Midterm Flashcards
aedile
maintain public buildings, public festivals
ager (publicus, Gallicus, etc.)
Ager publicus (“public land”) was property owned by the Roman state that it could assign or lease (for rent), normally through the censors
Sources for Antiquity
Literary texts, documentary texts, epigraphic documents, archaelogical sites, material culture
annona
“food supply,” especially then supply of grain to the city of Rome
atrium
central entrance and reception room in a Roman house
auctoritas
unofficial influence exercised by, and prestige enjoyed by, those individuals or corporate bodies whose advice and recommendations gained special respect.
auspicium
divination, the search for and interpretation of signs in nature by augurs
auxilia
auxiliary troops (often calvary or specialized fighters) who aided the legions
auxilium (aid)
aid for plebeians provided by Tribune of Plebs
Campus Martius (Field of Mars)
Area at the TIber RIvers’s “bend.” During the Republic, it lay beyond Rome’s pomerium. Named after an early altar of Mars located here.
Capitolium (Mons Capitolinus)
(“Capitoline hill,” Capitol) Smallest of Rome’s seven hills, and the site of the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus
census
In the Republic, the official list of Roman citizens (only, not the entire population) was drawn up by censors every five years. From Augustus’s time, emperors periodically organized censuses of the entire empire and its population.
centuira (pl. centuriae)
voting units or”centuries” (193 total) into which the Roman citizen body was divided in the comitia centuriata (“Centuriate Assembly”)
centurion
Title of the officers responsible for the day-to-day functioning of a Roman legion
clementia (“clemency”)
willingness to pardon enemies
client (cliens, pl. clientes)
A free man with ties (sometimes hereditary) to an individual of higher standing termed his patron (patronus).
client kingdom
a state usually on the fringes of Roman territory, which remained independent but whose ruler agreed to maintain and advance Roman interests; Rome offered protection in return
cognomen (pl. cognomina)
last component of the typical Roamn trinomina (“three names”), representing the surname of a Roman family, e.g., Gaius Julius Caesar, who is of the Caesar family. A cognomen might also be acquired, and even become hereditary, through military distinction, e.g. L. Cornelius Scipio Africanus, following his victories in Africa. Some Roman families never had a cognomen; others had more than one.
cohors (cohort)
a group of one kind or another, frequently a tactical unitwithin a legion, but also a governor’s entourage, for example
comitium
In all Roman communities, a designated place for citizens to meet when summoned by officials. The plural comitia denotes such a citizen assemble itself.
consul
chief annual magistrate of the Roman Republic (always one of a pair); given right to imperium; right of command; entrusted with auspicium entitled to same trappings as king
contio
pulic meeting convened by an officeholder to discuss (only) a matter of current concern (legislative, judicial in particular).
conubium
Marriage and the right to enter into a marriage recognized by Roman law
curia (curiae)
1) The earliest groups into which Roman citizens were divided; 2) the meeting place of a citizen unit, in particular a senate or town council
cursus honorum
literally “sucession of offices,” the prescribed series of magistracies that Roman senators sought to hold in order to become leading public figures
decurion
city counselor, theequivalent at a local level to a seantor at Rome
dictator
magistrate appointed to take sole control of the state temporarily in order to overcome a crisis
dignitas
“High rank” and hence the all important esteem due to the holder of it
eques (pl. equites)
(“horseman or knight”; also termed equestrian) Roman citizens who received the highestrating in a census and originally served as calvary men. Free birth, respectability, and wealth of at least 400,000 sesterces were required.
fasces
Bundle of rods surmounted by an axehead carried by official attendants (lictores) before a Roman magistrate as a symbol of his authority
fasti
calendar recording, say, recurrent events (festivals), or days for conducting different kinds ofbusiness (assembly meetings). Also chronological lists of past holders of an office or honor.
forum
In Roman communities, a designated area for conducting political, judicial, and commercial business, and hence usually a town’s focal point
freedman
Freed (or manumitted) slave. Almost all slaves freed by Roman owners received not only freedom, but also Roman citizenship. Freedmen customarily took the noemn of their former owner, whonow became their patronus
gens
extended family or clan linked by a common ancestor
imperium
Supreme authority in Rome’s affairs vested in certain officeholder, who alone could command troops and impose the death penalty.
intercessio
power of veto
legatus
Common term: 1) an envoy; 2) a senior military officer, often the commander of a legion; 3) a high-ranking assistant to a provincial governor
legion
The standard large Roman military formation comprising around 5000 heavily armed infantry.
Lex (law)
Statute passed by a citizen assembly or issued by the emperor, and then generally known by the name(s) of its proposers: for example Lex Manilia
lictor (lictores)
official attendant who carried fasces and escorted a Roman magistrate