia, dies?

2. Upon returning to Italy, how does Pompey divorce his wife before marrying Julia, Caesar's daughter?

3. How educated is Cicero?

4. How does Plutarch compare Caesar's military career with Marius, Sulla, and Pompey's?

5. Why do Caesar and Pompey hide their dislike for each other?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to Pompey at Mitylene, and how does he end up going to Egypt?

2. How do the people show their support for Caesar when he enters politics and what does Cato do to try to lessen Caesar's popularity at that time?

3. What part does Pompey play in the war in Africa, how does he want to be celebrated for it, and why is he given the name, "The Great"?

4. What is interesting about how the battle between Pompey and Sertorius ends, and Pompey's decision afterward?

5. What is Cicero's educational background and how does it contribute to the decisions made early in his career?

6. What leads to the civil war between Caesar and Pompey?

7. What does Cicero's name mean, why was he given it, and how does his response to it indicate his sense of humor?

8. What important event does Cicero stop when he is the praetor of Rome?

9. How does Pompey face criticism for pursuing Caesar and what happens when the two meet for the final time?

10. What is significant about the way Pompey begins his military career?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an in depth essay about Crassus's personality traits, focusing on his main vice, avarice. Use examples and events to explain how his pension for greed affected both his political and military career.

Essay Topic 2

Describe the war between Cicero and Catiline, why it starts, how Cicero becomes involved in it, and the way Catiline is dealt with. Explain Cicero's involvement and actions in detail along with why he has the ability to stop Catiline and his plans.

Essay Topic 3

Omens played a big part of the way Romans lived their lives and made their decisions.

1) Using each of the six figures for which Plutarch provides a biography, describe the different omens that they encounter and the way that they choose to react to them.

2) Analyze the differences or similarities between how the Roman leaders responded to omens during their lives, and the results of their regard for them.

3) Explain what you think the significance of omens were in general to the Roman Republic and the people who lived during that time.

(see the answer keys)

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