Final Exam Flashcards
Who was Marcus Agrippa?
was a Roman statesman, general, and vice-emperor who worked closely with Augustus helping Augustus to rule the city and he had an important hand in making the city beautiful he was a city-planner and builder. He was vital to the creation of the princeps and the empire because he was a new man building himself up through his influence of the military that led to the control of the emperors of the city over the military. He also was very important to the establishment of Rome and other important cities in the empire to becoming beautifully adorned with marble which was a tradition that continued with many other emperors and even bankrupted several emperors.
Who was Agripinna the younger?
was the daughter of Germanicus wife of the emperor Claudius and the mother of Nero. Most of her life and story is shrouded in mystery and she was believed to have had a hand in many assasinations and poisoning in order to elevate herself and her son to the emperor and empress. This was significant because it illustrated the way in which women could gain power was through the political rising of the men closest to her and how she was then able to greatly impact Rome through them.
Who was Marc Antony?
was a member of the second legal triumvirate who had been a leader under Julius Caesar and who eventually went to war with his son Octavian. With Marc Antony’s defeat at Actium with Cleopatra it ended the Civil wars that had been raging for decades and also ushered in the new emperor ruled solely by Octavian.
Who was Apollo?
is the Greek/Roman God of the sun, poetry, music, healing, and prophecy. He was commonly embodied by many Roman emperors and statesman including Augustus as their divine parentage. Apollo was traditional embodying order and this was important because the Romans used the excuse of divine parenthage and relation to justify why they were in power or ruling and this set the precedent of kingship being divine that was seen in the middle ages.
Who was Gaius and Lucius Casear?
were the sons of Agrippa and Julia and were adopted by Augsustus and were the favorites of the emperor’s heirs but both had young untimely deaths leading to the adoption of Tiberius as the next Caesar. Much of the principate was the importants of successors and their adoption and prospect as heirs later became a tradition of Roman emperors enlisting the youth in their families to prestigious titles and in prestigious wars to take over in their stead.
Who was Cassius Dio?
- was a Roman historian and author that wrote a 1000 year history that highlighted the Augustun Age as well as how the emperors Commodus to Severus Alexander were and the trouble that they faced during that time. His work is vitally important not only highlights the history of the time but also the roles of the citizens in Rome the jobs of statesmen and a little bit of what the logistical life would be to someone who was higher up in power in many cases.
Who was Cleopatra?
was a Ptolemaic Queen of Egypt who was linked to famous Romans such as Julius Caesar and Marc Antony. She committed suicide not long after she lost Egypt in the Battle of Actium and is remembered throughout history as being less than virtuous lustful, and many other traits seem as despicable to Rome. This type of propaganda is important because it creates the sense that the Roman governing conservatives that was present during the time of not liking outsiders in control of the decisions in Rome and keeping everything honorable and Roman. This was important because it was a strategic move on octavian’s part to gain support and the ideology persisted afterwards, with her defeat Egypt was also added ot the empire which was an invaluable province.
Who were the Goths?
was the name of some Germanic tribes on the Danube that had reorganized themselves and formed a new political organization that liked to attacked Rome’s borders. This was important because it was the reorganization and revitilzation of these kinds of groups that led Rome to lose many major battles and the Goths sacked Rome in 410 CE. This was significant because Romans old enemies were able to defea thtem because of thie rlack of military organization and their corruption leading to the sack of Rome and the loss of the western half of the empire that ended what was considered the Roman empire. Barbarian invasions in the late empire.
Who was Livia?
was the beloved wife of Augustus. She had enormous influence as an empress despite not being allowed to enter the senate or camps. This was important because as the wife of the emperor she was even known to have had a huge impact on the political skills of her husband and been instrumental in choosing Tiberius as the successor suggesting the power of women as wives in the royal house.
Who was Pliny the younger?
was a Roman magistrate that wrote many letters. These letters are important in historians understanding the interactions between the imperial offices and the governors in the provinces as well as the rules and laws of the time and how they were upheld such as things like the prosectuions of Christians.
Who was plutarch?
was a writer who wrote treatises on ethical equestions as well as biographies of important Greek and Roman soldiers and statemen. They are important for historians today to understand Roman society, instutions and history from the beginning of Rome to the Principate based on the view of the people of Rome at that time.
Who was sapor I?
was a Persian King who was on the level of Hadrian because of his systematic defeat and capture of the entire Roman army and its emperor, Valerian. This was important because it was one of the worst losses in Roman history and it was indicative of the weakening of the empire in comparison to its growing strong neighbors and the end of its domination.
Who was tacitus?
was a politician that became a historian that was satirical and ringed with gossip and speculation. His works are important as they provide valuable details of the imperial administration and the rule of Rome over the provinces, the ethnography of the time period, the political and military instutions, the ceconomic life, and the relgion of the time period.
