10 exercises on Ancient Rome (with feedback and comments)

Now it's time to test your knowledge about Ancient Rome.

For this, we elaborated and selected 10 exercises to help your studies.

Easy level

question 01

Chronologically, they correspond to the three phases of Ancient Rome:

a) Empire - Republic - Monarchy

b) Monarchy - Empire - Republic

c) Monarchy - Republic - Parliament

d) Republic - Parliament - Empire

e) Monarchy - Republic - Empire

Answer explained

The 3 phases of the history of Ancient Rome are: Monarchy (753 – 509 a. C), Republic (509 – 27 a. C) and Empire (27 a. C – 476 d. W).

Question 02

About the commoners in Rome, check the alternative that best describes them:

a) Rich landowners.

b) Never in the history of Rome were men or women free.

c) They were contrary to the Roman gods.

d) They were free, but did not own much land.

e) They alone controlled politics in Ancient Rome.

Answer explained

a) WRONG. Commoners made up the poorest portion of the free Roman population.

b) WRONG. Commoners were free individuals, but with low economic power.

c) WRONG. Commoners were not against the Roman gods.

d) CORRECT. Plebeians were not enslaved, however, they had little economic power, unlike the patricians, the Roman economic and political elite.

e) WRONG. Despite having political participation, they did not control this sector in Rome.

Question 03

Check the alternative incorrect on the story of Romulus and Remus:

a) According to Roman tradition, Romulus and Remus were the last two kings of Rome.

b) The story of Romulus and Remus was developed as a way to explain the early formation of Rome.

c) A wolf would have found the boys on the bank of the Tiber after they had been thrown into a basket to drown.

d) After adults, Romulus would have killed Remus.

e) There is a famous statue, in bronze, representing the Capitoline wolf taking care of the two brothers. It is currently on display in a museum in Rome.

Answer explained

Whereas the question asks about the alternative incorrect:

a) CORRECT. The alternative is incorrect because Romulus and Remus were not the last two kings of Rome.

b) WRONG. The alternative is correct because this story aims to explain the formation of what was, initially, the village of Rome.

c) WRONG. The alternative is correct because this passage is part of the narrative.

d) WRONG. The alternative is correct because this passage is part of the narrative.

e) WRONG. The alternative is correct. Historians believe that the statue dates back to the Middle Ages.

Middle level

Question 04

About the revolts of slaves in Ancient Rome, mark the correct alternative:

a) The revolts of slaves did not have much prominence in the Roman scenario, since the power of the Senate was able to quickly repress such rebellions, when they occurred.

b) One of the most famous slaves in Ancient Rome was Spartacus, leader of a revolt that involved more than 100,000 other slaves.

c) The revolts of enslaved people in Ancient Rome were not relevant in the Roman scenario because the practice of slavery was not widespread among these peoples.

d) Those enslaved in Ancient Rome were always intended for the amusement of the population. Therefore, the only function of a Roman slave was to fight for his own life in spaces like the Coliseum.

e) The rebellions of slaves in Ancient Rome, despite having gained much prominence in the social field, never affected the field economic, since the Romans used only salaried labor for the development of their works, both urban and rural.

Answer explained

a) WRONG. Slave revolts had a strong impact on Ancient Rome.

b) CORRECT. Spartacus became a big name in the slave revolts in Rome, even winning audiovisual works inspired by his stories, made in later periods.

c) WRONG. Slave labor was the basis of labor in Rome.

d) WRONG. The enslaved fought in arenas like the Coliseum, but they didn't just do that. Domestic, urban, educational work (with their masters' children) were also among their attributions.

e) WRONG. Salaried labor was not the most used in Rome.

