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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 causes Pompey to be unrecognizable to a soldier, almost bringing about Pompey's death?

2. What does Caesar use to build support for himself as a Roman leader?

3. How is Pompey mentioned in Sulla's will?

4. What does Cicero's name mean?

5. Why does Bibulus shut himself in his house at the end of his consul term?

Short Essay Questions

1. What personal problems does Cicero encounter after he retires from public life?

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

3. What is the dilemma Cicero faces upon discovering the plan by Catiline's forces that remain in Rome?

4. How does the rivalry between Cicero and Clodius begin?

5. How does Plutarch feel about Caesar's military accomplishments and why?

6. What are some of the omens that Plutarch discusses leading up to Caesar's death?

7. How does Caesar die and why has the event become so famous?

8. What does Caesar do to build support for himself as a Roman leader after he returns from Gaul, and why is the timing significant?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Plutarch uses the comparisons of other figures to illustrate the character of the Roman leaders that he describes in "Fall of the Roman Republic". For each of the following, explain the comparison made by Plutarch, what it displays for each figure, and what it adds to the biography of that specific Roman leader.

1) Marius and Plato.

2) Sulla and Lysander.

3) Crassus and Nicias.

4) Pompey and Agesilaus.

5) Cicero and Demosthenes.

6) Caesar and Marius.

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast the different characteristics of Marius and Sulla, both militarily and politically. Include a detailed explanation of the feud between them and the effects it has on Rome.

Essay Topic 3

Describe the war between Marius and Metellus, chronicling how it begins, the reasons why it becomes so intense, and the effect its ending has on Marius's career as a Roman leader.

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