THE CERTAMEN QUESTIONS DATABASE http://www.speakeasy.org/~bwduncan/ THESE QUESTIONS COURTESY OF: BRADFORD W. DUNCAN, STANFORD UNIVERSITY EVENT: N/A LOCATION: N/A SECTION: SUBJECT AREA DIFFICULTY RATING: VARIES DATE: SEPTEMBER 1999 # OF QUESTIONS: 117 NOTES: THESE QUESTIONS WERE WRITTEN WHILE READING THE BOOK FROM COVER TO COVER. SOME ARE TOO OBSCURE OR TRIVIAL FOR ALL BUT THE MOST COMPETITIVE CERTAMEN COMPETITION. OTHERS ARE BETTER SUITED FOR A WRITTEN EXAMINATION WHERE THE CORRECT ANSWER WOULD BE PRESENTED AMONG SEVERAL DISTRACTORS. SOME OF THESE QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN INCORPORATED IN CERTAMEN ROUNDS ELSEWHERE ON THE CERTAMEN QUESTIONS DATABASE. M. JOHNSTON, ROMAN LIFE, SCOTT FORESMAN AND COMPANY, 1957. THESE QUESTIONS COME FROM CHAPTERS 8-9 (PAGES 104-125). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Who of the following was always sui iuris? a widow, an adopted son, a pater familias, or adfines PATER FAMILIAS (p. 105) 2. The head of a Roman familia was sui iuris. In contrast, dependent members of the household were said to be what? ALIENO IURI SUBIECTI (p. 105) 3. What Latin word is used to refer to a group of households in a clan that share the same cognomen? STIRPS (p. 106) 4. What was the authority of the pater familias over his descendents called? PATRIA POTESTAS or PATRIA MAIESTAS (p. 106) see n1. or PATRIUM IUS or IMPERIUM PATERNUM 5. In a strict legal sense, who was the only member of the household who could own or exchange property? PATER FAMILIAS (p. 106) 6. We speak of our "mother tongue," but the Romans expressed this idea with what words? SERMO PATRIUS (p. 107) 7. According to legend, which king of Rome placed limitations on how early a child could be put to death by his or her pater familias? ROMULUS (p. 107) 8. According to legend, Romulus ordered that no child without serious deformity should be put to death until it was how old? THREE YEARS (p. 107) 9. Which king of Rome decreed that married sons could not be sold into slavery by their fathers? NUMA Pompilius (p. 107) 10. What was the formal proceeding by which the pater familias could free a son or from his potestas? EMANCIPATIO (p. 108) 11. What are two ways, not involving death, that a father's potestas over his daughter could be terminated? father LOSES HIS CITIZENSHIP (p. 109) see n2. she BECOMES A VESTAL VIRGIN father EMANCIPATES her she GETS MARRIED 12. What was the flamen Dialis? the PRIEST OF JUPITER (p. 109) 13. Which one of the following positions did not exempt a person from patria potestas, even temporarily: flamen Dialis, Vestal Virgin, lictor, praetor, or consul? LICTOR (p. 109) 14. What was the term for the authority of a Roman citizen over his property? DOMINICA POTESTAS (p. 109) 15. What was the word for property that a father assigned to his children for them to manage on their own? PECULIUM (p. 109) 16. What was the word for a husband's authority over his wife? MANUS (p. 109) 17. According to legend, Romulus ordained that a man should lose all of his property if he did what to his wife without good cause? DIVORCED HER (p. 110) 18. Which of the following did a pater familias NOT have the right to sell: his arca, his bulla, his toga virilis, his unmarried son, or his wife? HIS WIFE (p. 106-10) 19. What was the word for all persons who were related to each other by descent from a common male ancestor through the male line? AGNATI (p. 110) 20. What was the word for all persons who were related to each other by blood? COGNATI (p. 111) 21. What day was set aside to commemorate the cara cognatio or tie of blood? FEBRUARY 22 (p. 111) 22. What special right did cognates within the fourth degree have? RIGHT TO KISS (IUS OSCULI) (p. 111) 23. What was an abavus? GREAT, GREAT, GRANDFATHER (p. 112) see n3. 24. What is the Latin word for great grand-daughter? PRONEPTIS (p. 112) see n3. 25. What is the Latin word for a male first cousin on the mother's side of the family? CONSOBRINUS (p. 112) 26. What's the specific difference between a matertera and an amita? MATERTERA IS A MOTHER'S SISTER (p. 112) see n3 & n4. AMITA IS A FATHER'S SISTER 27. What's the equivalent of an patruus on the mother's side of the family? AVUNCULUS (p. 112) see n3. 28. What would the Latin word be for "frater patri"? PATRUUS (p. 112) see n3. 29. What would the Latin word be for "nepotes abneptis"? TRINEPOTES (p. 112) see n3. 30. What would the Latin word be for "soror proneptis abaviae"? MATERTERA (p. 112) see n3. 