Quiz: Germania

All 30 questions. A perfect score earns the gold medal; 80% earns silver.

1. 1. What does Tacitus say of German settlements?

   They live in wagons They build in stone like the Romans They have no cities and dislike joined houses They live in walled hill-forts on the high ground
2. 2. How are most German slaves employed?

   As rowers in ships In gangs on large estates As domestic servants with set duties Each manages his own household and pays dues in kind
3. 3. Why, according to Tacitus, do the Suiones live under a single ruler?

   Because their land is mountainous Because they honour wealth Because their priests require it Because of a Roman treaty
4. 4. According to the Germans’ ancient songs, who were the founders of their race?

   Arminius and his rival Maroboduus Wodan and his son Donar, the thunderer Tuisco and his son Mannus Hercules and the wandering Ulysses
5. 5. What is the framea?

   A wicker shield painted in bright colours A war chariot A short-headed spear, thrown or thrust A long two-edged sword with a narrow blade
6. 6. Which rivers separate Germany from the Gauls, Rhaetians and Pannonians?

   The Elbe and the Oder The Rhine and the Weser The Rhine and the Danube The Danube and the Vistula
7. 7. Which form of augury does Tacitus call peculiar to the Germans?

   Reading the livers of sheep Watching the flight of eagles only Consulting the stars Omens from sacred white horses
8. 8. How, according to Tacitus, is land divided?

   It is occupied by the community and then divided according to rank It is divided equally by lot every month The king owns all land Each man buys his own field
9. 9. What marks a young German’s entry into public life?

   Receiving shield and spear before the council Marriage Killing his first enemy in single combat in war Receiving a gold ring from the hands of his chief
10. 10. How is business divided between the chiefs and the whole tribe?

    Chiefs deliberate on minor matters, the whole tribe on important ones The priests decide all public business The king decides everything Chiefs decide important matters, the people minor ones
11. 11. What is a lifelong reproach for a follower?

    To survive his chief and return from the field To fight on foot To serve a foreign chief for pay in time of peace To be wounded in the back while retreating from the enemy
12. 12. How can even homicide be expiated?

    By paying cattle and sheep to the whole family By a sacrifice to Mercury By the death of the killer at the hands of the kin By lifelong exile from the tribe and all its lands
13. 13. How do the Germans choose kings and generals?

    Kings by election, generals by birth Both by the priests Both by lot Kings by birth, generals for merit
14. 14. Which woman, regarded by many as divine, did the Romans see in Vespasian’s time?

    Brunhild Veleda Boudicca Thusnelda
15. 15. Which act does Tacitus call the basest of crimes among the Germans?

    Deserting one’s chief in battle Abandoning one’s shield Lying in the assembly of the tribe Killing a guest under one’s roof
16. 16. Who punishes adultery, according to Tacitus?

    The wife’s father The husband The priests The assembly
17. 17. Who alone may reprimand, imprison or flog a warrior?

    The general The priests The king The assembly
18. 18. Who receives a fine for a lighter offence?

    The chief and his band of companions divide it among themselves All of it goes to the injured man, and none to the community All of it goes to the priests, who keep it for the sacred groves Half the king or state, half the wronged person and his relatives
19. 19. What distinguishes the Chatti from other German tribes?

    Their fleet on the northern ocean Their skill and numbers in cavalry Their peacefulness toward neighbours Their discipline in war
20. 20. Why do the Germans prefer silver to gold?

    Gold is reserved for the ornaments of kings Silver is found in mines within their own lands It suits cheap everyday trade Their gods forbid them to touch or handle gold
21. 21. Which people gather amber, calling it “glesum”?

    The Suiones The Aestii The Chauci The Fenni
22. 22. What happened to the Bructeri?

    They were conquered by Trajan and resettled as farmers along the Rhine They were destroyed by neighbouring tribes while the Romans watched They migrated into Gaul after a long famine in their homeland They were made a Roman colony under a prefect of their own
23. 23. Who brings the dower at a German marriage?

    The wife’s family brings it to the husband The chief of the clan provides it for both The husband brings it to the wife There is no exchange of gifts at all
24. 24. Which Roman disaster does Tacitus recall in his list of German victories?

    Cannae Varus and his three legions The defeat of Crassus by the Parthians The sack of Rome by the Gauls
25. 25. Which relationship do some Germans regard as even more sacred than that of father and son?

    That between a man and his sister’s son That between a chief and his sworn followers That between brothers That between grandfather and grandson
26. 26. What do the followers think “tame and stupid”?

    Acquiring by toil what they could win by blood Feasting before battle Fighting on horseback Taking prisoners
27. 27. What does Tacitus call the only riches of the Germans?

    Their weapons Their gold Their herds Their slaves
28. 28. What is done with traitors and deserters?

    They are hanged on trees They are sold as slaves They are drowned in a bog They are fined in cattle
29. 29. Which god, in Roman terms, do the Germans chiefly worship?

    Saturn, god of sowing Jupiter, the thunderer Apollo the healer Mercury
30. 30. What does Tacitus say about the name “Germans”?

    It is the oldest name of the race, from Mannus’s eldest son It means “spear-men” in their language It was first the name of one tribe, now called the Tungrians, and spread to all It was given by Julius Caesar as an insult