Shared Flashcard Set

Details

Roman History, concepts & terms
terms and concepts of Roman Republican history
59
History
Undergraduate 3
02/11/2011

Additional History Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Aedile
Definition
Public officers responsible for the maintenance of public buildings and the regulation of public festivals. 2 plebeian, 2 curule
Term
Comitia Centuriata
Definition
Based on wealth/class; people were organized by wealth into 193 servian centuries. Became an elective body in the Republic and functioned as a legislative body; all citizens were involved in this vote: they voted Consuls( Dictators in Emergencies), praetors (2-8), and censors; it was a big deal.
Term
Comitia Curiata
Definition
An archaic assembly; people organized into 30 curiae, each had 1 vote; they give authority to the consuls once elected.
Term
Comitia Tributa
Definition
Made up of 35 tribes; 4 in the city, 16 areas lying just outside the city limits and 15 beyond that. Made it difficult for farmers and poorer people to have any say as they had to travel to Rome to vote. They elected curile aediles (?) quaestors
Term
Censor
Definition
Responsible for the census; oversaw public morality and some govt finances Also in charge of delegating who gets to be in which tribe, and where people can live
Term
Concilium Plebis
Definition
Only Plebeian counsel; functioned as a legislative assembly; elected tribunes plebeian aediles, and established some legislation, called Plebiscites.
Term
Consul
Definition
The highest elected political office; 2 consuls were selected together and served for 1 year; they had veto power over each other
Term
consul suffect
Definition
If a consul died/resigned another was chosen to finish the term
Term
Contio
Definition
meeting, not a formal assembly; used to introduce legislation before it was voted on or discuss an issue; Public gathering in Rome
Term
Curia (plural: curiae)
Definition
Group of elected “clan leaders” who were responsible for ratifying kings, granting imperium, were later replaced with lictors
Term
Curio (plural: curiones)
Definition
the head of a given tribe and leaders of local cult; part of an assembly of other curiones; some of the first consus had to go to them in order to be given in religious ceremony power to rule. l
Term
Decemvirate
Definition
a commission of ten men to write up a code of law defining the principles of Roman administration; during the decemviri's term in office, all other magistracies would be suspended, and their decisions were not subject to appeal.
Term
Dictator
Definition
Appointed in times of emergencies by consuls and the senate; they served for 6-months or less (at least until the crisis was over)
Term
Praetor
Definition
Like judges; praetor urbanus judged citizen cases and praetor peregrinus judged foreign cases
Term
Quaestor
Definition
Administrative position, had to deal with the treasury/finances
Term
Rex
Definition
Appointed king
Term
Interrex
Definition
A temporary ruler between kings
Term
Senate (patres et conscripti)
Definition
Government body that didn’t pass laws, but gave advice that most people followed. They were generally made up of former members of the various comitiae.
Term
Patres
Definition
Heads of old Latin families (included the curiones)
Term
Conscripti
Definition
Elected members of the Senate (added by the Tarquins?)
Term
Res publica (republic) -
Definition
“Public thing;” constitutional govt based on law
Term
Tribuni militum
Definition
Military tribunes with consular authority
Term
Tribuni plebis (and their powers)
Definition
Tribune of the Plebeians; defended non-Patricians in cases/disputes
Term
ager publicus
Definition
Public land, was often acquired from enemies after defeat; there was a lot of conflict about to whom it actually belonged (the rich or the poor?)
Term
civitas optimo iure (full citizenship)
Definition
Full Roman citizenship, including right to vote
Term
civitas sine suffragio
Definition
Half-Roman citizenship; had all the rights of a Roman citizen except the right to vote
Term
corvus
Definition
“raven,” made a sea battle into a land battle: A bridge like connection that would link the two ships so that the soldiers could cross and defeat their enemy;
Term
Cursus honorum
Definition
Sequence of public offices; designed for men of senatorial rank, was a mixture of military and political ranks (quaestor - aedile - praetor -consul - censor)
Term
Defensive imperialism
Definition
The practice of conquering another people before they become too powerful and threatening toward the State. suggested by Polybius.
Term
equites
Definition
