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The following are potential test questions over James Jeffers' The Greco-Roman World.
Chapter 1 - Acts 13
True/False
A client, who was a Roman with less power and status than his patron, was expected to show honor to his patron, and to support him in any political action the patron took. The patron in turn owed his client legal protection and at times financial assistance
Rome arose by gradually conquering the peoples around it, But like many other kingdoms, the Romans did not incorporate the conquered peoples into their society.
By 314 B.C., Judea had voluntarily allied itself with Rome and there by gained a number of important rights, including the recognition of their religion by Rome.
Jews across Rome were allowed the unprecedented right to pay their annual tax to support the Jewish temple.
Chapter 5 - Acts 14
Fill in the Blank
What concept was never very important to Greek and Roman religions but was a significant element in mystery religions?
The mystery religions had little use for what two things?
It was only mystery religion that called its followers to live what kind of life?
The mystery religions differed from Christianity in that they annually dramatized what two events?
Proper performance of the rites of Roman religion became a symbol of one's respect for ____________ and appreciation for ___________, not necessarily a sign of personal belief.
In what way did Roman leaders establish their power in the eastern Mediterranean?
What two groups has serious religious problems with emperor worship?
Where did Jews offer sacrifices on behalf of, not to, the emperor?
What two specific groups of Christians would have found it extremely difficult to avoid taking part in emperor worship?
What group of people would not be required to participate in emperor worship?
Judaism gained what kind of followers among the Romans?
What two cults were most actively persecuted by the Romans?
The Christians' denial of the gods of Rome earned them what label?
The Roman Christians were made easy targets due to what two common social elements?
What common term has been borrowed from the Roman state religion to describe the high priest of Christianity?
Chapter 10 - Acts 15
True/False
The presence of Jews throughout the Roman empire had almost no impact on the spread of Christianity.
The first great dispersions of Jews took place in 722 B.C. in the north, under the Assyrians, and in 586 B.C. in the south, under the Babylonians.
In New Testament times, 4 to 6 million Jews lived in Palestine, while only about 2.5 million lived outside of Palestine.
No single organization controlled the synagogues; no single head of the Jewish community existed in Rome. This loose structure allowed Christianity to penetrate Rome more easily.
In A.D. 49 the emperor Claudius expelled Jews from Rome.
It is highly likely that Claudius could have expelled every one of the fifty thousand Jews in Rome.
We find Jews among the local government officials, especially in Egypt. Sources tell of Jewish police, magistrates, clerks, tax collectors, and granary clerks.
Jewish customs actually helped the Jews blend into other foreign groups and let them fully socialize into the larger society.
The Jews (like most foreigners) were well respected by most of the Roman elite.
A group of ten or more adult male Jews could call itself a synagogue.
The synagogues served no administrative, educational, or juridicial support among their congregations. They had no plan for supporting their poorer members.
The early congregation learned a lot from the synagogues, including Scripture reading and interpretation, prayers, and common meals.
Women in Paul's new congregations had smaller roles than the women in the Jewish synagogues.
Chapter 4 - Acts Chapter 16
Multiple Guess
Romans were nervous about ______________, fearing that they could be politically subversive. a) Mark Moore classes, b) unsanctioned organizations, c) Jews, d) festivals.
Contrary to popular thinking, the Christians in Rome did not escape detection by holding services in the ___________. a) catacombs, b) basements, c) sewers, d) open market.
The Romans allowed groups to meet freely, to collect funds and to hold various rituals, but they prohibited the clubs from ________________. a) holding bake sales, b) giving money to the poor, c) undertaking any kind of political activity, d) meeting on Sundays.
Since only legally recognized religions could _____________, Romans would not have allowed Christian congregations to organize in this manner. a) become tax exempt, b) offer children's activities, c) form religious associations, d) hold offerings.
We know that the Christian churches were officially organizing as ______ associations by the third century. a) pizza, b) legal, c) medical, d) burial.
Tertullian says that the Christian groups follow the law for organized groups: they require a monthly contribution from each member, and they ___________ together. a) eat a common meal, b) spend their free time, c) do their taxes, d) launch water balloons.
Many Christian churches owned ________ by the third century. a) cattle, b) horses, c) printing presses, d) property.
Despite using the ________ association as a legal cover, the congregations appear not to have modeled themselves on the associations to any meaningful degree. a) medical, b) legal, c) religious, d) voluntary.
Both Greeks and Romans believed that women lacked men's capacity to resist __________ and thus needed to be protected. a) shooting spit wads, b) sexual temptation, c) asking for directions, d) chocolate.
In contrast to the Greeks, the Romans allowed women to join them in public events, such as dinner parties, but they kept a close eye in particular to the _____________. a) chocolate, b) unmarried young women, c) unmarried young men, d) amount of wine they consumed.
