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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who is the man prosecuting Cicero's client?
(a) Caecilia Metella.
(b) Rufus Messalla.
(c) Marcus Tullius Tiro.
(d) Gaius Eruscius.

2. When Cicero asks Gordianus the question in his library, what does Gordianus think of him then?
(a) That Cicero is a scoundrel.
(b) That Cicero likes to have intellectual discussions.
(c) That Cicero suspects him of the murder.
(d) That Cicero knows something he doesn't.

3. Who is Marcus Licinius Crassus?
(a) A greedy nobleman who tricks people out of their money.
(b) A tenement owner who is in trouble.
(c) A born leader who is widely respected.
(d) Someone Gordianus suspects of the murder.

4. What disability does Eco have?
(a) He is mute.
(b) He is deaf.
(c) He has a low IQ.
(d) He cannot walk.

5. Eco communicates that the man who stabbed Roscius has what distinguishing characteristic?
(a) He is a hunchback.
(b) He is a dwarf.
(c) He wears an eye patch.
(d) He walks with a limp.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the House of Swans?

2. What is Cicero's client accused of?

3. Who are Felix and Chrestus?

4. What is significant about Gordianus lacking a surname?

5. How does Gordianus react to the events in Chapter 2?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Polia think she is protecting Eco by lying about him witnessing the attack?

2. How would you describe Caecilia Metella?

3. Do you think Gauis's death was accidental or a murder? Why?

4. What is the significance of the fact that the men who break into Gordianus's house had come earlier in the day?

5. What elements of Cicero's home seem to contradict one another?

6. Why would the shopkeeper and his wife lie about witnessing the attack of Roscius?

7. If traveling to Ameria alone is so dangerous, why doesn't Gordianus take a companion or a guard?

8. Why does Gordianus loan Bethesda to the household of the stable master?

9. Cicero and Sextus Roscius (pater) lived very different lifestyles. Compare and contrast their lifestyles.

10. What is the purpose of the author's inclusion of the scene where Gordianus and Tiro see a gladiator stabbed while they are walking to Cicero's house?

(see the answer keys)

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