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Famous Ancient Romans

Based on the clue, can you name these famous people from ancient Rome?
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: November 2, 2021
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First submittedMay 25, 2011
Times taken67,838
Average score55.0%
Rating4.67
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Clue
Answer
He crossed the Rubicon, but didn't survive the Ides of March
Julius Caesar
Most famous assassin of the above
Brutus
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend him your ears
Mark Antony
The first emperor of Rome
Augustus
Wife of the above, who some consider a conspiratorial mastermind
Livia
The first Christian emperor of Rome
Constantine
Gladiator who led a slave revolt
Spartacus
Emperor under whom the empire reached its greatest territorial extent
Trajan
Emperor who built a wall in northern England
Hadrian
Ancient Rome's most famous doctor
Galen
Famous orator in the waning days of the Roman Republic
Cicero
Emperor who was also a stoic philosopher
Marcus Aurelius
He didn't actually fiddle as Rome burned
Nero
Poet who wrote "Metamorphoses"
Ovid
Member of the First Triumvirate known for his enormous wealth
Crassus
Called "little boot", this emperor was utterly insane
Caligula
General who crushed Carthage in the Second Punic War
Scipio Africanus
Name shared by two conservative Senators, "elder" and "younger"
Cato
Two brothers who launched populist reforms in the 100s BC,
but were killed for their efforts
Tiberius and Gaius
Gracchus
Author of the "Aeneid"
Virgil
+1
Level 28
Nov 5, 2011
Could Marc Antony be accepted??
+2
Level ∞
Nov 5, 2011
Already is!
+3
Level 88
Apr 18, 2014
Yeah, could you accept 'Mark Anthony' please?
+2
Level ∞
Oct 18, 2014
Okay
+21
Level 82
Dec 1, 2014
Could you accept "Mr. Jennifer Lopez?"
+3
Level 55
Apr 7, 2021
marcus antonius?
+2
Level 57
Dec 17, 2011
Sweet quiz! Got 'em all (but then, I'm a Latin teacher:) )
+1
Level 33
Aug 1, 2012
Are you kidding me? Julius is not accepted for "Julius Caesar". By that logic, we should have to enter "Emperor Nero" and "King Leonidas"
+11
Level ∞
Aug 1, 2012
Who has ever referred to him as merely Julius?
+18
Level 85
Sep 28, 2013
His mother. Except when he was in trouble. Then it was "Julius Gauis Caesar!
+5
Level 58
Feb 12, 2014
@postwaste: No, Julius is the family name. To his mother he would have been Gaius, Gaius Iulius Caesar when in trouble (although she might have used something else, because his father was called Gaius Iulius Caesar as well).
+3
Level 37
Aug 24, 2014
I think you're confused. Caesar did not become a title until much later, so in this case, the "Caesarii" are the family of the Iulian line he belonged to.
+3
Level 65
Sep 25, 2017
"Caesares" is the Latin plural for Caesar (the family would be the Iulii Caesares, or if you want to be technical, the Ivlii Caesares), but otherwise you're right
+4
Level 37
Apr 1, 2021
his full name was Gaius Julius Caeasar. His given name was Gaius. His family name was Julius. Caesar is a sort of nickname to differentiate this particular branch of the Julius clan from others, so technically Julius Caesar is his entire last name. Julius is meaningless by itself.
+1
Level 78
Nov 10, 2021
As in Orange Julius?
+4
Level 33
Feb 10, 2013
I always though it was a bit funny that Mark Antony was the one Roman who has his name anglosied. Wonder why. Cos of Shakespeare? I mean, his name was Marcus Antonius. And he was a real jerk it seems. Cicero, Pompey, Cato, Brutus etc... WAY more likeable.
+6
Level 41
Sep 6, 2014
Actually, Mark Antony is far from being the only anglicised Roman name. Think of all those names ending in -ianus in Latin and -ian in English, think of Pliny (for Plinius), Virgil (for Vergilius), Ovid (for Ovidius) and doubtless others which I cannot recall now (:
+3
Level 66
Sep 9, 2019
And homerus, hadrianus, euclides aesopes, galenus ow and constantinus. And those are only from this quiz ! So that is 10/24 nearly half is anglicised.

edit I realise now i mentioned both greek and roman, and you didnt say anything about greek. Just for roman it is actually 6/12 that are anglicised in this quiz..

