Memorize these and recognize 47.1% of all Ancient Rome clues.
| # | Answer | Count | Sample Clue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caesar Augustus | 12 | In addition to ruling Rome as its first emperor, he ended the reign of the pharaohs |
| 2 | Nero | 8 | Agrippina's machinations led to this heir becoming Rome's first teenage emperor |
| 3 | Claudius | 7 | This novel by Robert Graves is written as the memoir of a reluctant 1st century Roman emperor |
| 4 | Julius Caesar | 5 | His second wife, Pompeia, was a granddaughter of Sulla who, like him, ruled Rome as a dictator |
| 5 | Caligula | 5 | He was the first emperor to be assassinated |
| 6 | the baths | 5 | Romans swam & got steamed at these popular meeting places; the ones of Diocletian were the largest |
| 7 | the Tiber | 4 | ( Jimmy of the Clue Crew points to a map on the monitor.) In ancient Rome, triumphant generals paraded into the city through the Campus Martius, which... |
| 8 | Spartacus | 4 | In 73 B.C. he escaped from a school for gladiators & gathered an army of 70,000 rebels |
| 9 | Hadrian's Wall | 4 | A 19th century historian wrongly thought the emperor Severus built this divider |
| 10 | Hadrian | 4 | The Antonine Wall in Scotland was built by Antoninus Pius, adopted son of this emperor |
| 11 | Brutus | 4 | Marcus Junius & Decimus Junius were "Et 2" people with this name in the plot to kill Caesar |
| 12 | the Praetorian Guard | 4 | By 23 A.D. the prefect Sejanus became the sole commander of these elite protectors of the emperor |
| 13 | the Circus Maximus | 4 | A quarter of a million people crowded into this largest hippodrome to watch the chariot races |
| 14 | Mark Antony | 3 | In the Forum in 44 B.C., he gave a rousing speech that may have begun, "Friends, Romans, countrymen..." |
| 15 | Marcus Aurelius | 3 | This Roman emperor & stoic philosopher was born Marcus Annius Verus in April 121 A.D. |
| 16 | March | 3 | The ides of this month was special; it honored not only Jupiter but the goddess Anna Perenna, too |
| 17 | Gaul | 3 | It took from 58 to 50 B.C., but Caesar decisively overcame this fractious French region |
| 18 | the Senate | 3 | This government body met in the Curia Julia, a rectangular brick building situated in the Forum |
| 19 | the Punic Wars | 3 | Roman consul Lucius Metellus didn't play guitar for Metallica, but he did fight in the first of these lasting 264-241 B.C. |
| 20 | the Patricians | 3 | In early Rome the Plebeians were the lower class citizens & these were the upper class |
| 21 | the Forum | 3 | The center of Rome since the 8th century B.C., Caesar added the law court to it |
| 22 | Romulus | 3 | Ironically, the last titular emperor of Rome bore this name, the same as Rome's founder |
| 23 | gladiators | 3 | The games featuring these fighters began in the 3rd Cent. B.C. as part of funeral ceremonies |
| 24 | The Ides of March | 2 | Coins celebrating Julius Caesar's murder had 2 daggers on them & "Eid-Mar", short for this |
| 25 | the Appian Way | 2 | Constructed in 312 B.C., this major Roman road originally ran 132 miles from Rome to Capua in Campania |
| 26 | Pompey | 2 | Caesar died at the foot of a statue of this rival who was his son-in-law |
| 27 | Pliny | 2 | This "Younger" orator & letter writer whose "Elder" was killed by Vesuvius was governor of Bithynia |
| 28 | Neptune | 2 | Let's "sea"—Nethuns was the Etruscan equivalent of this Roman god |
| 29 | Hercules | 2 | As seen in the bust, Commodus was obsessed with this he-man of Greek myth, even dressing as him |
| 30 | Colosseum | 2 | The Flavian Amphitheater got this name from a large statue of Nero that once stood nearby |
| 31 | Cicero | 2 | The head & hands of this man said to be ancient Rome's finest orator ended up on the speaker's platform at the Forum |
| 32 | Caracalla | 2 | Seen here is the exterior of the once-magnificent baths of this emperor, which could accommodate some 1,600 bathers |
| 33 | Alexandria | 2 | With a population of more than a half million, this Egyptian seaport was the second-largest city in the empire |
| 34 | a net | 2 | A retiarius was a gladiator who wore very little armor & fought with a trident & this to entangle his opponent |
| 35 | a battering ram | 2 | During the siege of a city, the Romans might use an aries, one of these, to knock down the city's walls |
| 36 | Vulgar Latin | 2 | From the Latin for "mob", it was the term for the Latin spoken by the mobs of uneducated Romans |
| 37 | Emperor Trajan | 2 | Hadrian had his wall & this cousin who immediately preceded him had his column |
| 38 | the Rubicon | 2 | On January 10, 49 B.C., "the die was cast" for civil war when Julius Caesar crossed this |
| 39 | the Republic | 2 | After the regime known as the Roman this government came to an end, Augustus became the first emperor |
| 40 | the plebeians | 2 | Around 445 B.C. this class of free citizens won the right to marry patricians |
| 41 | the Pantheon | 2 | The temple of all the gods, it's the best preserved ancient building in Rome today |
| 42 | the kitchen | 2 | In a Roman domus or house, the atrium was the courtyard, the hortus was the garden & the culina, this |
| 43 | Caesar's wife must be above suspicion | 2 | After the notorious Clodius incident, Caesar divorced Pompeia, saying this |
| 44 | Octavius | 2 | This man, Caesar's adopted son, has the last speech in the play |
| 45 | I conquered | 2 | Caesar's famous message reporting his victory at Zela |
| 46 | Emperor Constantine | 2 | In 330 A.D. he moved the capital of the empire from Rome to Byzantium, which he renamed |
These appear 8+ times. Memorize these first.