It was natural for wealthier Christians, who possessed larger homes and greater resources, to host ___________. Examples of Christians as both patrons and leaders include Lydia in Philippi and Prisca and Aquila in Rome, Corinth and Ephesus. a) house churches, b) pot luck dinners, c) revivals, d) all-night prayer meetings.
Paul's statement in Galatians 3:28 ("There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, etc) flatly contradicts assumptions in Greco-Roman society that some persons were by nature ___________ others. a) uglier than, b) indebted to, c) redeemed faster than, d) superior to.
The early Christian congregations found value in borrowing from both voluntary associations and Greco-Roman households, but the nature of the churches was _________ changed as a result. a) drastically, b) not fundamentally, c) often, d) never.
Chapter 12 - Acts Chapter 18
True/False
Children born to an informal marriage were illegitimate and took their status from their mother. In practice, this meant that the father had no legal rights over them.
Roman law made the minimum marriage age fourteen for girls, twelve for boys.
Even though the younger generation lived under a different roof, they still were under the legal authority of their mother.
The frequency of divorce and of the early death of one parent must have led to frequent remarriage and thus to stepchildren and blended families.
The Jewish household probably consisted of two, sometimes three, generations of kin by blood and marriage.
The most important goal of Roman marriage was producing children, but it was not the only goal or expectation.
In some respects, the power of husbands in fundamentalist Islamic nations today is similar to that of the ancient Romans, except that Romans could only have one wife at a time.
Women in the classical era were not allowed out of doors except to attend important events, and then only when accompanied by male relatives.
Under Jewish law, the wife's guardianship was transferred at marriage from her father to the father of her husband.
Romans generally divorced for the following reasons: failure to have children, political reasons like those that dictated many marriages, continued adultery by the spouse, and to initiate a desired new marriage.
Men having affairs with slaves or lower-class free women were considered adulterers by the state.
Roman adultery laws were intended to preserve the legitimacy of the upper-class family's children and to promote the production of legitimate children.
Roman divorce usually included separating a mother from her children.
Little evidence for divorce among the lower classes has been found, due to the fact that many of the lower class Roman citizens were Christians.
The Roman author Seneca believed that fathers showed their love for their children by playing with them.
The fundamental obligation of Jewish parents, according to Jewish literature, was to teach them about God and love them.
Romans viewed the mother as the transmitter of traditional morality.
In Greco-Roman culture, things changed very slowly.
A woman who stepped outside of those roles would not have been considered courageous and forward-looking; she would have been thought selfish and decadent.
Greco-Roman culture regarded women, as incapable of the level of intellectual ability achieved by men.
Despite their lack of presence among the apostles, women played crucial roles in Jesus' life and ministry from the beginning.
A number of women served in positions of leadership in the Pauline congregations.
Chapter 4 - Acts Chapter 16
Multiple Guess
Romans were nervous about ______________, fearing that they could be politically subversive. a) Mark Moore classes, b) unsanctioned organizations, c) Jews, d) festivals.
Contrary to popular thinking, the Christians in Rome did not escape detection by holding services in the ___________. a) catacombs, b) basements, c) sewers, d) open market.
The Romans allowed groups to meet freely, to collect funds and to hold various rituals, but they prohibited the clubs from ________________. a) holding bake sales, b) giving money to the poor, c) undertaking any kind of political activity, d) meeting on Sundays.
Since only legally recognized religions could _____________, Romans would not have allowed Christian congregations to organize in this manner. a) become tax exempt, b) offer children's activities, c) form religious associations, d) hold offerings.
We know that the Christian churches were officially organizing as ______ associations by the third century. a) pizza, b) legal, c) medical, d) burial.
Tertullian says that the Christian groups follow the law for organized groups: they require a monthly contribution from each member, and they ___________ together. a) eat a common meal, b) spend their free time, c) do their taxes, d) launch water balloons.
Many Christian churches owned ________ by the third century. a) cattle, b) horses, c) printing presses, d) property.
Despite using the ________ association as a legal cover, the congregations appear not to have modeled themselves on the associations to any meaningful degree. a) medical, b) legal, c) religious, d) voluntary.
Both Greeks and Romans believed that women lacked men's capacity to resist __________ and thus needed to be protected. a) shooting spit wads, b) sexual temptation, c) asking for directions, d) chocolate.
In contrast to the Greeks, the Romans allowed women to join them in public events, such as dinner parties, but they kept a close eye in particular to the _____________. a) chocolate, b) unmarried young women, c) unmarried young men, d) amount of wine they consumed.
