2001 Ad Fontes Certamen
Level IV - Round Two


1. What is the present active infinitive of the verb morior? Mori.

Bonus: What would be the present participle, nominative plural of morior? Morientes.

2. What was the bundle of rods called that was carried in front of a Roman magistrate? Fasces / fascis.

Bonus: Who were the low-level public servants who carried the fasces. Lictores / lictors.

3. Which of the following is not masculine? auriga, mons, humus, pons? Humus.

Bonus: Give the locative form of humus. Humi.

4. Who am I? My father, king of Thebes, was warned by an oracle that there was danger to his throne and life if I was allowed to grow up. He handed me over to a herdsman with orders to destroy me; but the herdsman, moved with pity, left me hanging on the branch of a tree. I was found by a peasant, who carried me to his master and mistress, by whom I was adopted and raised. Oedipus.

Bonus: My adoptive parents also gave me my name. What does it mean? Swollen-foot.

5. Which of the following adjectives is not in the comparative degree: melior,latior, maius, pessimus, maior? Pessimus.

Bonus: Keeping everything else the same, give the superlative degree of maius? Maximum (do not accept maximus).

6. Here¹s an oldie, but a goodie. Give me the names of 3 of the 7 hills of Rome. Palatine, Aventine, Capitoline, Caelian, Viminal, Quirinal, Esquiline.

Bonus: Ok, now give 3 more.

7. Distinguish between latus, -a, -um and latus, lateris. Wide / side, flank

Bonus: Now distinguish between cado, caedo, and cedo. Fall, kill, go.

8. What do these year have in common? 390 B.C., 216 B.C., 105 B.C., 9 A.D. Years in which Rome suffered defeats.

Bonus: After 390 B.C. Rome was never captured again by an foreign enemy until Alaric captured Rome 800 years later. In what year did this occur? 410 A.D.

9. Dic Anglice nomen provinciae quam Romani appellabant Helvetiam. Switzerland.

Bonus: Dic Anglice nomen regionis quam Romani appellabant Caledoniam. Scotland.

10. The Romans had many forms of marriage, each giving rise to a slightly different relationship. What form of marriage would you be entering if you were eating little cakes made of spelt? Confarreatio.

Bonus: To what class in Rome was confarreatio limited? Patricians.

11. Listen to the following passage. I will read it twice. Then answer the question concerning that passage. Coriolänus malus cïvis erat sed bonus mïles. Römänï nüllum frümentum habëbant et timëbant magnam famem. Iam rëx in Siciliä Römänïs multum frümentum dederat sed Coriolänus frümentum pauperibus nön dabat. Itaque pauperës Coriolänum ex urbe exturbävërunt.Why was Coriolanus driven from Rome? Because he did not share the grain with the poor.

Bonus: From where had that grain come? (You may read the passage again). From the king in Sicily.

12. Distinguish in meaning between os, oris and os, ossis. Mouth / bone.

Bonus: Give the plural nominative of both these nouns: Ora / ossa.

13. Who am I? I was given the epithet "twice born" because I was snatched from my mother's womb as she was going up in flames and sewn into my father's thigh? I later became the god of the vine. Dionysus / Bacchus / Liber.

Bonus. According to most accounts of the myth, who was the mother of Dionysus? Semele.

14. The movie Gladiator was good entertainment, bad history. But at least they got some of the names right. Who was the father of Commodus? Marcus Aurelius.

Bonus: The movie would have you believe that Maximus killed Commodus in the arena. In fact, there was a conspiracy against Commodus in the first year of his reign; but all the conspirators, including his sister, were betrayed and executed. Commodus ruled for another 12 years before being assassinated. How specifically did he die? Strangled in his bath (by his athletic trainer).

15. Give the adverbial form of the adjective audax. Audacter.

Bonus: Now give me the adverbial form of sapiens. Sapienter.

16. Off of what principal part of the verb does the future active participle form itself? 4th principal part.

Bonus: Almost all future active participles form regularly from 4th principal part of the verb, or from the third principal part of deponent verbs. But the deponent verb morior is irregular. What is its future active participle? Moriturus (-a, -um).

17. What poet of the Late Republic was known for his notorious handbook on the seduction of women? It may have been the cause of his exile. Ovid.

Bonus: What was the Latin title of this work? Ars amatoria.

18. Who was the healer who overstepped his bounds by bringing Hippolytus back to life? Asclepius / Aesculapius.

Bonus: Who was Asclepius' wise tutor, whom he eventually surpassed in medical knowledge? Chrion.

19. Present participles are pretty regular, but one verb has an irregular form. What verb, with what meaning, is this? Eo, ire / to go.

Bonus: How does eo, ire decline in its present participle form? iens, euntis, etc.

20. Many mythological characters appear in groups of three. Who are the sisters Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos? The Fates.

Bonus: By what name were Briareus, Cottus, and Gyes known? Hecatoncheires / The Hundred Handed.