OCR A-level Classical Civilisation · H408/33

Politics of the Late Republic

50 revision questions with answers for H408/33 Politics of the Late Republic in OCR A-level Classical Civilisation (spec H408). Practise with flashcards, a topic quiz, a random quiz across the course, 5 crosswords, or read every question and answer below.

All 50 questions and answers

Question 1 · Spec pp. 39–41
What was the res publica in Cicero's political thought?
Answer:
A commonwealth belonging to a people joined by shared justice and common interest.
Question 2 · Spec pp. 39–41
Why could legal institutions alone fail to preserve it?
Answer:
Cicero's ideal also required citizens and leaders committed to the common good and inherited political practice.
Question 3 · Spec pp. 39–41
What did a mixed constitution offer Cicero?
Answer:
A balance among monarchical, aristocratic and popular elements, associated with magistrates, Senate and people.
Question 4 · Spec pp. 39–41
How could competition disrupt that balance?
Answer:
Individuals could use powers intended for public office to build personal authority and displace collective deliberation.
Question 5 · Spec pp. 39–41
What did mos maiorum signify?
Answer:
Inherited ancestral customs that gave political conduct legitimacy.
Question 6 · Spec pp. 39–41
Why could rivals both appeal to ancestral practice?
Answer:
The tradition was interpreted through competing precedents. An appeal to ancestors could justify different choices.
Question 7 · Spec pp. 39–41
What distinguished optimates and populares as political approaches?
Answer:
The terms concerned claims to defend senatorial authority or to act through popular institutions and support.
Question 8 · Spec pp. 39–41
Why avoid treating them as modern political parties?
Answer:
Personal alliances, policies and tactics shifted. Neither label implied a stable membership or common manifesto.
Question 9 · Spec pp. 39–41
What made Cato the Younger a model of principle?
Answer:
His Stoic commitments, austerity and defence of senatorial government shaped his public reputation.
Question 10 · Spec pp. 39–41
How could the same conduct be criticised?
Answer:
Refusal to compromise might preserve moral consistency while making a workable political settlement harder.
Question 11 · Spec pp. 39–41
How did Cato and Caesar differ in the Catilinarian debate?
Answer:
Caesar argued against execution of the arrested conspirators. Cato pressed the danger to the state and supported severe punishment.
Question 12 · Spec pp. 39–41
What larger conflict did the debate expose?
Answer:
Protecting the community in an emergency could conflict with the rights of Roman citizens and normal procedure.
Question 13 · Spec pp. 39–41
Why was Cicero's consulship of 63 BC central to his self-image?
Answer:
He portrayed suppression of Catiline's conspiracy as a service that saved the commonwealth.
Question 14 · Spec pp. 39–41
How did that success become a political liability?
Answer:
Execution without a full popular trial allowed opponents to challenge his defence of legality.
Question 15 · Spec pp. 39–41
How did Clodius threaten Cicero?
Answer:
His legislation against executing citizens without trial targeted Cicero's conduct and helped drive him into exile.
Question 16 · Spec pp. 39–41
What does Cicero's recall illustrate?
Answer:
Prestige depended on networks and public support. Success in one crisis did not secure permanent political protection.
Question 17 · Spec pp. 39–41
Why did Pompey's eastern achievements pose a political problem?
Answer:
He needed ratification of arrangements and provision for veterans after returning from command.
Question 18 · Spec pp. 39–41
How did senatorial obstruction affect alliances?
Answer:
It gave Pompey reasons to seek partners who could help deliver measures through other channels.
Question 19 · Spec pp. 39–41
What was the first triumvirate?
Answer:
An informal alliance of Caesar, Pompey and Crassus for mutual political advantage.
Question 20 · Spec pp. 39–41
Why could it weaken republican competition?
Answer:
Coordination of money, military prestige and popular legislation narrowed opponents' ability to block their programmes.
Question 21 · Spec pp. 39–41
Why was agrarian legislation significant in Caesar's consulship?
Answer:
Land settlement could address veterans' demands and advance the alliance's objectives.
Question 22 · Spec pp. 39–41
Why did the means of passing legislation matter?
Answer:
A useful policy could still provoke criticism about intimidation, obstruction and respect for political procedure.
Question 23 · Spec pp. 39–41
What did Caesar gain from his Gallic command?
Answer:
Military success, wealth, loyal troops and exceptional prestige.
Question 24 · Spec pp. 39–41
Why did the end of the command create danger?
Answer:
Returning as a private citizen could expose him to prosecution and loss of leverage. Opponents feared his exceptional power.
Question 25 · Spec pp. 39–41
Why was crossing the Rubicon in 49 BC decisive?
