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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. How does Plutarch explain the differences in the public acceptance with Demetrius' collection of wives and mistresses and Antony's affair with Cleopatra?

2. For what does Plutarch claim Marcus Brutus is known?

3. What is the reason Plutarch gives for Aratus deciding to make alliance with Philip of Macedon?

4. How does Plutarch compare the motivations of rebelling between Dion and Brutus?

5. What does Plutarch claim that Brutus' decision to betray Caesar prove?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Plutarch suggest Caesar showed favor to Brutus despite Brutus siding with Pompey during the civil war with Caesar?

2. According to Plutarch, why did Atarus leave Sicyon to grow up and get educated in Argos?

3. How does Plutarch compare the deaths of Demetrius and Antony?

4. How does Plutarch claim that Demosthenes become the best orator of his time?

5. How did Plutarch describe the defeat of Brutus after the death of Caesar?

6. What steps did Plutarch describe that gave Tiberius the ability to pass his land reform laws?

7. How did Plutarch show the differences in the motivations for speaking between Demosthenes and Cicero?

8. What does Plutarch report to be the condition of Rome as Tiberius began his political career in Rome?

9. 1.What does Plutarch recognize as the major difference between the governing styles between the Gracchi and the Spartans?

10. How did Artaxerxes become King of Persia, according to Plutarch?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast the rhetorical styles of Demosthenes and Cicero. Use quotes from Plutarch's lives to make your illustrations. In the comparison identify the affects that each speaker had on his audiences, legislative bodies, and on the support or opposition of people in powerful positions.

Essay Topic 2

Plutarch's biography of Alexander gave explicit details of how Alexander was supposedly a demigod and Plutarch's reports of Alexander's youth seemed to give support to the myth. Detail Plutarch's accounts of Alexander's supposedly divine heritage and two stories from his youth which could be taken to suggest that Alexander's intelligence and physical abilities were well above normal.

Essay Topic 3

Cato, the Younger, took many stands against the popular positions of the Roman Senate. One such stand was his warnings against the ambitions of Caesar as he was rising to power. What were the points that Cato raised in his warning, how did he respond as Pompey attempted to challenge Caesar, and what was the final outcome for Cato for taking his stand?

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