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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 Plutarch identify as the difference in the characters between "The Roman Brothers" and "The Spartans"?

2. After Dion drove Donysius II from Syracuse, what does Plutarch claim came of his attempt to form a government?

3. How does Plutarch explain that Aratus finally end Nicocles' reign over Sicyon?

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

5. Who led a conspiracy to overthrow the Roman Government that Plutarch reports Cicero exposed in the Senate?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What did Plutarch identify as the marks of Cicero's oratory style?

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

4. Why does Plutarch claim that Philip had Atarus poisoned?

5. What did Plutarch consider to be the difference between the several wives that Demetrius took as opposed to Antony taking up with Cleopatra?

6. Why does Plutarch report that Artaxerxes had his son, Darius, executed?

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

8. What difference does Plutarch recognize in the raising of the Gracchi Brothers (Tiberius and Caius) and The Spartans (Agis and Cleomenes)?

9. What does Plutarch claim was the result of Opimius undoing the land reforms that Caius enacted?

10. What important position does Plutarch report Atarus took with Achaea, a league of Greek cities?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Plutarch reports that Caesar's life and travels were intertwined by events caused by other people. Starting with his reason for leaving Rome because of Sylla's relationship with his family and ending with his defeat of Scipio in Africa, identify the destinations of Caesar, the reason he took the trip, and what his mission there meant for him personally and achieved for the Roman Empire.

Essay Topic 2

Plutarch was born a Greek, and as an adult became a Roman Citizen. He wrote during the First Century, A.D., while the Roman Empire was still in its ascendancy. Give details of how Plutarch's background and citizenship influenced his choice of historical figures for which to write biographies, the events he chose to cover, and how he characterized the cities and citizens that were affected by these figures.

Essay Topic 3

Plutarch's biography of Sertorius established a pattern of examining the life of a leader whose live and experiences were intertwined with other lives that were covered by Plutarch. Sertorius directly confronted Pompey in Spain and both were affected by the Roman tyrant Sylla. How were both Sertorius and Pompey affected by Sylla, and how did the different relationships with Sylla influence the confrontation they had with each other?

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