Midterm Flashcards

1
Q

aedile

A

maintain public buildings, public festivals

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2
Q

ager (publicus, Gallicus, etc.)

A

Ager publicus (“public land”) was property owned by the Roman state that it could assign or lease (for rent), normally through the censors

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3
Q

Sources for Antiquity

A

Literary texts, documentary texts, epigraphic documents, archaelogical sites, material culture

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4
Q

annona

A

“food supply,” especially then supply of grain to the city of Rome

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5
Q

atrium

A

central entrance and reception room in a Roman house

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6
Q

auctoritas

A

unofficial influence exercised by, and prestige enjoyed by, those individuals or corporate bodies whose advice and recommendations gained special respect.

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7
Q

auspicium

A

divination, the search for and interpretation of signs in nature by augurs

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8
Q

auxilia

A

auxiliary troops (often calvary or specialized fighters) who aided the legions

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9
Q

auxilium (aid)

A

aid for plebeians provided by Tribune of Plebs

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10
Q

Campus Martius (Field of Mars)

A

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.

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11
Q

Capitolium (Mons Capitolinus)

A

(“Capitoline hill,” Capitol) Smallest of Rome’s seven hills, and the site of the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus

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12
Q

census

A

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.

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13
Q

centuira (pl. centuriae)

A

voting units or”centuries” (193 total) into which the Roman citizen body was divided in the comitia centuriata (“Centuriate Assembly”)

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14
Q

centurion

A

Title of the officers responsible for the day-to-day functioning of a Roman legion

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15
Q

clementia (“clemency”)

A

willingness to pardon enemies

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16
Q

client (cliens, pl. clientes)

A

A free man with ties (sometimes hereditary) to an individual of higher standing termed his patron (patronus).

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17
Q

client kingdom

A

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

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18
Q

cognomen (pl. cognomina)

A

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.

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19
Q

cohors (cohort)

A

a group of one kind or another, frequently a tactical unitwithin a legion, but also a governor’s entourage, for example

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20
Q

comitium

A

In all Roman communities, a designated place for citizens to meet when summoned by officials. The plural comitia denotes such a citizen assemble itself.

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21
Q

consul

A

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

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22
Q

contio

A

pulic meeting convened by an officeholder to discuss (only) a matter of current concern (legislative, judicial in particular).

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23
Q

conubium

A

Marriage and the right to enter into a marriage recognized by Roman law

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24
Q

curia (curiae)

A

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

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25
Q

cursus honorum

A

literally “sucession of offices,” the prescribed series of magistracies that Roman senators sought to hold in order to become leading public figures

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26
Q

decurion

A

city counselor, theequivalent at a local level to a seantor at Rome

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27
Q

dictator

A

magistrate appointed to take sole control of the state temporarily in order to overcome a crisis

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28
Q

dignitas

A

“High rank” and hence the all important esteem due to the holder of it

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29
Q

eques (pl. equites)

A

(“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.

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30
Q

fasces

A

Bundle of rods surmounted by an axehead carried by official attendants (lictores) before a Roman magistrate as a symbol of his authority

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31
Q

fasti

A

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.

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32
Q

forum

A

In Roman communities, a designated area for conducting political, judicial, and commercial business, and hence usually a town’s focal point

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33
Q

freedman

A

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

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34
Q

gens

A

extended family or clan linked by a common ancestor

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35
Q

imperium

A

Supreme authority in Rome’s affairs vested in certain officeholder, who alone could command troops and impose the death penalty.

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36
Q

intercessio

A

power of veto

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37
Q

legatus

A

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

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38
Q

legion

A

The standard large Roman military formation comprising around 5000 heavily armed infantry.

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39
Q

Lex (law)

A

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

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40
Q

lictor (lictores)

A

official attendant who carried fasces and escorted a Roman magistrate

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41
Q

nobilis (nobles)

A

Rome’s governing elite. More specifically, the members of those families with an ancestor who had attained the consulship

42
Q

novus homo (new man)

A

first member of a family to become a Roman senator

43
Q

optimates, populares

A

Terms used to describe the holders of contrasting political attitudes from the late second century BCE. Optimates (the best people) continued to uphold tradioinal methods of competition among senators. Populares (people’s men) sought wider popularity among citizens

44
Q

patrician

A

Member of the more privileged group of Roman citizens that controlled wealth and had numerous clients

45
Q

plebs

A

the “plebians,” the less privileged group of Roman citizens; range of wealth and status, but not from elite families

46
Q

pomerium

A

sacred boundary of a city ritually marked by a priest

47
Q

pontifex

A

member of one of the major groups or “colleges” of Roman priests, headed by the pontifex maximus

48
Q

praetor

A

annual magistracy with imperium, an important step in the cursus honorum

49
Q

proconsul

A

ex-consul who, at the end of his term in office, accepted an assignment that continued, or “prorogued,” his magistrate’s authority

50
Q

proletarii

A

Roman citizens whose property at a census was too low to qualify them for military service; all they could offer the state was their children (proles)