Question 05

Regarding the Fall of Rome, mark the alternative INCORRECT:

a) The barbarian peoples, highly valued by the Romans, played a crucial role in the process of the Fall of Rome, ratified in the year 476 AD. W.

b) One of the ways to explain the fall of the Roman Empire was its decision not to conquer more territories. From this, the number of enslaved people in Rome, the base of work, fell and consequently, also the production of food and other products in the empire.

c) The migrations or invasions of barbarian peoples resulted in a process of cultural exchange. Later, as a result of these exchanges, feudalism emerged.

d) The fall of the Roman Empire did not lead to the end of Roman culture. On the contrary, the Middle Ages witnessed, even more than before, intense cultural exchanges between Romans and the so-called barbarian peoples.

e) When we talk about the Fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD. C., we refer specifically to the Western Roman Empire. The eastern side, called the Byzantine Empire, maintained its command until the year 1453, when the Ottoman Turks took over Constantinople.

Answer explained

Considering that the question asks for the alternative incorrect:

a) CORRECT. The alternative is incorrect in stating that the Romans valued barbarian peoples. On the contrary, the Romans believed that they were superior to any individual who had cultural traits different from their own.

b) WRONG. The alternative is correct. Those enslaved in Rome, at the end of the Empire, were conquered by wars. From the moment that new conquests ceased, there was a decrease in labor, directly affecting production and making products more expensive. This led to productive chaos and a consequent increase in prices.

c) WRONG. The alternative is correct, as feudalism arises from the cultural encounter of Romans and Germans, called barbarians by the former.

d) WRONG. The alternative is correct in stating that the end of the Empire did not mean the end of Roman culture.

e) WRONG. The alternative is correct, as the division of the Roman Empire, which occurred in 395 d. C, by Emperor Theodosius, created the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. The fall of 476 AD. W. occurred only on the western side.

Question 06

Which of the following is a correct description of the Pax Romana period?

a) The Pax Romana was a moment in the history of Rome where the emperors decided to rule in a democratic way, allowing the entire population the right to vote.

b) The Pax Romana was a period in Rome where the end of the battles in the Coliseum took place.

c) We call Pax Romana the period of certain stability in the Roman scene. This was a policy that began with the coronation of Emperor Nero.

d) We call Pax Romana a period of certain stability in the Roman scene. This was a policy that began with the coronation of Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

e) None of the above.

Answer explained

a) WRONG. Democracy was not present in Rome, much less universal suffrage. Enslaved people and women, for example, did not have this right.

b) WRONG. The period of the Pax Romana has nothing to do with the end of battles in the Colosseum. In fact, gladiator battles were highly regarded in Rome.

c) WRONG. The Pax Romana began with the coronation of Augustus Caesar.

d) WRONG. The Pax Romana began with the coronation of Augustus Caesar.

e) CORRECT. The others are all incorrect, as seen above.

Hard level

Question 07

(ENEM) Indeed, until the destruction of Carthage, the people and the Roman Senate governed the Republic in harmony and without passion, and there was no fight between the citizens for glory or domination; fear of the enemy kept the city in the line of duty. But as soon as fear disappeared from the minds, the evils for which prosperity has a predilection, that is, licentiousness and pride, entered.

SALUSTIO. The Conjuration of Catiline/The War of Jugurtha. Petrópolis: Voices, 1990 (adapted).

The historical event mentioned in Sallust's text, dated I a. C., maintained correspondence with the process of

a) demarcation of public lands

b) imposition of debt slavery.

c) restriction of citizenship by kinship.

d) restoration of ancestral institutions.

e) expansion of extrapeninsular borders.

Answer explained

a) WRONG. The demarcation of public lands had nothing to do with the Roman wars against Carthage.

b) WRONG. The imposition of debt slavery predates the aforementioned war.

c) WRONG. The war against the Carthaginians had no such aim.

d) WRONG. The war against the Carthaginians was not about restoring ancestral institutions.

e) CORRECT. The war against the Carthaginians was aimed at expanding Roman territory overseas. In this way, the Romans sought to have dominion over the Mediterranean Sea. This is how the expression "Mare Nostrum", or "Our Sea", came to designate the Mediterranean.

