Social Studies: Romans Flashcards
Vocab: Forum
Open area in a Roman city filled with public buildings, temples and markets
Vocab: Republic
A form of government where citizens have a right to vote and elect officials
Vocab: Legion
Basic unit of the Roman army, consisting of 4500 to 5000 heavily armed soldiers
Vocab: Maniple
Unit of 60 to 120 soldiers within a Roman legion that could act independently in battle
Vocab: Identify
Consider or treat as the same
Vocab: Diplomacy
The ability to handle relationships without increasing hostility
What mountain separates Italy (where Rome is located) from the rest of Europe, and what mountain range runs down the middle of Italy?
The Alps, and the Apennines
What geographic features allowed soldiers to march easily in Italy and allowed the region to be united into an empire?
Italy has mountains but is less rugged than Greece, which made it easier for soldiers to march. There are are also several rivers that ships can use.
What geographic features enabled agriculture to thrive?
Italy has large, fertile and flat plains that were suitable for farming. Roman farmers produced olive oil, wheat, grapes and wine, and also raised sheep and goat for milk and wool.
What other geographic features gave Rome some natural advantages?
Surrounding hills provided a natural defense for the city.
Rome was also located on the Tiber River, so it had access to ports, allowing small boats to reach the city. But the river was too shallow for large ships, so enemies could not reach the city by using the river.
The city was also located on important trade routes.
Rome was part of what region?
Latium. The people and language in this region were called Latin.
When did people first settle in Rome?
Around 800 B.C.
What was the legend around the founding of Rome?
Twins named Romulus and Remus founded the city, when they were thrown into the Tiber River as babies by their jealous uncle who was the king.
They were rescued by a she-wolf and raised by a shepherd.
Romulus later killed Remus and gave the city its name.
What area was the center of Roman government, religion and economy?
The forum.
True or false: Rome started as a city-state before it grew into an empire.
True
What was the earliest form of Roman government?
Rome started as a monarchy, ruled by powerful kings that served as the head of the army, the head priest and supreme judge.
The king was advised by a senate made up of aristocratic wealthy old men.
How did Rome become a republic?
The aristocrats grew tired of being ruled by a king, especially when King Tarquin mistreated people in 509 B.C., leading Romans to overthrow the king to form a republic.
Rome was heavily influenced by Greek culture, especially the democracy that existed in Athens.
How did Greek culture make it way to Rome?
Greeks settled in southern Italy around 700 B.C. As Rome’s power grew, it came into contact with these cities and learned about Greek culture, which were adopted by Romans, including including democracy in Athens.
Where does the term republic come from?
It comes from the Latin word res publica, which means “public thing” or “public business”.
Who could participate in the city’s government?
All free adult male citizens.
Aside from democratic government, what other parts of Greek culture did Romans adopt?
Roman identified their gods with Greek gods.
They also adopted Greek legends, including claiming that Romulus and Remus were descendants of Trojan hero Aeneas from The Iliad. Roman poet Virgil wrote down the story of Aeneas in a poem called The Aeneid.
Who were the Etruscans?
They were a powerful people in Central Italy when Rome was founded. They were skilled artists and builders who sailed around the Mediterranean to trade, and learned from the Greeks and the Phoenicians. The Etruscans developed their alphabet based on Greek, and the Romans developed their alphabet from the Etruscans. The Etruscans also influenced Roman religion and architecture.
What important skills helped Rome to expand?
Romans used both their military strength and diplomacy to expand.
What made the Roman army so strong?
The basic unit of the Roman army was a legion of 4500-5000 heavily armed soldiers. Within each legion, there were maniples who could act independently - this made their army more flexible and adaptable against their less flexible enemy.
The Roman army was also open-minded to adopt ideas from other people. For example, they learned the use of maniples from the Samnites.
Roman soldiers were also good builders who could built forts, roads and bridges to help them move faster.