Horsemen or knights, eventually became a social class - the equestrian class, an aristocratic class just below patricians. Often chose not to take part in politics. One of the upper centuries.
Term
extortion courts (quaestio de rebus repetundae)
Definition
Landowners who levied too high a tax were judged by these courts. Courts for the purpose of “getting things back”
Term
fas
Definition
gods smile upon public business
Term
feriae
Definition
“free day” or vacation; no one had to work on these days, not even slaves
Term
nefas
Definition
taboos of religion, or a day you are not allowed to do public business
Term
fasces
Definition
bundle of wooden sticks, symbolized power and imperium, born by the lictors (bodyguards of consuls)
Term
imperium
Definition
supreme authority and power to command an army and to act in the name of the state in other affairs as well
Term
intercessio
Definition
veto power, only the dictator could not be vetoed
Term
lex de imperio
Definition
the granting of imperium to an individual
Term
municipia
Definition
Peoples conquered by Rome but left to govern themselves - had either full or partial Roman citizenship and were given responsibilities such as taxes and military assistance to Rome
Term
nobiles
Definition
wealthy and powerful political people regardless of their background (either patrician or plebian)
Term
novus homo
Definition
a new consul who was without consuls in his ancestry
Term
pater familias
Definition
male head of Roman family - had almost absolute power in his familia; life and death decisions could be made by him; especially in the early Republic
Term
Patrician
Definition
Originally, those who were part of the original Roman state, very old families, perhaps wealthy. Later, consulship in family but not tribune office.
Term
Plebeian
Definition
newcomers, perhaps wealthy; later: family once held tribune office
Term
pax deorum
Definition
“Peace of the Gods,” goal of Roman religion
Term
Plebiscita
Definition
Law enacted by the Council of the Plebians
Term
pax deorum
Definition
“Peace of the Gods,” goal of Roman religion; Roman values, the Mos Maiorum (custons/traditions of the ancestors)
Term
Province
Definition
comes from Latin, meaning a place to be conquered; the first foreign (non-Italian) province was Sicily, after 1st Punic War, followed shortly by annexation of Corsica/Sardinia. An area under direct Roman control.
Term
governors (praetors or promagistrates), jurisdiction, legati
Definition
appointed people taken to help officials in provinces)
Term
assessors
Definition
Assessed taxes in provinces
Term
civitates foderatae, liberae et immunes, stipendaria
Definition
types of provincial communities; Often ruled by propraetor (once had praetor office) and promagistrates in general (those who once held an office and had that imperium extended who have been sent out to take care of an army or area).
Term
publicani
Definition
The tax collectors, public contractors that supplied the legions, managed the collection of port duties, and oversaw public projects
Term
provocatio
Definition
The right to appeal the decision of a magistrate
Term
sacroscanctitas
Definition
from Lex Valeria Horatia ; meant that Tribunes of the Plebs were sacrosanct - they could not be touched - the whole body of plebeians was obliged to protect them from violence, and could kill with impunity any who should violate the person of the Tribune of the Plebs
Term
secessio plebis
Definition
494 B.C. - secession of the Plebs - Plebs abandoned the city and left the patricians to function without them. This nearly shut down all shops, workshops, and commercial transactions. It was an effective strategy in the struggle of the orders. Happened multiple times.
Term
Servian reforms
Definition
Reorganization of govt and military under Servius (one of the kings) - he created the comitia centuriata and enacted a census; Timocracy established, whereby army was divided into classes according to one’s wealth and ability to supply himself with the necessities of war; also effected voting rights, to the disenfranchisement of the poorer voters
Term
Socii
Definition
Allies of the state; some were granted full citizenship and the right to vote while others did not
Term
Timocracy
Definition
rule by the rich, many positions in govt were only open to those with wealth, status or land thus only a small percent of the population had any say in the govt; it was important because it allowed the rich to participate in politics, as well as keep the poor man down.
Term
Via Appia
Definition
Claudius Caecus's road to Campania; Was created to assist in military endeavors during the expansion phase, a way to send supplies to their armies;
Supporting users have an ad free experience!