Quiz: Discourses on Livy

All 40 questions. A perfect score earns the gold medal; 80% earns silver.

1. 1. Which two causes does Machiavelli give for the break-up of the Roman republic?

   Foreign religions and the luxury brought from Asia The creation of the tribunes and the decemvirs The extension of citizenship to the Latins and the loss of the auspices Agrarian disputes and prolonged commands
2. 2. What happened to the pasha who urged Sultan Selim to make war on the Sofi?

   He was made grand vizier as a reward for the victory over the Sofi He was banished to the Persian frontier Selim had him put to death after the campaign cost many men He was given command in Egypt
3. 3. How does Machiavelli explain why Rome became greater than Sparta?

   Sparta had worse laws than Rome, and Lycurgus’s constitution soon fell into disorder Rome had richer mines and wider trade, which paid for larger armies of mercenaries Rome grew by admitting strangers and transplanting the conquered; Sparta shut out outsiders Sparta refused to fight outside the Peloponnese, while Rome sought wars everywhere
4. 4. What was Appius Claudius’s chief mistake as a would-be tyrant?

   He tried to bring back the Tarquins and restore the monarchy He abandoned the people, his supporters, for the nobles He refused to take any bodyguard, trusting to his office alone He made war on the Sabines without the consent of either the senate or the people
5. 5. What does Machiavelli blame the Church of Rome for?

   Refusing to crown the emperor chosen by the German princes Keeping Italy divided and making Italians irreligious Raising taxes too high on Italian merchants and bankers Building too many monasteries on the best land of Italy
6. 6. Why does Machiavelli think Rome owed more to Numa than to Romulus?

   Where religion is established, arms are easily introduced, but not the reverse Numa founded the tribunate, which gave the plebs a share in government Numa conquered more territory than Romulus and nearly doubled the size of the city Numa gave Rome its first written laws, which were later revised as the Twelve Tables
7. 7. According to Book II, chapter 12, what should a prince whose people are armed and trained do when a great war threatens?

   Hire Swiss infantry to fight the war abroad for him Await it at home rather than go out to meet it Buy off the enemy with subsidies Carry the war as far from his own borders as possible
8. 8. Why does Machiavelli reject all six simple forms of government?

   They were known only in the small city-states of ancient Greece None of them can raise, pay and discipline a citizen army for long The good ones do not last; the bad are bad in themselves They all give too much power to the people and too little to the nobility
9. 9. What does Machiavelli call the only sure safeguard against discovery before a conspiracy is carried out?

   Waiting until the prince is hated by everyone Putting the whole plan in writing for all the accomplices Recruiting as many discontented men as possible Telling accomplices only at the moment of action
10. 10. Why does Machiavelli say he dedicates the Discourses to Buondelmonti and Rucellai rather than to a prince?

    He prefers men who deserve to rule over those who merely hold power Princes never read works on history He hoped they would have the book printed in Rome at their own expense The Medici had forbidden him to address them or any of their friends
11. 11. What does Machiavelli say are the true sinews of war?

    The good will of subjects Money Fortresses and mountains Good soldiers
12. 12. In Machiavelli’s example from the siege of Pisa in 1500, what happened when Luca d’Antonio Albizzi was left in sole command?

    He abandoned the siege and returned to Florence He quarrelled with the French captains and was recalled He was captured in a sally from the town He acted with great courage, prudence and zeal
13. 13. How did the Roman senate treat Varro after the defeat at Cannae, according to Machiavelli?

    It fined him and barred him from office It went out to meet him and thanked him for not despairing of the republic It had him tried and executed in the Forum as an example to all other generals It sent him into exile at Capua
14. 14. Why did the Gauls wait outside Rome for a day and a night after their victory on the Allia?

    The river was in flood and they could not cross Their leaders were negotiating a ransom They were waiting for their allies the Etruscans They found the gates open and feared a trap
15. 15. In Book II, chapter 17, which side does Machiavelli think artillery favours?

    Neither, since it is never decisive The defender of a town Cavalry over infantry The attacker
16. 16. According to the last chapter, what earned Quintus Fabius the name Maximus?

    He put down the conspiracy of the Bacchanals in the city He delayed Hannibal after the defeat at Trasimene As censor, he confined the new citizens to four tribes He defeated the Samnites and Etruscans at Sentinum
17. 17. How does Machiavelli conclude his comparison of peoples and princes?

    Peoples and princes are equally incapable of government Princes are wiser than peoples, being better trained in affairs of state Only a hereditary monarch can keep faith A people bound by laws shows more virtue than a prince, and its errors are cured by words
18. 18. What does Machiavelli say men who rise from humble beginnings must rely on?

    Force, since fraud is always found out in the end Fraud, since force alone never suffices The favour of the people, which never fails them Inheritance and well-chosen marriage alliances
19. 19. According to the Preface, why do modern rulers fail to imitate the ancients?

    Princes now rely on astrologers rather than on the lessons of the past The best ancient histories have been lost or corrupted by copyists They read history for its incidents, not thinking to imitate them The Church forbids the study of pagan history and punishes those who imitate it
20. 20. What lesson does Machiavelli draw from the Roman people electing only nobles as tribunes with consular power?

    Men deceive themselves in generalities but judge truly in particulars The people are always fickle and ungrateful Nobles always bribe their way into office Elections should be abolished and offices filled by lot
21. 21. What, according to Machiavelli, showed that Fabius Maximus acted from his nature rather than from reasoned choice?

