Lesson test: The Rubicon and the dictatorship

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The Rubicon and the dictatorship

1.[2p]
In December 50 BC the Senate voted that both Caesar and Pompey should lay down their commands. How many voted in favour, of 392?

CorrectNot quite: 370

2.[3p]
What does that vote show?

Almost the whole political class wanted peace, and had no mechanism to enforce it

Correct

The Senate had already decided to make war on Caesar

The answer is: Almost the whole political class wanted peace, and had no mechanism to enforce it

Pompey commanded a large majority in the Senate

The answer is: Almost the whole political class wanted peace, and had no mechanism to enforce it

The Senate had the power to disband either man's legions directly

The answer is: Almost the whole political class wanted peace, and had no mechanism to enforce it

3.[3p]
Why did Caesar make so much of the flight of the tribunes Antony and Cassius from Rome?

Tribunes were sacrosanct, so their expulsion gave him a constitutional grievance to invade with

Correct

They brought him the Senate's secret correspondence

The answer is: Tribunes were sacrosanct, so their expulsion gave him a constitutional grievance to invade with

Their presence made his army legally a public force

The answer is: Tribunes were sacrosanct, so their expulsion gave him a constitutional grievance to invade with

They were the only magistrates who could appoint a dictator

The answer is: Tribunes were sacrosanct, so their expulsion gave him a constitutional grievance to invade with

4.[3p]
Put these battles and events in order.

The Ides of March
Pompey is murdered in Egypt
Thapsus
Pharsalus
Munda
Caesar crosses the Rubicon

Show the answer

a, b, c, d, e, f

5.[3p]
The Julian year is 365.25 days against a true year of 365.2422. One day of error accumulates in roughly how many years?

CorrectNot quite: 128

6.[2p]
Caesar's account of Pharsalus in his own Commentarii can be treated as a neutral record.

True

The answer is: False

False

Correct

7.[2p]
Caesar cut the grain list in Rome from 320,000 to 150,000. What percentage reduction is that?

CorrectNot quite: 53

8.[3p]
Why did the murder of Caesar not restore the Republic?

The armies, the treasury, the veterans and Caesar's heir all remained, and the conspirators had no plan for the next day

Correct

The conspirators were defeated in battle in Rome the following week

The answer is: The armies, the treasury, the veterans and Caesar's heir all remained, and the conspirators had no plan for the next day

The Senate immediately declared Caesar a god and outlawed his killers

The answer is: The armies, the treasury, the veterans and Caesar's heir all remained, and the conspirators had no plan for the next day

The assemblies voted to make Antony dictator in his place

The answer is: The armies, the treasury, the veterans and Caesar's heir all remained, and the conspirators had no plan for the next day

9.[3p]
Why did Caesar's policy of clemency not protect him?

A pardon is an exercise of the power to kill, and it left his enemies alive and diminished

Correct

He pardoned nobody who had fought against him

The answer is: A pardon is an exercise of the power to kill, and it left his enemies alive and diminished

His clemency was resented by his own soldiers, who wanted confiscations

The answer is: A pardon is an exercise of the power to kill, and it left his enemies alive and diminished

It was formally illegal and gave his enemies a charge to use

The answer is: A pardon is an exercise of the power to kill, and it left his enemies alive and diminished

1.[2p] In December 50 BC the Senate voted that both Caesar and Pompey should lay down their commands. How many voted in favour, of 392?

2.[3p] What does that vote show?

3.[3p] Why did Caesar make so much of the flight of the tribunes Antony and Cassius from Rome?

4.[3p] Put these battles and events in order.

5.[3p] The Julian year is 365.25 days against a true year of 365.2422. One day of error accumulates in roughly how many years?

6.[2p] Caesar's account of Pharsalus in his own Commentarii can be treated as a neutral record.

7.[2p] Caesar cut the grain list in Rome from 320,000 to 150,000. What percentage reduction is that?

8.[3p] Why did the murder of Caesar not restore the Republic?

9.[3p] Why did Caesar's policy of clemency not protect him?

1.[2p]
In December 50 BC the Senate voted that both Caesar and Pompey should lay down their commands. How many voted in favour, of 392?

2.[3p]
What does that vote show?

3.[3p]
Why did Caesar make so much of the flight of the tribunes Antony and Cassius from Rome?

4.[3p]
Put these battles and events in order.

5.[3p]
The Julian year is 365.25 days against a true year of 365.2422. One day of error accumulates in roughly how many years?

6.[2p]
Caesar's account of Pharsalus in his own Commentarii can be treated as a neutral record.

7.[2p]
Caesar cut the grain list in Rome from 320,000 to 150,000. What percentage reduction is that?

8.[3p]
Why did the murder of Caesar not restore the Republic?

9.[3p]
Why did Caesar's policy of clemency not protect him?