Quiz 044

Episode 44 Quiz

Welcome to the quiz for Episode 44: Homo Sum. See what you remember about the Roman author Terence and his play The Brothers by clicking “START” below!

1 / 15

Many sources concur that Terence was from:

Cyrenaica

Epirus

Galatia

Carthage

Noricum

2 / 15

Homo sum; humani nil a me alienum puto, a famous line from Terence’s play The Self Tormentor, means:

Humanity is thus: emptiness and a joy.

Life is a range of experiences that bring us all into contact with one another.

The sum of humanity is nothingness and alienation.

Being human, we are alienated from one another.

I'm human, so any human interest is my concern.

3 / 15

Dramatic irony is when:

The pitch of emotional intensity in a play is incommensurate with the events that engender it.

A movement late in New Comedy when the philosophy of cynicism began to influence the Greco-Roman stage.

The audience knows something that a character or characters don't.

A play borrows so heavily from another play that its spontaneous departure from its analog causes surprise and delight.

A play comments on contemporary events in a compelling or memorable way.

4 / 15

In which decade did Terence produce his six plays?

The 210s BCE

The 180s BCE

The 210s BCE

The 140s BCE

The 160s BCE

5 / 15

The occasion of The Brothers‘ first staging was that it was staged for:

The aftermath of a speech by the writer and statesman Cato the Elder.

The funeral of the biological father of Terence's friend Scipio Aemilianus.

The estranged brother of the Greek historian Polybius.

The victory games celebrating Roman victories in Thrace and Asia.

The birth of the poet Caecilius' second son, Gaius.

6 / 15

Aeschinus marries:

The neighbor girl Pamphila

The slave Mysis

Phidippus' wife Myrrhina

Pamphila's sister Thais

The prostitute Bacchis

7 / 15

Which of the following is NOT true of Terence’s illustrious friend Scipio Aemilianus?

His biological father Lucius Aemilianus Paulus had won the war with Macedon.

He was the father of the famous statesman Cato the Elder.

He had a wide circle of literary and intellectual friends.

He was the adopted grandson of Scipio Africanus.

He won the Third Punic War.

8 / 15

The character who has been adopted and taken to the city in Terence’s The Brothers is named:

Charinus

Pamphilus

Phidippus

Aeschinus

Crito

9 / 15

Terence’s prologues were innovative because they:

Were directly translated from New Comedy writers, rather than being written freshly for a Roman staging.

Were accompanied by the music of the tibia or dual reed pipes.

Served as miniature artistic manifestos allowing the playwright to defend and explain his work.

Were spoken by the playwright himself, rather than an actor playing a divine being or character from the play.

Appeared after a preliminary scene, so that the audience would be able to put names to faces.

10 / 15

This line, spoken by Micio, is a pivotal one in The Brothers that introduces a longer explanation of his conduct and philosophy.

A benediction passes, but a curse is forever.

Free falls the rain, but not in the deep summer.

The sea fills the coves and the sea blankets the beaches.

All men, regardless of origin, are subject to the gods.

The life of man is a game of dice.

11 / 15

The older father figure in The Brothers, a staunch, thrifty man, is called:

Parmeno

Chremes

Phaedria

Demea

Laches

12 / 15

The younger father in The Brothers – the one who lives in the city and adopts his older brother’s son, is called:

Micio

Menedemus

Davus

Dromo

Thraso

13 / 15

Augustus, Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius have what quality in common that we discussed in this episode?

They were all adopted.

None of them had military experience prior to being emperor.

None of them served as consul before or after being ordained as emperor.

They were all provincials.

Each served as Pontifex Maximus prior to ruling as emperor.

14 / 15

The two older brothers in Terence’s The Brothers symbolize which dichotomy in republican Roman culture?

Praetors vs. consuls

Plebeians vs. patricians

Roman traditionalists vs. philhellenes

Equestrians vs. optimates

War hawks vs. pacifists

15 / 15

At the outset of The Brothers, what does young Ctesipho’s biological father think of him?

That Ctesipho has enlisted with a band of Peloponnesian mercenaries.

That Ctesipho has made a fortune for himself up in the city of Amphipolis.

That Ctesipho is a wholesome and upright young man.

That Ctesipho has squandered his inheritance in a business venture in Corinth.

That Ctesipho has wasted his life in service to the priestess at Eleusis.

Your score is