    He fought Hannibal at Cannae against advice He refused the dictatorship after Cannae He opposed Scipio’s invasion of Africa He let Hannibal winter at Capua without offering a fight
22. 22. What fault does Machiavelli find in states such as Florence and Venice in Book II, chapter 30?

    They trust too much in Swiss infantry and neglect their own cavalry They spend too much on fortresses at home and too little on their field armies They pay to guard the frontiers but leave the heart undefended They arm their own subjects too freely, so that the people rise up against their rulers
23. 23. Which factions divided Pistoia in the example of how not to reunite a city?

    The Panciatichi and the Cancellieri The Bentivogli and the Marescotti families The Ghibelline Uberti and the Buondelmonti The Baglioni and the Oddi
24. 24. How did the Oddi’s night attack on Perugia fail?

    The Baglioni had been warned of the attack by a spy captured at the gate Their hired mercenaries changed sides when they reached the public square A fire broke out and lit up their columns A man breaking the street chains shouted “back,” setting off a rout
25. 25. Which Roman example illustrates the danger of auxiliary troops in Book II, chapter 20?

    The Swiss at Novara The legions left to protect Capua, which plotted to seize the city Hannibal’s army wintering in Capua The Latin allies who revolted and were defeated by Torquatus and Decius
26. 26. What remedy does Machiavelli prescribe for a newly free state threatened by those who profited from the tyranny?

    To slay the sons of Brutus To hire foreign guards To grant them seats in the senate To recall the exiled king
27. 27. How did Cincinnatus treat the consul Minutius after rescuing his army?

    He shared the spoils equally with him and his soldiers as a reward for their long endurance He had him tried before the people and exiled for cowardice in the field He named him master of the knights, so that he might learn under his eye He deprived him of the consulship and made him a subordinate until he learned to command
28. 28. Whom does Machiavelli cite as a modern ruler who failed because he would not “slay the sons of Brutus”?

    Piero Soderini Lorenzo de’ Medici Pandolfo Petrucci Cesare Borgia
29. 29. What did Camillus do with the schoolmaster of Falerii who brought him the city’s children?

    Paid him and sent the boys back unharmed Held the boys as hostages in the Roman camp until Falerii surrendered to him Had him stripped and bound, and had the boys whip him back to the town Put him to death before the whole Roman army as a traitor to his own city
30. 30. What lesson does Machiavelli draw from Rome’s treatment of the Latins and Privernum?

    Conquered cities should be held by fortresses Conquered peoples should be governed by resident Roman praetors holding power over life and death Conquered peoples must be either won by benefits or destroyed, never dealt with by half-measures Rebels should be fined but left their liberties
31. 31. What does Machiavelli say should be the object of every well-governed commonwealth, in his chapter on the Agrarian Law?

    To divide all land equally among citizens To make the State rich and keep individual citizens poor To let citizens grow rich so the State need not tax them To keep the treasury empty so no tyrant can seize it
32. 32. Why does Machiavelli excuse Romulus for killing Remus and Titus Tatius?

    Remus had attacked him first, so the killing was lawful self-defence A founder must rule alone, and he served the common good Livy says the deaths were accidents, and Romulus mourned both men The killings were ordered by the senate, so Romulus bore no personal blame for them
33. 33. In Sparta and Venice, who held the guardianship of liberty?

    The nobles The commons Foreign mercenaries The kings
34. 34. What did Giovanpagolo Baglioni fail to do when Pope Julius II entered Perugia?

    Seize the pope and cardinals, who were almost unguarded Pay the tribute the pope had demanded for the Church’s lands Defend the city walls Flee to Venice with his treasure before the papal army arrived
35. 35. Why, in Machiavelli’s view, was the Roman dictatorship not to blame for Caesar’s tyranny?

    Because the people elected every dictator directly, so the office could never become a tyranny Because Caesar never held the title of dictator, ruling instead as consul at the head of an army A lawful dictator with a short term did no harm; tyranny came from power usurped or prolonged Because the dictatorship had been abolished long before, so Caesar had to invent a new office
36. 36. Whom does Machiavelli mean by “gentlemen” in his chapter on equality and republics?

    Citizens who hold the chief public offices for life and then pass them on to their eldest sons Soldiers of fortune who sell their service to any prince or republic that pays Men living idly on the rents of their estates, especially lords with castles and vassals Merchants who grow rich by trade at sea and then lend their money to the state at high interest
37. 37. What does Machiavelli say about the conflicts between the Roman nobles and commons?

    They were ended by the creation of the dictatorship They nearly destroyed the republic in its first century They were caused by foreign enemies They produced the laws that made Rome free
38. 38. How, according to Book III, chapter 1, did Saint Francis and Saint Dominic save the Christian religion?

    By returning it to its first principles through poverty and imitation of Christ By teaching the people to resist corrupt prelates and to reform the Church by force of arms By uniting Italy under the papacy By founding the Parlement of Paris
39. 39. Why, according to Machiavelli, do modern peoples love liberty less than the ancients?

    The ancients had no priesthood, so their religion never taught them to obey a master Modern cities are too small and too divided by faction to defend themselves against kings Christianity, as interpreted, prizes humility and suffering over worldly glory Printing has spread false history
40. 40. How did a Spartan answer an Athenian who asked his opinion of the walls of Athens?

    That walls were the true strength of a city That they were fine walls if meant to hold women only That Athens should build a fortress as well That no walls could stop a Spartan army for more than a day