The Rise of Rome

Question 1

Roman Monarchy

Answer 1

753 - 509 BC
There were seven kings who ruled Rome at the beginning of its history. April 21, 753 B.C. is the legendary date of the founding of Rome by Romulus. At this time the Greeks were just emerging out of their Dark Ages. Romulus reigned from 753 to 715 BC. After Romulus died, the next four kings were elected by the Romans, the sixth, Servius Tullius, inherited the throne, and the seventh, Tarquinius Superbus was a usurper, killing Servius Tullius to gain the throne.

Question 2

Roman Republic

Answer 2

509 - 31 BC

Question 3

Aeneas

Answer 3

A Trojan hero in Greek mythology, son of the goddess Aphrodite and cousin to Hector. He is more extensively mentioned in Roman mythology, and is seen as an ancestor of Remus and Romulus, founders of Rome.

Question 4

Tiber River

Answer 4

Runs inland from the sea, creates perfect location for Rome to be founded

Question 5

Romulus and Remus

Answer 5

Romulus and Remus were twin brothers. They were abandoned by their parents as babies and put into a basket that was then placed into the River Tiber.

The basket ran aground and the twins were discovered by a female wolf. The wolf nursed the babies for a short time before they were found by a shepherd. The shepherd then brought up the twins.

When Romulus and Remus became adults, they decided to found a city where the wolf had found them.

The brothers quarrelled over where the site should be and Remus was killed by his brother. This left Romulus the sole founder of the new city and he gave his name to it – Rome.

Question 6

The Seven Hills of Rome

Answer 6

1. Palatine Hill - he location where the city of Rome is thought to have been founded by Romulus; later date of palaces
2. Capitoline Hill - overlooks the Roman Forum; housed the Temple of Jupiter, the largest and most important ancient Roman temple
3. Aventine Hill - where Remus wanted to found Rome
4. Caelian Hill - Close to the Colosseum; residential district of Rome’s wealthy families during the Republic
5. Esquiline Hill - location of Emperor Nero’s Domus Aurea (Golden House)
6. Quirinal Hill - the tallest of the hills
7. Viminal Hill - the smallest of the hills

Question 7

Etruscan

Answer 7

The most powerful nation in pre-Roman Italy

Question 8

Plebeians

Answer 8

Commoners; the highest population in society (including merchants, farmers, and craft workers)

Question 9

Patricians

Answer 9

Wealthy land-owning noble class; the only ones who could hold political or religious office in early Rome

Question 10

Pontifices

Answer 10

Members of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion
Pontifex maximus = chief priest

Question 11

Flamens

Answer 11

Priests who were assigned to one of eighteen deities with official cults
The most important of these were the three flamines maiores (major priests), who served the Roman gods Jupiter, Mars, and Quirinus. The remaining twelve were the flamines minores (lesser priests).

Question 12

The Vestal Virgins

Answer 12

Six priestesses who tended the state cult of Vesta (the goddess of the hearth).
They served for 30 years, during which time they had to remain virgins. Failure to attend to their duties was punished by a beating; violation of the vow of chastity, by burial alive (the blood of a Vestal Virgin could not be spilled).

Question 13

Augury

Answer 13

The practice of watching birds to predict the will of the gods; looking for omens

Question 14

By what date did Rome conquer all of Italy?

Answer 14

264 BC

Question 15

Pyrrhic victory

Answer 15

When the toll on the winning party does not offset the reward of success

Question 16

The 1st Punic War

Answer 16

264 to 241 BC
- The longest continuous war in Greek and Roman history
- Fought against Carthadge (entire coastline of Northern Africa, Oligarchy society ruled by lucrative merchants)
- Battle back and form over Sicily eventually favouring Rome
- Development of Rome’s policy of annexations; laws for Roman provinces under Roman governors (main requirements not to supply troops but to pay annual taxes)