51
Q

propraetor

A

ex-praetor who, at the end of his term in office, accepted an assignment that continued, or “prorogued” his magistrate’s authority

52
Q

proscription

A

publication of a list of individuals who could be killed with impunity

53
Q

provincia

A

the sphere of activity which a magistrate was assigned to exercise his authority; hence, in particular,a foreign territory

54
Q

publicanus

A

private individual who performed work for the Roman state under contract. Larger contracts might require a group to work together as a “syndicate”; basically a tax collector

55
Q

Punic

A

In latin usage,Phoenician, hence Carthaginian

56
Q

quaestor

A

state treasury, audit

57
Q

senatus -> senate

A

advisory council first of Rome’s kings, theresfter of the state’s senior magistrates

58
Q

senatus consultum

A

Resolution of decree of the senate

59
Q

Struggle of the Orders

A

prolonged struggle (early fifth to early third centuries BCE) by Rome’s plebeian citizens to overcome domination of the state’s affairs by the patricians.

60
Q

tribune (tribunus, pl. tribuni)

A

from the early fifth century BCE “tribunes of the plebs” with their own authority were recognized as the leaders of the plebeian citizen body. In addition, and quite separately, “military tribunes” were army officers

61
Q

triumph

A

voted by the senate to honor a general who had soundly defeated a non-Roman enemy; celebrated by a procession through Rome

62
Q

Twelve Tables

A

Rome’s first set of written laws (c. 450 BCE)

63
Q

753 BCE

A

Traditional Date for the foundation of Rome

64
Q

509 BCE

A

Republic established

65
Q

146 BCE

A

Carthage, Corinth destroyed

66
Q

44 BCE

A

Caesar assasinated

67
Q

509 BCE

A

Conspiracy against rule of Etruscan kings intiated by Brutus

68
Q

494 BCE

A

First Secession

69
Q

450 BCE

A

Laws of 12 tables

70
Q

367 BCE

A

plebeians became eligible for consulship

71
Q

396 BCE

A

Fall of Veii

72
Q

390 BCE

A

Gauls sack Rome

73
Q

264-241 BCE

A

1st Punic War

74
Q

218-201 BCE

A

2nd Punic War

75
Q

323 BCE

A

Death of Alexander the Great

76
Q

280-275 BCE

A

Pyrrhic War

77
Q

215-205 BCE

A

1st Macedonian War

78
Q

91-87 BCE

A

Social War

79
Q

88 BCE

A

Sulla marches on Rome (1st time)

80
Q

82-81 BCE

A

Proscriptions; Sulla is Dictator

81
Q

73 BCE

A

Spartacus leads uprising of enslaved

82
Q

70 BCE

A

Crassus and Pompey are consuls

83
Q

63 BCE

A

Conspiracy of Catiline

84
Q

Changes of Marius (army)

A
  • enlistment of soldiers from lower property classes
  • soldiers carried their own equipment and tools
  • introduced eagle as the standard
  • changed fighting style; soldiers equipped with sword and spear
  • changes structure of the army to make them more nimble
85
Q

Etruscans Facts

A
  • wealth of mineral resources
  • powerful elite and patronage practices
  • bury in rock-cut tombs
  • major trading entity
  • independent city-states
  • polytheistic religion
86
Q

censor

A

maintain census, public morality

87
Q

How many kings of Rome?

A

Seven starting with Romulus and ending with Superbus

88
Q

Hannibal

A

Carthaginian general who took over most of Italy within two months and had elephants :)

89
Q

Punic War(s)

A

264-241; 218-201(mid 3rd century); 149-146 (2nd century)

90
Q

Macedonian War

A

215-205 (end of 3rd century)

91
Q

Gracchi

A

The two brothers caused a good deal of drama by being Tribunes of Plebs and trying to push forward a series of laws that dealt with land redistribution, etc.

92
Q

Reforms of Gaius Gracchus

A
  • Established uniform grain supply to Rome
  • condemned the use of tribunals for capital punishment
  • moved trials of magistrates from the senate to Equestrian order
  • new colonies
93
Q

121 BCE

A

More violence breaks out in Rome after the death of Gaius Gracchus

94
Q

Marius

A

novus homo, elected for consul five times, made major changes to the organization of the Roman army

95
Q

Saturninus

A

Tribune of Plebs 103; allotted land to Marius’s veterans (vetoed) and then condemned with SCU and killed

96
Q

Sulla

A

-served under Marius in Jurgurthian war
-success in Social war
-consulship in 88
-first march on Rome after T of Plebs passes legislation to remove command from Sulla
-becomes dictator and does proscriptions ordering tons of people to be killed

97
Q

Enslavement in Rome

A

-serfdom, debt bondage, “true” slavery
-not based on race/ethnicity
-agricultural, household, specialty, state-owned, miners

98
Q

31 BCE

A

Battle of Actium

99
Q

42 BCE

A

Battle of Philipi

100
Q

30 BCE

A

Death of Cleopatra