Term
|
Definition
| The Latin name for the public land of Rome. Used during the earliest periods of Roman expansion (753 BCE). |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A Roman statesman, general and architect who lived from 64-12 BCE. He was a close friend, son-in-law, and lieutenant to Augustus (Octavius) and was responsible for the construction of some of the most beautiful buildings in the history of Rome and for important military victories, most notably at the Battle of Actium against the forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. As a result of these victories Octavian became the first Roman Emperor, adopting the name of Augustus. Agrippa assisted Augustus in making Rome a city of marble and renovating aqueducts to give all Romans, from every social class, access to the highest quality public services. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The summit which held the sanctuary of Jupiter Latiaris, in which the consuls celebrated the Feriae Latinae and several generals celebrated victories when they were not accorded regular triumphs in Rome. Had a similar archeological and cultural landscape to Rome. According to tradition, Romulus and Remus were born here. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Fought around October 19, 202 BC, marked the end of the Second Punic War. A Roman army led by Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (Scipio) defeated a Carthaginian force led by the commander Hannibal. Despite Hannibal possessing numerical superiority, Scipio conceived a strategy to confuse and defeat his war elephants. Scipio's troops then routed the Carthaginian infantry, thanks in part to superior Roman cavalry. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Composed of tin and copper. However, these materials were not found in the same place which promoted migration throughout the Mediterranean and the Middle East creating a new cultural realm around 3500 BCE. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A bronze sculpture of a she-wolf suckling twin infants, inspired by the legend of the founding of Rome. A symbol of ancient Rome from its founding (753 BCE). |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The center of the ancient Carthaginian civilization and the enemy of Rome during the Punic Wars (264-146 BCE). Dominated the Mediterranean with their superior navy but was eventually defeated and absorbed by the Roman empire. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A level of citizenship in the Roman Republic which granted all the rights of Roman citizenship except the right to vote in popular assemblies. This status was first extended to some of the city-states which had been incorporated into the Republic following the break-up of the Latin League in 338 BCE. It became the standard Romanization policy for incorporating conquered regions in building the Roman Empire. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A member of the Ptolemiac dynasty who lived from 69-30 BCE and became pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. She consummated a liaison and produced a child with Julius Caesar that solidified her grip on the throne. After Caesar's assassination in 44 BC, she aligned with Mark Antony in opposition to Caesar's legal heir, Augustus (Octavius). |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| One of the world's earliest sewage systems that was constructed in Ancient Rome in order to drain local marshes and remove the waste, which was carried effluent to the Tiber River. The name literally means Greatest Sewer. According to tradition it may have been initially constructed around 600 BCE under the orders of the king of Rome, Tarquinius Priscus. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The original open-air public meeting space of ancient Rome that had major religious and prophetic significance and was located at the northwest corner of the Roman Forum. The name comes from the Latin word for "assembly" and it was constructed in the 7th century BCE. It was the location for much of the political and judicial activity of Rome: the meeting place of the Curiate Assembly and later, during the Roman republic, the Tribal Assembly and Plebeian Assembly. Located in front of the meeting house of the Roman Senate. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| One of the earliest known systems of writing distinguished by its wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets made by means of a blunt reed for a stylus. Emerging in Sumer in the late 4th millennium B.C.E. (the Uruk IV period), it began as a system of pictographs. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A Latin term meaning "Ten Men" which designates any such commission in the Roman Republic. Different types of decemvirate include the writing of laws with consular imperium, the judging of litigation, the making of sacrifices, and the distribution of public lands. The original panel of 451 BCE developed the Ten Tables, which were added to by the second panel; their main areas of concern were marriage, family, inheritance, ownership, property, debt, and slavery. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Supreme commander of the army for 6 months in times of war to react quickly. The position entailed absolute power over Rome. This was most likely a position left over from the monarchy rather than an invention of the Republic. Used under the Roman Kingdom (753-509 BCE) and revived during the Roman Civil Wars (40-30 BCE). |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A bound bundle of wooden rods, sometimes including an axe with its blade emerging. It symbolized power and authority (imperium) in ancient Rome, beginning with the early Roman Kingdom and continuing through the Republican and Imperial periods. Signified the power of life and death over the Roman citizens. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A calendar of magistrates including consults and triumphs that began in 509 BCE. Comprised a long list of names that were immortalized in history. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Part of Caesar's public works projects built near the Roman Forum in 46 BCE. It became a place for public business that was related to the Senate in addition to a shrine for Caesar himself as well as Venus Genetrix. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
A Latin word which, in a broad sense, translates roughly as
"power to command." Primarily used to refer to the power that is wielded, in greater or lesser degree, by an individual to whom it is delegated. These included the curule aedile, the praetor, the censor, the consul, the magister equitum, and the dictator. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| An ancient shrine in the Roman Forum built in the 5th century BCE. It constitutes the only surviving remnants of the old Comitium, an early assembly area that preceded the Forum. Contains an early inscription of Latin in which the word "king" is written leading the archeologist, Andrea Caradini, to believe Rome had a dynasty of kings. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A confederation of about 30 villages and tribes in the region of Latium near ancient Rome organized for mutual defense, which existed from the 7th century to 338 BCE. In 493 BCE, Rome signed the Cassian treaty aligning them with other cities in Latium signaling the start of Roman expansion. |