Question 17

The 2nd Punic War

Answer 17

218 to 201 BC
- Second war against Carthadge
- Crucible in which Roman Empire was formed
- Hannibal Barca: Carthaginian general with bold plan of crossing Alps with his army (40,000 men and elephants)
- Battle of Cannae - 65,000 Roman soldiers died; one of the bloodiest battles of all time
- Battle of Zamma (202 BC) fought outside Carthage; Hannibal defeated by Scipio

Question 18

Masadonian War

Answer 18

By 133 BC Rome had conquered most of the Hellenistic world
- Flaminitus - Roman general, falls in love with Greek culture

Question 19

Tiberius & Gaius Gracchus

Answer 19

Two brothers from the most prominent family in Rome

Question 20

The Gracchi Attempt Reform

Answer 20

Roman society was beginning to unravel. Veterans who had lost their fortunes in war, farmers who had lost their land, and neighboring citizens who had been conquered were all disgruntled. Factionalism was starting to emerge within the Roman government. These tensions began to wear away at the Republic and attempted reform came from one of the most privileged Roman families.

Tiberius:
- Tiberius bypasses the senate and proposes to the people - threatened to rewrite the rules of power
- The senate was enraged and kills Tiberius and his followers

Gaius:
- Picks up his brothers mission and becomes tribute.
- Has proposals that benefit the poorer population
- Senate upset again but reluctant to move openly against him
- Pass a decree of justification of violence, put a price on Gaius’s head
- Reform experiments squelched
- Results in new paradigm of violence

Question 21

Optimates

Answer 21

Aristocratic elites - self defined noble defenders of the old traditions

Question 22

Populares

Answer 22

Common people - self defined servants of the people

Question 23

Gaius Marius

Answer 23

• Not a Roman but an Italian
• Holds the consulship seven times
• Became client of the Matelli family, married above his station to Julia III
• After participating in Numidian war he decides to run for consul
• His patron, Sulla, discouraged him and campaigned on his own
• Becomes commander of Numidian war after publicly speaking against his mentor
• Transforms army from citizen militia to semi-professional (new patron-soldier relationship vs. state-soldier)

Question 24

Sulla

Answer 24

• Gaius’s former mentor
• Italians tired of having citizenship dangled in front of them and break into open rebellion against Rome
• Rome calls upon Sulla in 90 BC; they are victorious but end up granting citizenship
• Sulla elected consul but Marius circumvents him resulting in Sulla marching on Rome with his army (sets a precedent of Romans marching against Rome with their own army)
• Now Marius marches on Rome while Sulla is away at war
• Marius is old and dies and Sulla returns, appoints himself dictator in order to “restore the Republic” (dictatorships were limited to 6 months but Sulla becomes dictator without a time limit)
• Publishes lists of outlaws who can be lawfully killed (thousands killed including ex-consuls, senators, and equestrians)
• Instates reforms that increase power of the senate and upper classes trying to bring back the old style republic
• Resigns afterwords and dies

Question 25

Jugurtha

Answer 25

Numidian King

Question 26

Pompey the Great

Answer 26

106 - 48 BC

Career was a challenge to the Republic - rose to power by working outside the system, undermined the institutions, set precedents that could not be undone

Great ambitions and impatience - not wanting to spend the time climbing up the military ladder
During the civil war Pompey supported Sulla

• Decides to run for consulship
• Crassus also coveted the consulship - but decided to work together and formed an alliance with both being elected
• Passed a law to have command of the sea and fight the pirates, then to strip general of his post and grant himself jurisdiction over all of asia minor until Mithridates was dead
• Continued to invade Armenia, Albania, Syria, Judea, and Nabetea
• Mithridates commits suicide and Pompey’s command legally over (in 62 BC at the pinnacle of his power he returns to Rome and goes into semi-retirement)

Question 27

Spartacus

Answer 27

Enslaved in Rome and fought as a Gladiator
Revolt of the Gladiators, killed their enslavers and fled
50,000 men acquired through freeing slaves

Question 28

Crassus

Answer 28

Appointed to fight Spartacus
Pompey returns and marches against Spartacus causing Crassus to up his game - Pompey stole much of his glory