Myth & Origins
This pair of twin brothers, sons of Mars, are said to have founded Rome in 753 B.C.
What is Romulus and Remus?
Roman portrait sculpture favored lifelike detail. What earlier culture did Roman sculptors largely copy?
The Greeks
What building material, made from volcanic ash and lime among other ingredients, did Romans use extensively and which contributed to long-lasting structures?
Roman concrete (using pozzolana/volcanic ash)
What were Roman public bath complexes comparable to in modern terms, since they included shops, libraries, and gymnasiums?
A shopping mall (or civic/social center)
What is the name of the river where Romulus and Remus were placed as infants?
The Tiber River
What material were Roman funeral masks originally made from before artists began carving durable portrait heads?
Wax
What construction feature, formed by placing a series of round arches front to back, allowed Romans to roof long interior spaces?
What is a barrel vault?
What large oval amphitheater could seat around 50,000 people and measured about 615’ x 510’?
What is the Colosseum?
The last Etruscan king of Rome mentioned in the text.
Who is Tarquin the Proud?
What specific type of Roman painting was done directly on plastered walls inside most homes?
Mural (fresco on lime plaster)
What is the architectural term for the top stone that locks an arch into place?
What is a keystone?
What was the name for staged naval battles that sometimes took place in the Colosseum?
Naumachia
Which people did the Romans drive out to establish the Republic, according to the text?
The Etruscans
Give one reason the text gives for why Roman portraiture tended to be more realistic than Greek portraiture.
Greeks preferred idealized forms for public monuments.
Name the Roman building described as a low dome resting on a cylinder with a 144-foot diameter dome and a single large oculus.
What is the Pantheon?
What is the term (often misunderstood in modern trivia) for the passageways in amphitheaters used to move crowds in and out quickly?
Vomitorium
In what year did Constantine dedicate Constantinople as the new capital, signaling a shift in imperial power?
330 AD
Name the volcanic event and year that preserved many Roman murals in Pompeii and nearby cities.
The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD
Explain briefly (1–2 sentences) how Roman concrete differs from many modern concretes according to the text.
What is: Roman concrete used pozzolana (volcanic ash) and techniques (including hot mixing with lime clasts) that made it especially durable and able to self-heal; it gained strength over time unlike many modern mixes.
Name two types of spectacles staged in Roman arenas that could involve thousands of animals or hundreds of gladiators in a single day.
Gladiator combats and venationes (beast hunts); (also ship battles/naumachiae in some cases)