31. What is the Latin word for in-laws? ADFINES (p. 113) 32. What is the Latin word for son-in-law? GENER (p. 113) 33. What is the Latin word for daughter-in-law? NURUS (p. 113) 34. What is the Latin word for father-in-law? SOCER (p. 113) 35. What is the Latin word for mother-in-law? SOCRUS (p. 113) 36. What is the Latin word for stepson? PRIVIGNUS (p. 113) 37. What is the Latin word for stepdaughter? PRIVIGNA (p. 113) 38. What is the Latin word for stepfather? VITRICUS (p. 113) 39. What is the Latin word for stepmother? NOVERCA (p. 113) 40. What is the Latin word for two women who marry brothers? JANITRICES (p. 113) 41. Which of the following was the closest tie of relationship known to the Romans: adfinitas, agnatio, cognatio, consanguinitas, or germanitas? AGNATIO (p. 110, 113) 42. What was the term for the procedure by which a filius familias was transferred to a new family? ADOPTIO (p. 114) 43. What was the term for the procedure by which a pater familias became a son in a different family? ADROGATIO (p. 114) 44. How could someone tell to which gens a Roman citizen belonged? find out THEIR NOMEN (NOMEN GENTILE) (p. 115) 45. Cicero was a member of which clan or gens? TULLIAN (GENS TULLIA) (p. 115) 46. If a person died without heirs, to whom did their property go if it was not disposed of by the will? members of HIS GENS (GENTILES) (p. 115) 47. Publius Vergilius Maro is better known to us as Virgil. Of his three names, which was his cognomen? MARO (p. 116) 48. Of a Roman citizen's three names, which indicated his family? COGNOMEN (p. 116) 49. Of a Roman citizen's three names, which marked him as an individual? PRAENOMEN (p. 116) 50. How is the following early Roman inscription translated: CURTIA ROSCI UXOR? CURTIA, WIFE OF ROSCIUS (p. 116) 51. How do you translate the early Roman inscription "Lucius Marci" followed by the letter F? LUCIUS, SON OF MARCUS (p. 116) 52. In official documents and in state records it was common to insert what between a man's nomen and cognomen? the PRAENOMINA OF HIS FATHER, GRANDFATHER, AND GREAT-GRANDFATHER (p. 116) (and sometimes the tribe in which he was registered as a citizen) 53. By which of his three names would a Roman citizen be addressed by close relatives or intimate friends? PRAENOMEN (p. 117) 54. How many praenomina were in common use in Sulla's time? EIGHTEEN (p. 117) 55. What abbreviation was used for the praenomen Appius? APP (p. 118) see n5. 56. What abbreviation was used for the praenomen Servius? SER (p. 118) see n5. 57. What abbreviation was usually used for the praenomen Sextus? SEX (p. 118) see n5. 58. What praenomen was abbreviated with the letter A? AULUS (p. 117) see n5. 59. What praenomen was abbreviated with the letter C? GAIUS (p. 118) see n5. 60. What praenomen was abbreviated with the letter T? TITUS (p. 118) see n5. 61. What praenomen was abbreviated with the letters CN? GNAEUS (p. 118) see n5,6. 62. What praenomen was abbreviated with the letters TI? TIBERIUS (p. 118) see n5. 63. What praenomen was usually abbreviated with the letter S? SPURIUS (p. 118) see n5. 64. How did the Romans abbreviate the praenomen Manius? A FIVE-STROKE M (p. 118) see n5. 65. What praenomen was used only in the Aemilian clan? MAMERCUS (p. 119) see n5. 66. What was the only gens to use the praenomen Mamercus? AEMILIAN (p. 119) see n5. 67. How many praenomina were used in the Claudian gens? SEVEN (p. 119) see n5. 68. Which praenomen was used only in the Claudian gens? APPIUS (p. 119) see n5. 69. From what people in Italy was the name Appius taken? SABINES (p. 119) see n5. 70. How many praenomina were used in the Cornelian clan? SEVEN (p. 119) see n5. 71. Which gens used the praenomen Vopiscus in early times? JULIAN (p. 119) see n5. 72. During the Republic what three praenomina were used by the Julian gens? GAIUS, LUCIUS, SEXTUS (p. 119) see n5. 73. Which branch of the Claudian gens used the praenomen Tiberius? Claudii NERONES (p. 119) see n5. 74. The Claudian gens used seven praenomina, but two of them were used by only the Nerones branch of the clan. Which two names were they? DECIMUS and TIBERIUS (p. 119) see n5. 75. The Scipio's were a branch of which gens? CORNELIAN (p. 119) see n5,6. 76. How many praenomina were used in the Cornelii Scipiones? THREE (p. 119) see n5,6. 77. What were the three praenomina used by the Cornelii Scipiones? GNAEUS, LUCIUS, PUBLIUS (p. 119) see n5,6. 78. How many days after birth was a Roman boy given his praenomen? NINE (p. 120) 79. What was the name for the day a Roman was given his praenomen? DAY OF PURIFICATION (DIES LUSTRICUS) or NAME DAY (p. 120, 142) 80. What praenomen would a father usually give his first born son? HIS OWN (p. 120) see n6. 