Answer:
Caesar brought troops into Italy against his opponents, turning a constitutional struggle into armed conflict.
Question 26 · Spec pp. 39–41
Why was Cicero's choice difficult?
Answer:
He distrusted personal domination but also doubted Pompey's strategy and feared the consequences of civil war.
Question 27 · Spec pp. 39–41
What did Cato's death at Utica signify to admirers?
Answer:
He chose death rather than live under Caesar's ascendancy.
Question 28 · Spec pp. 39–41
Why could Cato's example be politically contested?
Answer:
Admirers saw principled liberty. Critics could question whether uncompromising conduct had served the state effectively.
Question 29 · Spec pp. 39–41
Why did Caesar's assassination fail to restore stable government?
Answer:
Removing the dictator left armed forces, rival claims to authority and unresolved political divisions.
Question 30 · Spec pp. 39–41
Why did Cicero see Antony as a threat?
Answer:
He feared that Caesar's influence and military resources would pass to another dominant individual.
Question 31 · Spec pp. 39–41
What ended Cicero's political career in 43 BC?
Answer:
The triumvirs' proscriptions led to his murder after his attacks on Antony.
Question 32 · Spec pp. 39–41
How does this ending illuminate the decline of legal protection?
Answer:
An alliance backed by armies could determine life and death outside the competitive procedures Cicero defended.
Question 33 · Spec pp. 39–41
What was Verres accused of?
Answer:
Abusing his provincial command in Sicily through extortion and other misconduct.
Question 34 · Spec pp. 39–41
Why did Cicero frame the trial as more than one man's guilt?
Answer:
He linked the verdict to confidence in Roman justice and the reputation of senatorial jurors.
Question 35 · Spec pp. 39–41
How did Cicero counter delay in the Verrine trial?
Answer:
He curtailed the customary extended opening and brought forward witnesses and evidence promptly.
Question 36 · Spec pp. 39–41
Why did timing matter?
Answer:
Delay could benefit the defence through changes in personnel and political influence. Procedure itself became part of the contest.
Question 37 · Spec pp. 39–41
Why distinguish delivered and published Verrine speeches?
Answer:
Verres left before the second stage. The published second action was not delivered as a sequence of courtroom speeches.
Question 38 · Spec pp. 39–41
What is the value of In Verrem 1 as evidence?
Answer:
It reveals how the prosecutor addressed jurors and constructed a case. Its accusations must be read as advocacy.
Question 39 · Spec pp. 39–41
How does apostrophe work in forensic rhetoric?
Answer:
The speaker turns directly to an individual or group, intensifying confrontation or appeal.
Question 40 · Spec pp. 39–41
How can anaphora and tricolon strengthen an accusation?
Answer:
Repeated openings create insistence, while a three-part sequence builds rhythm and apparent accumulation of evidence.
Question 41 · Spec pp. 39–41
How can hyperbole assist Cicero's case?
Answer:
Exaggerated scale can present corruption as a crisis requiring decisive action.
Question 42 · Spec pp. 39–41
Why test rhetoric against the evidence it introduces?
Answer:
Forceful characterisation may shape jurors' expectations before particular witnesses or charges have been examined.
Question 43 · Spec pp. 39–41
What does Fam. 5.7 show about Cicero's relationship with Pompey?
Answer:
Cicero seeks fuller recognition of his achievements and frames the relationship through public service and esteem.
Question 44 · Spec pp. 39–41
Why does the addressee matter here?
Answer:
A complaint to a powerful politician must preserve courtesy while pressing a claim for acknowledgement.
Question 45 · Spec pp. 39–41
What distinguishes the letters to Atticus as evidence?
Answer:
A close friend can receive uncertainty, frustration and conflicting calculations in a way a public audience might not.
Question 46 · Spec pp. 39–41
Why does intimacy still require source criticism?
Answer:
Cicero selects what to disclose, seeks advice and may justify himself. Later preservation also shapes the available record.
Question 47 · Spec pp. 39–41
How can Att. 8.8 and 9.4 illuminate civil-war decisions?
Answer:
They let a reader trace Cicero weighing allegiances and options during a changing crisis.
Question 48 · Spec pp. 39–41
How does a letter to Caesar differ in rhetorical situation?
Answer:
Addressing a principal in the conflict requires tact and attention to what the recipient might do with the message.
Question 49 · Spec pp. 39–41
What does comparing letters to different correspondents reveal?
Answer:
Cicero adapts greeting, register, requests and claims of obligation to the relationship and purpose.
Question 50 · Spec pp. 39–41
How should letters and courtroom speeches be compared?
Answer:
Both construct a speaker for an audience. Relative privacy and immediate political stakes differ, but neither gives unmediated access to belief.

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