Quiz: Discourses on Livy

12 questions drawn at random. Score 80% for a silver medal.

1. 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 deprived him of the consulship and made him a subordinate until he learned to command He named him master of the knights, so that he might learn under his eye He had him tried before the people and exiled for cowardice in the field
2. What does Machiavelli say should be the object of every well-governed commonwealth, in his chapter on the Agrarian Law? To make the State rich and keep individual citizens poor To keep the treasury empty so no tyrant can seize it To divide all land equally among citizens To let citizens grow rich so the State need not tax them
3. What, according to Machiavelli, showed that Fabius Maximus acted from his nature rather than from reasoned choice? He let Hannibal winter at Capua without offering a fight He fought Hannibal at Cannae against advice He refused the dictatorship after Cannae He opposed Scipio’s invasion of Africa
4. What was Appius Claudius’s chief mistake as a would-be tyrant? He abandoned the people, his supporters, for the nobles He refused to take any bodyguard, trusting to his office alone He tried to bring back the Tarquins and restore the monarchy He made war on the Sabines without the consent of either the senate or the people
5. According to the last chapter, what earned Quintus Fabius the name Maximus? He put down the conspiracy of the Bacchanals in the city As censor, he confined the new citizens to four tribes He delayed Hannibal after the defeat at Trasimene He defeated the Samnites and Etruscans at Sentinum
6. What does Machiavelli call the only sure safeguard against discovery before a conspiracy is carried out? Recruiting as many discontented men as possible Putting the whole plan in writing for all the accomplices Waiting until the prince is hated by everyone Telling accomplices only at the moment of action
7. Whom does Machiavelli cite as a modern ruler who failed because he would not “slay the sons of Brutus”? Piero Soderini Pandolfo Petrucci Cesare Borgia Lorenzo de’ Medici
8. What does Machiavelli blame the Church of Rome for? Keeping Italy divided and making Italians irreligious Refusing to crown the emperor chosen by the German princes Raising taxes too high on Italian merchants and bankers Building too many monasteries on the best land of Italy
9. What did Giovanpagolo Baglioni fail to do when Pope Julius II entered Perugia? Flee to Venice with his treasure before the papal army arrived Pay the tribute the pope had demanded for the Church’s lands Defend the city walls Seize the pope and cardinals, who were almost unguarded
10. Why does Machiavelli say he dedicates the Discourses to Buondelmonti and Rucellai rather than to a prince? The Medici had forbidden him to address them or any of their friends Princes never read works on history He prefers men who deserve to rule over those who merely hold power He hoped they would have the book printed in Rome at their own expense
11. 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
12. 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 Printing has spread false history Christianity, as interpreted, prizes humility and suffering over worldly glory Modern cities are too small and too divided by faction to defend themselves against kings

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