81. What was the original meaning of the name Lucius? BORN BY DAY (p. 120) 82. What was the original meaning of the name Manius? BORN IN THE MORNING or BORN IN FEBRUARY (p. 120) see n7. 83. What praenomen originally meant fifth-born or born in the fifth month of the year? QUINTUS (p. 120) see n7. 84. What praenomen originally meant sixth-born or born in the sixth month of the year? SEXTUS (p. 120) see n7. 85. What praenomen originally meant seventh-born or born in the seventh month of the year? SEPTIMUS (p. 120) see n7. 86. What praenomen originally meant eighth-born or born in the eighth month of the year? OCTAVIUS (p. 120) see n7. 87. What praenomen originally meant tenth-born or born in the tenth month of the year? DECIMUS (p. 120) see n7. 88. What praenomen would be appropriate in meaning for a child born after his father's death? POSTUMUS (p. 120) 89. What Roman god was associated with the praenomen Mamercus? MARS (p. 120) 90. What praenomen was originally derived from the verb meaning "rejoice"? GAIUS (p. 120) 91. What two praenomina were associated with the god Mars? MARCUS and MAMERCUS (p. 120) 92. With what god was the praenomen Tiberius originally connected? the river-god TIBERIS (p. 120) 93. Where did the nomen Avidiacus originate? GAUL (p. 120) 94. Where did the nomen Caecina originate? ETRURIA (p. 120) 95. Which of the following is not an original ending of a Roman nomen: -eus, -eius, -enus, -aeus, -aius? -ENUS (p. 120) 96. In a full official Roman name, what came just before the cognomen? NAME OF THE TRIBE (p. 121) 97. What does the cognomen Barbatus mean? BEARDED (p. 121) 98. Which common Roman cognomen means tall? LONGUS (p. 121) 99. What does the cognomen Cincinnatus mean? CURLY or CURLED HAIR (p. 121) 100. What does the name Claudius mean? LAME (p. 121) 101. What does the name Benignus mean? KIND (p. 121) 102. What cognomen means clear-sighted, intelligent or wise? CATO (p. 121) 103. Gnaeus Pompeius took what name as a cognomen? MAGNUS (p. 121) 104. Frequently Romans had more than three names. In the 4th century A.D. what word did grammarians began using to refer to a name other than a praenomen, nomen, or cognomen? AGNOMEN (p. 122) 105. What clan was Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus a member of before he was adopted? AEMILIAN (GENS AEMILIA) (p. 122) see n6. 106. Augustus was a member of which clan before he was adopted by Julius Caesar? OCTAVIAN (GENS OCTAVIA) (p. 122) 107. What did Gaius Octavius Caepias' name become when he was adopted by Julius Caesar? GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR OCTAVIANUS (p. 122) 108. What was a cognomen ex virtute? (SUR)NAME OF MERIT(HONOR) (p. 122) 109. What agnomen was bestowed on both the Roman who defeated Hannibal and his grandson, who destroyed Carthage? AFRICANUS (p. 122) 110. What agnomen was given to Octavian by the Senate in 27 B.C.? AUGUSTUS (p. 122) 111. What does the cognomen Scipio mean? STAFF or WALKINGSTICK (p. 122) see n6. 112. In the early Republic, what name would Marcus call his slave? MARCIPOR (p. 124) 113. Who was the master of a slave named Olipor? AULUS (p. 124) 114. Suppose Caesar acquired a slave he named Ariovistus. What would the slave's full name be? ARIOVISTUS JULII GAII SERVUS (p. 124) 115. At the time of the First Triumvirate, Gnaeus Pompeius married Julius Caesar's daughter, Julia. Suppose that, as part of the dowry, Pompey received a slave and named him Spartacus. What would Spartacus' full name be? SPARTACUS POMPEII GNAEI SERVUS CAESARANUS (p. 124) 116. If a certain freedman had the name was Marcus Pomponius Dionysius, what was he called when he was still a slave? DIONYSIUS (p. 125) 117. If a naturalized Roman citizen had the name Aulus Licinius Archias, to which clan did his patron belong? LICINIAN (GENS LICINIA) (p. 125) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- n1. The other terms are from Harold Whetstone Johnston's Private Life of the Romans, Scott, Foresman and Company, 1905. n2. If you are thinking, "but whomever she married must be outside her father's potestas (otherwise she would be back under her father's potestas)" you're right! But M. Johnston says on p. 111 that "public opinion strongly discouraged the marriage of cognates within the sixth degree--later, the fourth degree--of relationship. So the answer "she gets married" should be adequate without having to say "provided her husband is not under her father's potestas.") Several books about the laws of Roman marriage are cited in the OCD entry