It was natural for wealthier Christians, who possessed larger homes and greater resources, to host ___________. Examples of Christians as both patrons and leaders include Lydia in Philippi and Prisca and Aquila in Rome, Corinth and Ephesus. a) house churches, b) pot luck dinners, c) revivals, d) all-night prayer meetings.
Paul's statement in Galatians 3:28 ("There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, etc) flatly contradicts assumptions in Greco-Roman society that some persons were by nature ___________ others. a) uglier than, b) indebted to, c) redeemed faster than, d) superior to.
The early Christian congregations found value in borrowing from both voluntary associations and Greco-Roman households, but the nature of the churches was _________ changed as a result. a) drastically, b) not fundamentally, c) often, d) never.
Chapter 12 - Acts Chapter 18
True/False
Children born to an informal marriage were illegitimate and took their status from their mother. In practice, this meant that the father had no legal rights over them.
Roman law made the minimum marriage age fourteen for girls, twelve for boys.
Even though the younger generation lived under a different roof, they still were under the legal authority of their mother.
The frequency of divorce and of the early death of one parent must have led to frequent remarriage and thus to stepchildren and blended families.
The Jewish household probably consisted of two, sometimes three, generations of kin by blood and marriage.
The most important goal of Roman marriage was producing children, but it was not the only goal or expectation.
In some respects, the power of husbands in fundamentalist Islamic nations today is similar to that of the ancient Romans, except that Romans could only have one wife at a time.
Women in the classical era were not allowed out of doors except to attend important events, and then only when accompanied by male relatives.
Under Jewish law, the wife's guardianship was transferred at marriage from her father to the father of her husband.
Romans generally divorced for the following reasons: failure to have children, political reasons like those that dictated many marriages, continued adultery by the spouse, and to initiate a desired new marriage.
Men having affairs with slaves or lower-class free women were considered adulterers by the state.
Roman adultery laws were intended to preserve the legitimacy of the upper-class family's children and to promote the production of legitimate children.
Roman divorce usually included separating a mother from her children.
Little evidence for divorce among the lower classes has been found, due to the fact that many of the lower class Roman citizens were Christians.
The Roman author Seneca believed that fathers showed their love for their children by playing with them.
The fundamental obligation of Jewish parents, according to Jewish literature, was to teach them about God and love them.
Romans viewed the mother as the transmitter of traditional morality.
In Greco-Roman culture, things changed very slowly.
A woman who stepped outside of those roles would not have been considered courageous and forward-looking; she would have been thought selfish and decadent.
Greco-Roman culture regarded women, as incapable of the level of intellectual ability achieved by men.
Despite their lack of presence among the apostles, women played crucial roles in Jesus' life and ministry from the beginning.
A number of women served in positions of leadership in the Pauline congregations.
Chapter 8 - Acts Chapter 21
Fill in the Blank
In the Roman Empire, your status at birth would determine _____________. a) the people you could marry, b) what kind of job you could have, c) where you lived, d) both a and b, e) both b and c.
The Romans evaluated a person’s _________ based upon whether the person was a citizen or foreigner, male or female, slave or free, etc. a) tax rate, b) status, c) income, d) right to marry.
All of the Roman governors of Judea, such as Pontius Pilate and Porcius Festus (Acts 24), were ____________. a) equestrians, b) senators, c) plebians, d) ugly.
The Romans, having no desire to get bogged down in a direct rule of their provinces, realized that they needed to maintain local _____________ favorable to their rule. a) police, b) governments, c) upper classes, d) colleges.
The New Testament names two men who were clearly ___________ (and also Christians): Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus in Athens (Acts 17:34), and Erastus, the city treasurer of Corinth (Romans 16:23). a) crazy, b) rich, c) senators, d) decurions.
For the respectable populace, their level of respect in the eyes of the upper classes was in direct proportion to the amount of work they did ____________. a) with their own hands, b) through the agency of others, c) on weekdays, d) with farmland.
Unlike today, the ___________ constituted only a small percent of the population. Probably most of the urban-dwelling Christians named in the New Testament belong to this group. a) poor, b) senate, c) respectable populace, d) unmarried.
Tacitus called the poor “shabby people,” who often frequented ____________. a) bars and mediums’ tents, b) churches and synagogues, c) open markets and jousting events, d) circuses and theaters.
In the New Testament Era, the poor made up ________ of the population. a) a third, b) a quarter, c) one half, d) three fourths.
The Roman elite believed that only the rich could afford to be _________. a) happy, b) honest, c) healthy, d) heroic.
To be honored among the elite, one needed above all things ____________. a) wealth, b) advanced education, c) the right family of origin, d) the ability to speak.
As one moved eastward, society became more and more ___________. Leadership in the cities was monopolized, generation after generation, by the same small, ruling classes. a) greedy, b) poor, c) stable, d) immobile.
