How much do you really know about Ancient Rome? - Stephanie Honchell Smith
Learning Stats
مستوى CEFR
Total Words
Unique Words
Difficulty
الترجمة (90 segments)
DownloadAre you not entertained?
And this is what you think of us.
O tempora! O mores!
Salvete! Minerva here—
esteemed Roman goddess of reason, wisdom, handicrafts, and war.
It’s come to my attention that many of you have been thinking about Ancient Rome...
a lot.
But how much do you really know?
I’ll be the judge.
Let’s play a little game I like to call duo vera et mendacium!
Or, to the rest of you: two truths and a lie.
Let's meet our three brave contestants.
And let’s show them what they’re playing for!
An all-expense paid cruise aboard one of Caligula’s pleasure barges!
Prepare to be wined and dined on a trip you’ll never forget—
well, you’ll probably forget.
As for the losers...
The die is cast! Prepare to spot the lie!
A. Gladiators had their own guilds.
B. Most gladiatorial fights ended before anyone died.
C. Gladiators were from an enslaved class.
And I thought this was an easy one.
It’s true that from their introduction around the 3rd century BCE,
Roman gladiators were often enslaved or convicted criminals,
but this changed by the 1st century CE.
After the opening of the Colosseum in 80 CE,
freemen and former soldiers began signing up for a life in the arena,
lured by the potential for fame and regular employment.
They even formed their own guilds,
which organized funerals and provided pensions
for gladiators’ families if they were to die.
But it took a lot of time and money to train a gladiator,
so it wouldn’t make any sense to have them fighting to the death—
at least not all the time.
Moving on to fashion:
A. The toga was the cornerstone of daily Roman dress.
B. Many Roman women wore dresses made with Chinese silk.
C. Urine was the primary laundry detergent for Roman clothes.
While male Roman citizens did wear togas,
they were strictly for ceremonial and official events.
And they were worn over clothing, like tunics, never on their own.
That would be indecent.
As indecent as some writers called the flimsy Chinese silk dresses
that became fashionable amongst upper class Roman women
in the 1st century CE.
And finally, the ammonia in urine
does indeed make for an excellent stain-fighting solution,
which is why Roman launderers often placed buckets on street corners
to collect the urine of passersby.
That reminds me, next question!
A. Many Roman homes featured a vomitorium,
a room where people could vomit after overindulging.
B. The Pythagoreans,
who followed the teachings of the Greek mathematician Pythagoras,
embraced a vegetarian diet.
C. A favorite Roman condiment was sauce made from fermented fish guts.
While vomit and vomitoria come from the same root,
meaning “to spew forth,”
a vomitorium is simply a passage through which spectators spewed
from amphitheaters or arenas into the street.
Purging was a common medical treatment,
but it certainly wasn't prescribed to make room for more fish gut sauce.
As for Pythagoras, there were more than three sides to the man,
I’ll have you know.
He was a philosopher, and his followers embraced his belief
that eating animal flesh increased aggressive behavior.
We’re all tied up.
But this last question is sure to separate the true Romano-files
from the Romano-flakes.
A. The city of Rome was sacked twice during the 5th century CE.
B. The last western Roman emperor was Romulus Augustulus.
C. The Roman Empire fell in 476 CE.
Just as I thought!
The very idea that Rome fell is... complicated.
It’s true that by 476 the empire looked very different.
By the 4th century,
it had permanently split into eastern and western halves,
each with its own emperor.
The last emperor in the west, Romulus Augustulus,
was overthrown in 476 CE in a military coup.
But the Germanic general who replaced him didn’t make sweeping changes.
Roman political and cultural life endured, and military conquests continued—
at least until the eastern Emperor Justinian
led a devastating invasion of Italy in the 530s.
In the east, the Roman Empire survived for a thousand years,
becoming what you now call the Byzantine Empire.
That makes contestant number 3 our big winner!
Enjoy the spoils!
As for our losers, better luck next time.
Here's hoping there is one.
Key Vocabulary (50)
toward
"Go to school."
belonging
"Cup of tea."
also
"You and me."
inside
"In the house."
specific
"That book."
A third-person singular pronoun used to refer to an object, animal, or situation that has already been mentioned or is clear from context. It is also frequently used as a dummy subject to talk about time, weather, or distance.
Used to show who is intended to have or use something, or to explain the purpose or reason for an action. It is also frequently used to indicate a specific duration of time.
A function word used to express negation or denial. It is primarily used to make a sentence or phrase negative, often following an auxiliary verb or the verb 'to be'.
A preposition used to indicate that something is in a position above and supported by a surface. It is also used to indicate a specific day or date, or to show that a device is functioning.
A conjunction used to compare two things that are equal in some way. It is most commonly used in the pattern 'as + adjective/adverb + as' to show similarity.
Used to refer to the person or people that the speaker is addressing. It is the second-person pronoun used for both singular and plural subjects and objects.
Used to identify a specific person, thing, or idea that is physically close to the speaker or has just been mentioned. It can also refer to the present time or a situation that is currently happening.
A coordinating conjunction used to connect two statements that contrast with each other. It is used to introduce an added statement that is different from what has already been mentioned.
A preposition used to show the method or means of doing something, or to identify the person or thing that performs an action. It frequently appears in passive sentences to indicate the agent or before modes of transport.
Used to indicate the starting point, source, or origin of something. It can describe a physical location, a point in time, or the person who sent or gave an item.
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Description
Explore 4 common misconceptions about Ancient Rome, and find out what living in this time period was actually like. -- Minerva, the esteemed Roman goddess of reason, wisdom, handicrafts,...
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