for "marriage." n3. Ecce! The infamous "Diagram of Cognates" is found on p. 112. There are literally thousands of questions that could be asked based on this diagram. Prepare for the questions that are most likely to be asked. Usually the questions are straight-forward vocabulary (like questions 23-25). Questions 26-28 are more interesting. Questions 29 and 30 give you a sense of how difficult questions could be (fortunately, it's unlikely these type of questions will be asked. Every great certamen team has at least one person who sat down at some point and learned this table. n4. On page 113 M. Johnston gives the word matertita for a mother's sister. I believe this is a typographical error, as the word matertera is used on the preceeding page and I found no listing for matertita in the OLD or using the Perseus Project's morphological analysis, which is linked with L&S. n5. Here's is a handy table to help learn some of the information contained on pages 118 and 119. M' is the notation for the Roman five-stroke M, which looked something like M/. Of the abbreviations, the first listed is the preferred; those listed afterward were variations. For the comments (NERONES) and (SCIPIO) refer to questions 27 and 30, respectively. NOMINA GENTILICIUM _______________________AEMILII___CLAUDII________CORNELII______JULII_ | APPIUS APP X | AULUS A,AV,AVL X | DECIMUS D X (NERONES) P | GAIUS C X X X R | GNAEUS CN X X (SCIPIO) A | LUCIUS L X X X (SCIPIO) X E | MAMERCUS MAM X N | MANIUS M' X O | MARCUS M X X M | PUBLIUS P X X (SCIPIO) I | QUINTUS Q X X N | SERVIUS SER X A | TIBERIUS TI X X (NERONES) X | TITUS T | SEXTUS SEX,SEXT,S X | SPURIUS S | VOPISCUS X n6. This figure (and ones similar to it) may help you learn material from pages 121 and 122 on Roman nomenclature. Patrician * Plebeian * * Maluginenses * Dolabellae \ * / \ * / Scipiones(stafF)--------GENS CORNELIA-----Cethegi (1) Scipio Nasica / | * | \ (2) Scipio / | * | \ (3) Scipio Rufini | * | Cinnae (4) Scipio | * | (5) Scipio Others * Others (6) Scipio * --P. Cornelius Scipio * --P. (dead) * --Cn. (dead) * --L. (dead) --P. Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus A member of the Gens Cornelia could be identified as such by his nomen, Cornelius. The gens was divided into branches, identified by different cognomina. Some branches were made up of plebeians (shown on the right side of the stars) while others were made up of patricians (to the left of the stars). Each branch was known as a stirps and was made up of many families who shared that cognomen. In the figure I have created six different families in the stirps Scipiones (which means staff or walkingstick). Recall that the Scipiones used only 3 praenomina (Lucius, Gnaeus, and Publius). Imagine how confusing it was in ancient Rome to have all those Scipio's with the same names (only 3 praenomina, the same nomen and cognomen). So, one reason people had agnomina was to distinguish a family (which later would be a group of families) from others. Instead of saying "Did you know Publius Cornelius Scipio was in Athens?...No, from the family on the Palatine...No, not that family on the Palatine, the other one down the way," one could say "Did you know Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica was in Athens?" Obviously as there were more and more families named Scipion Nasica, more agnomina were added (P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica Minor). In the sixth Scipio family the pater familias (whom I have called Publius) had 3 sons. He gave his first son his own praenomen (as was the convention). He named the 2nd and 3rd sons Gnaeus and Lucius, to easily distinguish them (note the these are the only 3 praenomina that the Scipiones used). As fate would have it in my hypothetical family, tragedy struck (perhaps there was a plague of some sort). All the sons are dead and our beloved pater familias decides to adopt a son from the Gens Aemilia so save his family from extinction (see p. 113-114). He gives his name triple name to his new son, who keeps as an agnomen his original nomen with the suffix -anus. I found that designing visual aids or telling stories (based on facts) about Roman life was a good way to learn this material. n7. According to the OCD, the numerical praenomina such as Quintus, Sextus, and Decimus may have originally indicated the month of birth. Marcus may have meant born in March; Manius in February (the month of the manes). Tiberius is derived from the name of the river-god Tiberis; Servius is apparently from servus. Bradford W. Duncan