Who was suetonius?
wrote biographies of the first eleven emperors focusing on the scandal and gossip with some disjointed facts. This kind of writing and view was important to get an idea of the emperors and also what those of the empire thought of them from the past. The facts and gossip are sometimes hard to distinguish but can be verified from other sources and it gives for some insight into the lives of the emperors.
What was Actium?
was the final navel battle between Marc Antony and Cleopatra against Octavian and Rome’s forces. It is said that Marc ANotny and Cleopatra fled leading to their armies surrender when they noticed they were no logner led and it was the final battle between these two groups. This was important because it was the end of decades of civil war and ushered in Octavian’s control of all of the forces fo Rome and his subsequent rule over the empire.
What was Constantinople?
was created by Constnatine, named after him in his honors and inaugurated as the New Rome on the site of the Ancient Greek City of Byzantium. He built up great houses making men of renown the master of them and summoning them from Old Rome and other provinces. This was important because it illustrated the shift of the Roman empire from centering on Rome to its rule and even control by other areas in the provinces that eventually led to Rome losing its landholding in the west and the sack of rome itself because of the focus on other major cities.
What was Dacia?
was a province that had been rising in power and was captured by Trajan and annexed as a province, which was conquered by Trajan. Trajan was one of the first emperors to conquer other areas due to its proximity to many powerful and warring tribes the empire quickly lost this province which illustrated Rome’s difficulty in maintaining and controlling all of the land it held as well as the overextension of the empire.
What was the Melvin Bridge?
was a battle between the Roman emperors Constantine and maxentius after the failing of the triumivraites. This was important because after this defeat Constantine ended the ruling of the tetrarchy to then finally create the tradition of the sole ruler of the country ushering in a great change in Rome with the induction of Chstrianity as the dominant relgion in the Roman empire such as the west and then to Europe.
What was Nicomedia?
was the main city for emperors such as Diocletian and was well-known for having one of the last and severest persecutions on Christians during his ruling. This was significant because it illustrated the emperors last grab for power and keeping with the old Pagan ways that developed into worshipping, Diocletian as a god king and the peoples beliefs that stood in the way of the emperors power. Afterwards Christianity took greater hold of the empire and became an empire wide religion.
What was Ostia?
in the late empire it became a major port and shipping stronghold for important trading and for goods such as grain and such and many offices. This was important because Ostia became of harbor city of ancient Rome rreplacing Rome as a port city as this city was located at the river of the tiber no longer making Rome the central shipping port for the empire.
What were the Parthians?
were the Roman empires eastward neighbors that was an enemy of Rome throughout its entire ruling. Romans were never able to conquer much of Parthian land and late in the empire they would pay they exhorbitant amounts of money to stave off hostilities which eventually led to the bankrupting of the country and the lack of resources for armies causing a loss of many provinces and parts.
What was the rhine-Danube Frontier ?
was a frontier that Romans were continually trying to protect from the time of the Caesars on. Consequentualy for some time Romans held Dacia but quickly lost hold of it as the German, Dacian and Gothic tribes attacked on this border leading to the eventual sack of Rome and the lost of the western empire
What was adlection?
starting with Augustus is the process by which the empire chose someone for senatorial rank to fill up the senate, or were persons ho were given the privileges and honors of praetorship, quasetorship, aedileship and other public offices such as the equites who had imperial favor. This was important because it was indicative of the rise of the equestrian order with the order families replaced by newer ones and the importance of the emperor in chosing who had power.
What was aeraium militaire?
was the military treasury of the Roman Empire. It acted as a pension source for veterans derived from taxes allowing veterans who retired to settle down with pensions and end the land stealing and redistribution from the elite that had occurred in the republic by soldiers when they returned and was important because it fixed a lot of the earlier problems in the republic that had led to civil wars based on the loyalty of the military created by Augustus.
What was alimenta?
was a government run program of low interest loans and tax to Italian landowners which had returns to maintain the sons and daughter of poor, free people until they reached adulthood in Italian ciites. Implemented by Trajan and illustrates the power the emperor had over fiannces and it is the form of welfare with one of the few instances we see of that that is seen still today.
What was angstus clavus?
was a narrow-strip tunic with two narrow and verticle red purple stripes. They were indicative of the Roman equestrian class. This was important because just by walking down the street you could distinguish between the different classes and it was added later illustrating the significance of the equestrians in later periods becoming dividing the career paths of the senatorial and equestrian order and it is a power he can confer on people as the emperor became this universal patron.
What was annona?
- was the grain supply which was an important good that was heavily maintained by the emperors starting with Augustus creating positions such as the Prefect of the grain supply. The grain supply was one of the staple trading goods throughout the empire and there was a large portion of the empire and finances dealing with them. It was important to maintain the food in the empire to avoid the creations of mobs and revolts.
