Plutarch, Life of Romulus 3
Study Guide Questions for Pg. 9-14
If you are looking for the beginning of the study for Plutarch’s Life of Romulus then you can go HERE for a brief introduction and a free PDF of the text. At the bottom of the introduction you will find the links to each section of the study guide as it becomes available. If you would like to see the growing list of book studies available for free on this site you can go HERE. Enjoy!
Virtues/Vices/Great Ideas: (Find them in the Text)
Appearance vs. Reality, Justice, Despotism
Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)
What did Romulus do to arrange the taking of the Sabine women?
What did Plutarch say was “the strongest defence that Romulus could make”?
According to the text, why do Romans cry out “Talasius” at weddings?
How did the custom of carrying the bride across the threshold of her new home begin?
According to the text, why did King Acron attack Romulus immediately?
Which three Roman leaders have attained the honor dedicating the “spolia opima” and how was that honor earned?
Of the peoples that Rome conquered while the majority of Sabines were still preparing for war, who among them were allowed to keep their own land?
What was the fate of Tarpeia who betrayed the Romans to the Sabines for jewelry?
For what purpose did the Romans use the cliff which they called the Tarpeian Rock?
After having been struck in the head by a stone, how did Romulus get his army to cease their retreat from the Sabines?
What did Plutarch describe as “a spectacle that passes description”?
What were the agreed upon conditions of the truce between the Romans and Sabines?
Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)
If the legends are taken seriously, why might Romulus have been “fond of war”?
During the taking of the Sabine women it says that the Roman men “permitted and encouraged the men themselves to escape.” Why did the Romans try to not harm the Sabine men?
Why might Rome have always “united and incorporated with herself those whom she conquered”? Why might this be a good policy?
What did Caesar mean by saying that “he loved treachery but hated a traitor”?
The Sabine women, and Hersilia in particular, argued for the cessation of hostility between the Romans and Sabines. State at least two reasons they gave for why the fighting ought to stop.
Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)
Do you think Plutarch believes that the Romans really found an altar to a god named “Consus”? Why or why not? Defend your position with good reasoning.
In Rhetoric “logos” refers to rational persuasion, “pathos” refers to emotional persuasion, and “ethos” refers to persuasion based upon the reputation of the speaker or the one(s) being spoken of. In the speech of Hersilia (and the Sabine women) how do we see all three of these employed? Give an example demonstrating how each form of persuasion is in use. Which, if any, of these modes of persuasion do you think is the most dominant?
How important is it for justice to be carried out swiftly? How did the lack of swift action against the Romans, on the part of the Sabines, make the situation more complicated? How should this affect our thinking about matters of justice today?
Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)
Read Genesis 34. Compare and contrast this story with the rape of the Sabine women in Plutarch. What is similar and what is different?
Considering both of these stories together, who would you say acted the most virtuously after the rapes had already occurred?
Read Genesis 2:18-25. What does this teach us about the ideal way in which God intends marriages to be formed? How should this clear teaching about marriage affect our thinking about the situations we just read about in Plutarch and Genesis 34?