Greeks and Romans in the ruling classes saw it as the duty of every citizen to preserve _____________. a) the boundaries of class, b) the freedom of speech, c) the land they owned, d) meat.
The concept, “_____________,” was a principal of Roman society. a) live and let live, b) to him who has will more be given, and he will have abundance, c) survival of the fittest, d) every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings.
The patron owed the client legal help and protection from powerful enemies, while the client in turn owed the patron _______________. a) money and food, b) time and labor, c) respect and deference, d) apples and bananas.
____________ is filled with upper-class sneers at the laziness, poverty and servility of the poor. a) The Bible, b) The newspaper, c) Mark Moore’s My Witnesses, d) Classical literature.
The Roman upper classes regarded the __________ as beneath them since so much of it was produced by Greek slaves. a) creation of art, b) Bible, c) law, d) church.
Medicine, architecture, and teaching at the advanced level were considered _________ occupations. a) stupid, b) honorable, c) horrible, d) challenging.
Based upon the New Testament, the churches included no ____________. a) senators, b) equestrians, c) peasants, d) agricultural day workers, e) all of the above.
Chapter 9 – Acts Chapter 22
True/False
Only about five million of the over fifty million inhabitants of the Empire were free and full Roman citizens.
The advantages of Roman citizenship included protection by the government, the right to vote, availability of games and performances, exemption from many taxes, and full protection of the law.
When auxiliary soldiers were granted citizenship, a “certificate of Roman citizenship” was issued. This document, however, could not be used as an identity card.
The certificate of citizenship was a wooden diptych, small enough for citizens to carry when they went out of town.
Paul resorts to claiming the privileges of Roman citizenship only three times in Acts: in Jerusalem (22:25).
Chapter 7 – Acts Chapter 24
True/False
The Empire consisted of over 200 million people.
A provincial governor who sought to combat abusive practices in his province could find himself in a lot of trouble back home due to tax companies.
The province of Judea probably contributed between 2 and 5 percent of Rome’s total income. This province was also a fiscal benefit because the cost of governing it never exceeded this amount.
Judges around the Empire had to deal with Christians on a largely individual basis. This helps to explain why Christians in the first two centuries were persecuted only sporadically, at specific times and places.
Romans, like most ancients, punished people with imprisonment.
If the convicted person was of lower status, he might be sold into slavery or condemned to lifelong toil in the mines or the gladiatorial arena.
Severe scourging alone was often used as a punishment in and of itself, not just as a preliminary to other punishments such as execution.
Romans considered suicide the only honorable action in some cases where one’s actions have seriously disgraced oneself.
A Roman citizen could not be flogged, even after a trial and sentencing.
When the magistrates asked for and received from Jason a pledge or security of good behavior of his guests, this was an accepted Roman and Greek civic practice.
Roman law looked favorably on accusers who pressed their charges in person. The former emperor Claudius advocated such practices.
Once they were unable to shed any light on the specific charges, Felix should have dismissed the case against Paul.
Felix knew that the Jews were incapable of brining formal charges against him since they had not been able to do so against the last two governors of Judea, Pilate and Cumanus.
If Paul was tried before A.D. 64, not long after the two-year period of stay mentioned in Acts 28:30, he probably did not appear before Nero.
With an emperor like Nero, who had little interest in the court and spent a lot of time out of town, delays likely increased. If Paul had as much freedom to preach as Acts indicates, he might not have wanted to expedite his case, even if he could.
The early Roman army’s soldiers were peasant farmer draftees from among its citizens. They were expected to supply their own weapons, food and clothing for the year they would serve.
The soldiers of the Roman army came to identify more with the senate than with the generals in charge over them.
It might take several weeks or even months to mount a response to a revolt or invasion, but most provincials knew that Rome would win in the end.
Service in the army was something dishonorable for the free full citizen.
The praetorian guard grew over the years until it became the central support base of the emperor and virtually controlled selection of the emperor.
The Roman legion included six thousand soldiers under the command of a general.
It was a common practice to station troops inside a major city. This commonality is exemplified in the Bible, specifically in Jerusalem.
Auxiliary soldiers who completed twenty years of service won full Roman citizenship for themselves, their children and their descendants.
Rome gave no legal standing to the marriages of noncitizens.
The common Roman soldier in the regular legions received only 225 denarii per year, about $9,000 in today’s money.
A soldier would not expect to share in the spoils of war.
Many soldiers, since they didn’t even earn the yearly salary of a day laborer, would supplement their salaries. They often did so through unofficial activities including outright extortion.
Much social stigma was attached to illegitimacy or to what we would call common-law marriages.
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