+4
Level 65
Sep 25, 2017
oddly enough "Pompey" is another Anglicized name (from Pompeius). Plenty more are also Anglicized, mostly the Romans that were well known to English speakers in the 17th and 18th century. Virgil, Pliny, Trajan, Hadrian, Octavian, Antony, etc., to say nothing of the Romans whose names are written as they were in Latin but whose common English pronunciation is so far off the original mark, like Cicero (pronounced Kikero in Latin), Porcia (Porkia), Caesar (Kay-sar), etc.
+1
Level 52
Dec 1, 2014
Apostole Paul could be added as he was Roman citizen and undoubtably one of the most famous people ever.
+1
Level 71
Nov 26, 2021
But he was Jewish and initially from Turkey (which back then was a hodge-podge of Mediterranean ethnic groups from what I know). He only spent his last few years in Rome. This quiz only really focuses on people who were born and/or bred in Rome. If the quiz accepted answers from all over the Roman Empire, then Jesus would easily be the most famous "Roman" ever.
+2
Level 47
Dec 1, 2021
Spartacus was from Thrace though.
+1
Level 86
Dec 1, 2014
It's not that I don't like Shakespeare, but I can never remember who says that sentence... Apart from that, I got everything (though I had to check for that physician we call Galien in French).
+1
Level 66
Sep 9, 2019
That is the only one i havent heard of (or cant clearly recall) in this quiz. I cant believe some of the other (imo famous ones) scoring lower
+2
Level 51
Aug 10, 2015
I am Spartacus!
+4
Level 89
Sep 24, 2017
That guy's Spartacus.
+2
Level 76
Nov 4, 2021
Yep, he's Spartacus. Not me.
+2
Level 48
Jun 26, 2016
As soon as I saw Mark Anthony, I immediately thought Jennifer Lopez. I created a Jennifer Lopez quiz if anyone wants to try it. http://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/190018/hard-jennifer-lopez-quiz
+1
Level 18
Jan 18, 2017
awesome history lesson
+3
Level 36
Sep 23, 2017
For the roman physician I could not get Pliny the elder out of my head. What would he be classed as?
+3
Level 64
Sep 23, 2017
Naturalist.
+3
Level 52
Sep 23, 2017
It seems that my school system has taken the Greeks and Romans out of the history classes in exchange for constant talks on the Holocaust and 9-11.

Every

Single

Year!

+1
Level 57
Nov 5, 2021
That sucks.
+1
Level 66
Sep 25, 2017
Missed Galen. He's the only one I've never heard of.
+1
Level 77
Mar 1, 2019
To my shame (I'm a doctor), so did I. But I didn't have your excuse.
+1
Level 72
Sep 19, 2019
As long as you knew who Hippocrates was I think your good
+2
Level 71
Nov 24, 2021
Wasn't he in Planet of the Apes?
+5
Level 83
Jul 29, 2021
Just to nitpick: Spartacus wasn't Roman (by birth, nationality, or citizen status) but a Thracian tribesman.

I do understand adding him though, as he's still famous today.

Fun quiz!

+1
Level 87
Sep 3, 2021
Brilliant quiz, love a bit of classical highbrow
+1
Level 65
Sep 8, 2021
How is Cicero that low?
+4
Level 78
Nov 3, 2021
Is that a rhetorical question?
+1
Level 84
Nov 3, 2021
Only got 13-of-20. It was all Greek to me.
+1
Level 85
Nov 5, 2021
Nice to see Livia get some mention.

"By the way, don't touch the figs."

+1
Level 42
Nov 10, 2021
Bro Trajan does not get enough love, he was probably Rome's best emperor.
+3
Level 79
Nov 15, 2021
Couldn't get past Pliny the elder and Pliny the younger.
+3
Level 71
Nov 26, 2021
Same. I find it interesting that the answer is Cato because I personally feel like the Plinys are the more famous Roman Elder/Younger pair. Not an expert on Roman history by any means though, so could be wrong.
+1
Level 73
Nov 24, 2021
In Italy, we don't call them Cato the Elder and Cato the Younger. They're Cato the Censor an Cato from Utica
+1
Level 66
Nov 24, 2021
I'd suggest adding Traianus and Constantinus as type-ins. They are the only ones where the Latin name isn't accepted.
+1
Level 44
Dec 2, 2021
The Roman Empire reached its largest extent under Septimius Severus. He was born in Lepcis Magna, North Africa. Mussolini, who wanted to revive the Roman Empire didn't like this and revered Trajan as the emperor under whom the Empire reached its largest extent. Even though Trajan was born in Spain. Probably he was "western" enough for the dictator.