Passage 1 📖
The Emperor Trajan’s Dream – A Conquest of India?
‘Then, after a winter (115/16) in Antioch marked by a great earthquake, in 116 Trajan marched down the Euphrates to Ctesiphon, the Parthian capital, and then to the head of the Persian Gulf. There [the historian] Cassius Dio describes him looking longingly at a merchant-ship setting off for India, and wishing that he were as young as Alexander.’
– Fergus Millar, The Roman Near East.
Questions / Answer:
Question 1. What significant event occurred in Antioch during the winter of 115/16, as mentioned in the passage?
Answer: A great earthquake marked the winter of 115/16 in Antioch.
Question 2. Where did Trajan march after his time in Antioch, and what was the ultimate destination mentioned in the passage?
Answer: Trajan marched down the Euphrates to Ctesiphon, the Parthian capital, and then to the head of the Persian Gulf.
Question 3. What desire does the passage attribute to Trajan when he reaches the head of the Persian Gulf?
Answer: The passage attributes to Trajan a desire to conquer India, as he looks longingly at a merchant ship setting off for India and wishes he were as young as Alexander.
Question 4. Who is the historian mentioned in the passage, and what does he describe Trajan doing at the head of the Persian Gulf?
Answer: The historian Cassius Dio is mentioned, and he describes Trajan looking at a merchant ship bound for India and expressing a wish to be as young as Alexander.
Question 5. According to the passage, what comparison does Trajan make when expressing his desire at the head of the Persian Gulf?
Answer: Trajan expresses a wish to be as young as Alexander, implying a desire for conquest and adventure similar to that of the famous ancient conqueror.
Passage 2📖
Doctor Galen on how Roman Cities
Treated the Countryside ‘The famine prevalent for many successive years in many provinces has clearly displayed for men of any understanding the effect of malnutrition in generating illness. The city-dwellers, as it was their custom to collect and store enough grain for the whole of the next year immediately after the harvest, carried off all the wheat, barley, beans and lentils, and left to the peasants’ various kinds of pulse –after taking quite a large proportion of these to the city. After consuming what was left in the course of the winter, the country people had to resort to unhealthy foods
in the spring; they ate twigs and shoots of trees and bushes and bulbs and roots of inedible plants…’
– Galen, On Good and Bad Diet
Questions / Answer:
Question 1. What issue does Doctor Galen attribute to the city-dwellers’ custom of collecting and storing grain after the harvest?
Answer: Doctor Galen attributes the issue of famine and malnutrition in the countryside to the city-dwellers’ custom of collecting and storing enough grain for the whole next year immediately after the harvest.
Question 2. What foods were taken by the city-dwellers, leaving various kinds of pulse for the peasants?
Answer: The city-dwellers took wheat, barley, beans, and lentils, leaving various kinds of pulse for the peasants.
Question 3. What consequences did the famine and malnutrition have on the country people during the winter?
Answer: The country people, having consumed what was left of their stored food during the winter, had to resort to unhealthy foods in the spring. This included eating twigs, shoots of trees and bushes, and bulbs and roots of inedible plants.
Question 4. According to the passage, what unhealthy foods did the country people resort to in the spring due to the famine?
Answer: Due to the famine, the country people resorted to eating twigs, shoots of trees and bushes, and bulbs and roots of inedible plants in the spring.
Question 5. What insight does Doctor Galen’s statement provide about the relationship between Roman cities and the countryside?
Answer: Doctor Galen’s statement suggests that the city-dwellers, by monopolizing the grain supply, contributed to famine and malnutrition in the countryside, highlighting a potential imbalance in the treatment of rural areas by Roman cities.
Passage 3📖
On the Treatment of Slaves
‘Soon afterwards the City Prefect, Lucius Pedanius Secundus, was murdered by one of his slaves. After the murder, ancient custom required that every slave residing under the same roof must be executed. But a crowd gathered, eager to save so many innocent lives; and rioting began. The senate-house was besieged. Inside, there was feeling against excessive severity, but the majority opposed any change (….) [The senators] favoring execution prevailed. However, great crowds ready with stones and torches prevented the order from being carried out. Nero rebuked the population by edict, and lined with troops the whole route along which those condemned were taken for execution.’
– Tacitus (55-117), historian of the early empire.
Questions / Answer:
Question 1. What event triggered the debate about the treatment of slaves as described in the passage?
Answer: The murder of the City Prefect, Lucius Pedanius Secundus, by one of his slaves triggered the debate about the treatment of slaves.
Question 2. According to ancient custom, what was required after the murder of a high-ranking official by a slave?
Answer: According to ancient custom, after the murder of a high-ranking official by a slave, every slave residing under the same roof was required to be executed.
Question 3. What prevented the execution order from being carried out, as mentioned in the passage?
Answer: Great crowds, eager to save innocent lives, gathered and rioted, preventing the execution order from being carried out. The crowd besieged the senate-house.
Question 4. What was the sentiment inside the senate-house regarding the treatment of slaves after the murder?
Answer: Inside the senate-house, there was a division of sentiment. While some senators felt against excessive severity, the majority opposed any change and favored the execution of the slaves.
Question 5. How did Nero respond to the crowd’s interference with the execution order?
Answer: Nero rebuked the population by edict and lined the whole route along which those condemned were taken for execution with troops, indicating a stern response to the interference with the execution order.
Passage 4📖
Incomes of the Roman Aristocracy, Early Fifth Century
‘Each of the great houses of Rome contained within itself everything which a medium-sized city could hold, a hippodrome, fora, temples, fountains and different kinds of baths… Many of the Roman households received an income of four thousand pounds of gold per year from their properties, not including grain, wine and other produce which, if sold, would have amounted to one-third of the income in gold. The income of the households at Rome of the second class was one thousand or fifteen hundred pounds of gold.’
– Olympio Dorus of Thebes.
Questions / Answer:
Question 1. What did each of the great houses of Rome contain within itself, according to the passage?
Answer: Each of the great houses of Rome contained within itself everything that a medium-sized city could hold, including a hippodrome, fora, temples, fountains, and different kinds of baths.
Question 2. What was the income of many Roman households mentioned in the passage, excluding additional produce?
Answer: Many of the Roman households received an income of four thousand pounds of gold per year from their properties, excluding grain, wine, and other produce.
Question 3. What additional items, if sold, would contribute to the income of Roman households?
Answer: If sold, grain, wine, and other produce would have amounted to one-third of the income in gold for the Roman households.
Question 4. What was the income of the households in Rome belonging to the second class, as mentioned in the passage?
Answer: The income of the households in Rome belonging to the second class was one thousand or fifteen hundred pounds of gold.
Question 5. According to the passage, what were some of the elements found within the great houses of Rome?
Answer: The great houses of Rome contained elements such as a hippodrome, fora, temples, fountains, and different kinds of baths, creating a self-contained environment comparable to a medium-sized city.
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