|
|
Term
| Mediterranean Risk Regime |
|
Definition
| Extreme fragmentation as a result of tectonic pressure, mountains, volcanoes, and earthquakes are prevalent, and a climate of flooding and drought. |
|
|
Term
| Messinian Salinity Crisis |
|
Definition
| When the Mediterranean dried up due to movement of tectonic plates and when Italy and North Africa became one unit around 5 million years ago. About 4,500 cubic kilometers of water evaporates from the Mediterranean per year. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| One large piece of marble used for decorative purposes. Used a sign of wealth as it was labor intensive to create. Practice began under the Roman Republic. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Inscribed with the earliest instance of the Greek alphabet and first record of vowels in history. Written right to left showing that it was an adoption of the ancient Phoenician alphabet. Also inscribed were the first literary illusions in Europe. Found in the 8th century BCE. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A frozen body that was preserved from 3300 BCE in Italy. The person is believed to have been murdered. Had bronze ax, goat coat, and leather belts on him symbolizing that he was well connected to culture of the time and that he was a herder. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A relationship of reciprocity beginning with a morning salutation and then attending to his person. Likely the most important social bond in Rome next to the family. Similar to a business relationship and dated to the founding of Rome. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Legislation produced by the popular assembly of the Roman Republic. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| According to tradition, Romulus used a plow to create this area. A religious boundary around the city of Rome and cities controlled by Rome which held religious significance. Army could not enter except during triumphs. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A military and political leader of the late Roman Republic who lived from 106-48 BCE. Joined Crassus and Caesar in the unofficial military-political alliance known as the First Triumvirate. Later, he and Caesar then contended for the leadership of the Roman state, leading to a civil war. Assassinated in Egypt. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Flooded often and was colonized by Rome around 312 BCE. Surrounded by the Via Appia. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Leaders in the late Roman Republic (509-27 BCE) who relied on the people's assemblies and tribunate to acquire political power. Thrived under the dictatorship of Caesar. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Were paid public contractors, in which role they often supplied the Roman legions and military, managed the collection of port duties, and oversaw public building projects. In addition, they served as tax collectors for the Republic (509-27 BCE), and later the Roman Empire, bidding on contracts (from the Senate in Rome) for the collection of various types of taxes. Began the rise of the Equites and was a measure of wealth. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Meaning the "public thing." In abstract, it infers a degree of dispersed management distinct from divine right or hereditary monarchy. Began to be used around the 6th and 5th centuries BCE. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The title of the kings of ancient Rome during the Roman Kingdom (753-509 BCE). |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| An area, or perhaps a structure, within the original pomerium of the ancient city of Rome. Tradition holds that Romulus founded it in 753 BCE. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A war waged from 91 to 87 BC between the Roman Republic and several of the other cities in Italy, which prior to the war had been Roman allies for centuries. The allies know how to fight like Romans because they had been used as soldiers in the past. Marks the rise of Sulla and Pompey's rule. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A gladiator (111-71 BCE) who rounded up 70,000 troops to revolt slavery. The revolt was eventually put down by Pompey who lined the Via Appia with 6,000 bodies and was given another Triumph. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The legendary seventh and final king of Rome, reigning from 535 BC until the popular uprising in 509 that led to the establishment of the Roman Republic. His reign is described as a tyranny that justified the abolition of the monarchy. Tradition holds that his son raped an influential woman. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A separation of powers in which three distinct rulers take responsibility for separate sections of the empire. The First Triumvirate of 60 BCE comprised of Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus. The Second Triumvirate of 43 BCE comprised of Marc Antony, Lepidus, and Octavius. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| For most of Roman history, Tribunes of the Plebs acted as a check on the authority of the senate and the annual magistrates, holding the power to intervene on behalf of the plebeians, and veto unfavourable legislation. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Iron-Age Roman burials found in the Alban Hills. Used in early Roman history. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A sculpture of the Roman goddess Venus in her aspect of Genetrix (mother) held within the Forum Iulium built by Caesar in 46 BCE. Caesar believed that he could trace his lineage to Venus. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| An important road in ancient Rome, suggested and organized by Appius Claudius in 312 BCE. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The Tribune of 133 BCE who sought to redistribute the newly acquired spoils of Pergamum and Patrician lands among the Plebs. When opposed by the other Tribune, Marcus Octavius, Gracchus removed him from power and replaced him with his brother, Gaius Gracchus. The Senate feared him as a tyrant and 16 members clubbed him to death. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Fought with Marius in Africa and Northern Italy. Won the consulship of 88 BCE with the fame of battle and was stripped of command by a tribune. He subsequently marched on Rome, then retreated to Asia and marched on Rome again in 83 BCE with Pompey. Once in power, he initiaed proscriptions that called for the deaths of over 500 wealthy and influential Roman citizens (including Senators). He maintained his loyalty to the Republic and increased the size of the Senate to 600 members thereafter. |
|
|