Question 08

(PUC) The Graco brothers:

a) defended the landless peasants against the aristocracy

b) were the conquerors of Carthage

c) were the main leaders of the aristocratic party

d) drafted the first written law of Rome

e) were the authors of the Law of the Twelve Tables

Answer explained

a) CORRECT. The brothers Tiberius and Gaius Graco were of plebeian origin and fought for agrarian reform in Ancient Rome, aiming to improve the living conditions of the poorest population.

b) WRONG. The Gracchus brothers were unrelated to this event.

c) WRONG. On the contrary, the Gracchus brothers were commoners and fought for the rights of their own. The Roman aristocracy was represented by the patricians.

d) WRONG. Although they were created with the intention of favoring the commoners, The Laws of the XII Tables, the first written laws of Rome, were not written by the brothers.

e) WRONG. As mentioned in the previous resolution, the Law of the Twelve Tables is not authored by the brothers.

Question 09

(UFPB) Read the text below:

In the Roman Republic, the State was organized by a set of institutions: Senate, magistracies and Assemblies of the people or Comitia. The Senate supervised the public finances and administration of the provinces, conducted foreign policy, watched over traditions and religion. The Consuls were the main magistrates, commanded the Army, directed the State, summoned the Senate and presided over public services. The Comitia were organized by: tribes (tax assembly, which appointed quaestors and aediles); classes, according to fortune (centuriate assembly, which elected consuls and voted on laws); clans (curiate assembly, which decided on religious matters).

Based on the text and historical knowledge relating to the Roman Republic, it is correct to state:

a) The distribution of power among the various republican institutions aimed to prevent its concentration in a single person.

b) The res publica (public thing), in its beginnings, did not discriminate against the inhabitants of Rome, all, indistinctly, participants in power with the same rights.

c) The people, the group of Roman citizens without any political rights, were mere spectators of the disputes between the Consuls and the Senate.

d) The power of the Consuls was limited to military matters, without any influence on public affairs.

e) The Army, in the Roman Republic, had no active political role, except as a defender of the participation of the people, due to the popular origin of its generals.

Answer explained

a) CORRECT. During the Roman Republic, the existence of all these institutions had the objective of diluting power among several individuals, unlike what happened during the Empire.

d) WRONG. During the Republic, for example, women, slaves and foreigners had no right to political participation.

c) WRONG. During the Republic, the plebeians - free part of the population, but without great purchasing power - could participate in Roman politics, through the institution "Tribunos da Plebe"

d) WRONG. The consuls had influence over public affairs. It was in the period of the Roman Republic that these individuals began to command the Roman possessions in a broad way.

e) WRONG. The army was of great importance to Roman politics. This is because the basis of Roman growth happened in the processes of conquest and territorial expansion.

question 10

(AND EITHER)

During royalty, and in the early republican years, laws were transmitted orally from one generation to another. The absence of written legislation allowed the patricians to manipulate justice according to their interests. In 451 BC, however, the commoners managed to elect a commission of ten people—the decemvirs—to write the laws. Two of them traveled to Athens, Greece, to study Solon's legislation.

CCOULANGES, FA Old society So Paulo: Martins Fonte, 2000.

The overcoming of the oral legal tradition in the ancient world, described in the text, was related to the

a) The adoption of universal male suffrage.

b) The extension of citizenship to free men.

c) The affirmation of democratic institutions.

d) The implementation of social rights.

e) tripartition of political powers.

Answer explained

a) WRONG. Only free men and Romans had the right to vote (universal male suffrage = free vote for all men).

b) CORRECT. The Law of the Twelve Tables, resulting from this action, was the first set of written Roman laws. He aimed to meet the right of free men with less purchasing power, the commoners.

c) WRONG. It is not possible to talk about democracy when dealing with Ancient Rome.

d) WRONG. The Law of the Twelve Tables did not aim to create new rights, but to guarantee existing ones.

e) WRONG. Tripartition would be to separate the power of the State into three parts, as we see in many of the current democracies, with the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary powers. This was not the case in Ancient Rome.

Keep learning!

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SOUZA, Thiago. 10 exercises on Ancient Rome (with feedback and comments).All Matter, [n.d.]. Available in: https://www.todamateria.com.br/exercicios-roma-antiga/. Access at:

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