Roman culture — chapters 1–3

Chapter 1

Read the essay Quintus on pages 11–12 of the textbook, and then answer these questions.

  1. Where and when was Quintus Horatius Flaccus (Horace) born?
  2. What do we know about:
    1. Horace’s father?
    2. Horace’s education in Rome and Athens?
    3. Horace’s military career?
    4. Horace’s relationship with Maecenas?
    5. Horace’s philosophy?
  3. What poems did Horace write?
  4. Who are these people?
    1. Orbilius
    2. Marcus Brutus
    3. Virgil
    4. Augustus
  5. What are these places?
    1. Venusia
    2. Apulia
    3. the Academy
    4. Philippi
    5. the Sabine Hills

Chapter 2

Read the essay Women on pages 15–17 of the textbook, and then answer these questions.

  1. What was the typical house of a poor Roman farmer like?
  2. Consider the typical day of a poor Roman farmer’s wife.
    1. What chores would she have done?
    2. What opportunities would she have had for socialising?
  3. How was a Roman girl’s education different from a Roman boy’s?
  4. At what age could a Roman legally marry?
  5. At what age were most Roman girls married?
  6. How were Roman marriages arranged?
  7. What freedoms a typical Roman woman have?
  8. What additional opportunities did upper-class Roman women enjoy?

Chapter 3

Read the essay Slaves and freedmen on pages 20–23 of the textbook, and then answer these questions.

  1. List four ways a person could become a slave in the Ancient World.
  2. What sort of jobs might a slave have had to do?
  3. What legal rights protections did a slave lack?
  4. How could a slave be mistreated?
  5. How could a slave become free?
  6. Some slaves were well treated by their masters.
    1. Why?
    2. What might those slaves’ lives have been like?
  7. What sort of relationship might a freedman have had with his former master?
  8. A few Roman freedmen became very successful.
    1. How?
    2. What could their careers have involved?
  9. What rights did the sons of freedmen enjoy?
    1. Who was Juvenal?
    2. What did he mean when he said, “The Orontes has long ago flooded into the Tiber”?