Novosedoff's quiz

[Novosedoff]

Hi all,

Hopefully you're gonna like it 🙂

1) Who held both the title of dictator for life time and hereditary "imperator"?
A. Sulla
B. Caesar
C. Augustus

2) Under which Roman commander did Rome have the maximum number of legions?
A. Caesar
B. Augustus
C. Tiberius

3) The Roman forum didn't host 
A. Bidding auctions for public work and tax collection contracts
B. Wedding ceremonies
C. Funerals

4) By common rule who could become a censor in the Roman Republic period (there were a few exceptions though)?
A. A senator
B. A former tribune
C. A former consul

5) For the Roman Republic period match the below titles with their corresponding powers 
A. Tribune    A. Convoke a senate's meeting and preside at it 
B. Consul     B. Veto senate's decrees
C. Censor     C. Decide on who qualifies to become a next senator

6) In today's world the military expenses would account on average for up to 10% of the total public spending in any country. 
What was their share in the early Roman empire?
A. About 10%
B. About 50%
C. About 95%

7) Cicero is known to have purchased his luxury house on the Palatine hill in Rome for 3.5 mln sesterce. 
How much is it compared to the annual income of an ordinary Roman soldier?
A. About 20 years of service
B. About 150 years of service
C. About 4000 years of service

8 ) How much would it cost for a slave owner to grant freedom to his slave in the Roman empire?
А. Free of charge
B. 5-10% of slave's cost
C. 25-35% of slave's cost

9) Which title(s) Augustus didn't hold?
A. Pontifex maximus for life time
B. Tribune for life time
C. Censor for life time

10) Which title(s) Caesar didn't hold?
A. Pontifex maximus for life time
B. Tribune for life time
C. Censor for life time

Edited February 17, 2022 by Novosedoff

[caldrail]

I stopped at question 1. There was only one Dictator Perpetuo and he was never a hereditary Imperator. Or have missed the point of this quiz?

[Novosedoff]

Well, seemingly Wikipedia doesn't know about it yet, I have here at least 2 different sources claiming that the title of imperator had in fact become hereditary (this may also explain other events that ensued afterwards). One source wrote about it in English (with a couple of references to the original Latin sources), the other source is in Russian, and I am ready to attach both pages as proof that nothing has been made up by me. However before I do this, it's better to give the answers to the other questions, this is what students do at normal tests these days when they are stuck at a particular question 🙂

Edited February 19, 2022 by Novosedoff

[caldrail]

Imperator was not a political post but an honour conferred by troops to a successful victor. It did become part of the default name adopted by future Roman leaders (and Dio tells us it was their favourite - the Romans loved military glory) because Augustus set the precedent. Note that although Augustus used Imperator as part of his name to underline his entitlement to superior military command, it was received as an honour twenty one times during his lifetime beginning in 43BC. It was certainly not hereditary, especially since legions developed a bad habit of asserting their political voice by declaring military commanders as their choice as imperial leader.

Likewise his tribunicial power. He did not ever take the title of Tribune - as a senator it was illegal for him to do so, but his right to tribunicial power was given by the Senate and the actual privilege renewed annually.

[Novosedoff]

Well, I was hopeful not to turn this thread into a discussion 🙂  But ok, since we've only got very few people here anyway. You are quite right about the special political role of the Roman Senate, which eventually went far beyond from what it was originally meant to be. We shouldn't forget that Caesar increased the number of senators from 600  to over 1000. This means that the number of Caesar's personal supporters among the senators reached the level, allowing him to be hailed whoever he wanted. Given Caesar's popularity in the army, senators could only add to that by proclaiming him the hereditary in addition to what the army had already called him. 

In fact, this also helps to explain the ease with which Augustus later climbed the political stairway of his career, and the support which he found among the legions.

The question about the hereditary nature of  Caesar's titile is somewhat yet debateable. Below I attach 5 screenshots from different sources that seem to support the view (took me 5 minutes of googling). 

PS Oops. One screenshot is in Russian, it's taken from the book by very reputable Ukrainian historian Sergeyev "The political institutes of the ancient Romans"

 

Edited February 19, 2022 by Novosedoff

[caldrail]

What we have then is Dio moaning about Rome's leadership. Whilst it is true that using Imperator set a precedent, that does not imply the title was hereditary especially since we don't see it used by children of the ruling individual unless they happened to follow into power - which was not in itself hereditary, because that would violate Republican themes. Augustus did not inherit the title from Caesar. He adopted it himself and was subsequently acclaimed by the soldiers another twenty times.

[Novosedoff]

So I think the test must be over now, following this very important conclusion 🙂