Upper Level
History Round
Toss Up #1: What famous general's father was named Hamilcar?
HANNIBAL Barca
Bonus #1: Hannibal hailed from Carthage. In what day country is Carthage
located?
TUNISIA
Bonus #2: Dido, the founder of Carthage, hailed from where?
PHOENICIA or TYRE
Toss Up #2: With what great confederation of tribes did Rome fight a long
series of war between 340 and 285 BC resulting in their conquest of the
mountainous interior of Italy?
SAMNITES
Bonus #1: The Romans were not always successful. What was the name of the
area where a Roman army was surrounded by the Samnites in 323 BC and forced
to surrender?
CAUDINE FORKS
Bonus #2: When the Samnites wars were over, it wasn't long before the Romans
faced a more dangerous antagonist in Southern Italy, who always defeated them
but could never win the decisive victory. Who was he?
PYRRHUS
Toss Up #3: It was certainly tragic, but had the virtue of being quick and
often painless. By what means did two great enemies of Rome, Hannibal and
Cleopatra, end their lives?
POISON
Bonus #1: Hannibal was handy with snakes, too. By what means did he defeat
the Roman fleet off Asia Minor in 190 BC?
JARS OF VIPERS WERE CATAPULTED ONTO ROMAN SHIPS
Bonus #2: Some of Rome's greatest enemies were not killed in battle, but captured
and taken to Rome for execution. Who was the leader of the Gallic revolt
of 52-51 who suffered this fate?
VERCINGETORIX
Toss Up #4: What opponent of Rome visited the city once and remarked that
it was an urbs venalis.
JUGURTHA
Bonus #1. Centuries later, after the assassination of Commodus, the empire actually
was sold. Who was the highest bidder?
DIDIUS JULIANUS
Bonus #2: In what year did this auction take place?
193 AD
Toss Up #5: What year is this? Numantia was captured by Scipio Aemilianus,
Attalus III bequeathed Pergamum to Rome, Tiberius Gracchus was slain.
133 BC
Bonus #1: What year is this? Caesar defeats Ariovistus, Ptolemy Auletes is
driven from Alexandria, Cyprus is annexed by Cato, Cicero is exiled by Clodius. 58 BC
Bonus #2: What year is this?
Toss Up #6: What knight supposedly jumped into a chasm to save Rome?
Marcus (or Mettius) CURTIUS
Bonus #1: Today you can find a plaque, which commemorates this hero. Not
far from it is the supposed tomb of Romulus. What is the Latin term for the
marker of Romulus' tomb?
LAPIS NIGER
Bonus #2: Where would one find both the plaque and the Lapis Niger?
FORUM (ROMANUM)
Toss Up #7: Cicero, Rome's greatest orator, delivered his famous orations
against what conspirator?
Lucius Sergius CATILINA or CATILINE
Bonus #1. In what year was Cicero born?
106 B.C.
Bonus #2: Embassies from what people first notified Cicero of the conspiracy?
ALLOBRIGES
Toss Up #8: We all know that Constantine was supposedly the first Christian
emperor of Rome, but name the emperor Constantine defeated at the Battle of
the Milvian Bridge in 312 BC.
MAXENTIUS
Bonus #1: Where is the Milvian Bridge?
ROME
Bonus #2: What structure named after Maxentius is still an imposing presence
near the Roman Forum today?
BASILICA (of Maxentius)
Toss Up #9: Name the confederation of thirty villages of which Rome was a
part in the 5th century BC, whose purpose was to protect each other from
outside invasions
THE LATIN LEAGUE
Bonus #1: After what victory in 493 BC did Rome sign a treaty and join
the Latin League?
LAKE REGILLUS
Bonus #2: What invading people did the Latin League chiefly defend against?
ETRUSCANS
Toss Up #10: When Romulus and Remus were searching the sky for a sign
to tell them where to settle Rome. Since both saw birds, explain how each
justified that he was the one picked by the gods.
REMUS SAW THE BIRDS FIRST / ROMULUS SAW MORE (12 VS. 6)
Bonus #1: Romulus was standing on the Palatine Hill, but where was Remus standing?
AVENTINE HILL
Bonus #2: After Romulus ascended to heaven, what name did the Romans
give him?
QUIRINUS
Toss Up #11: In the Aeneid, Vergil writes of the Scylla and Charybdis, but places
it in an infamous historical location important to the start of the Punic Wars. Where
did Vergil place this Vergil dangerous intersection of mythological creatures?
THE STRAIT OF MESSINA / MESSANA
Bonus #1: The petition of what people who had control over this Strait
brought Carthage and Rome together to start the Punic Wars?
MAMERTINES
Bonus #2: In what did the First Punic War start?
264 B.C.
Toss Up #12: In 399 B.C., the Gauls attacked Rome and in the dead of night
almost pulled off a sneak attack, but were eventually driven back by soldiers
holed up in the Capitoline awoken by the sound of what animal?
GEESE
Bonus #1: Who was the soldier who was first alerted the presence of the
Gauls by the honking of the geese?
Marcus MANLIUS Capitolinus
Bonus #2: What deity’s geese were they?
JUNO
Toss Up #13: Over the course of time, Rome had two walls surrounding its
inhabitants. After whom was the Servian Wall named?
SERVIUS TULLIUS
Bonus #1: After whom was the second of these two walls named?
AURELIAN
Bonus #2: Aurelian’s Wall closed in all of Rome’s seven famous hills. Name all seven:
AVENTINE, CAPITOLINE, ESQUILINE, QUIRINAL, VIMINAL, PALATINE,
CAELIAN
Toss Up #14: What son of Antonia, grandson of Augustus, and brother to Claudius,
possibly died by poisoning at the behest of the Emperor Tiberius?
GERMANICUS Julius Caesar Claudianus
Bonus #1: Before he died, Germanicus visited this site of a massive slaughter in
9 BC of 20,000 Roman troops at the hands of German tribes.
TEUTOBERG FOREST
Bonus #2: What was the name of the German leader who is credited with
this victory over the Romans?
ARIMINIUS
Toss Up #15: What general of the late Republic, famous for being "Fortunate,"
had Marius as his greatest enemy.
SULLA
Bonus #1: Sulla fought a great war against the King of Pontus, defeating him but not
removing him as a future threat to Rome. Who was this King?
MITHRIDATES
Bonus #2: Sulla first made a name for himself as a lieutenant under Marius
fighting and subjugating what King of Numidia?
JUGURTHA
Tie-Breakers:
#1: What brother of Tiberius died while campaigning against the Germans
on the Rhine frontier?
#2: The first book of the de bello Gallico describes Caesar’s war with what
Gallic tribe?
DRUSUS
HELVETII