CLAS202 Final Exam Study

M13 | What was 69 CE called?

The Year of the Four Emperors.

M13 | What political lesson did the Roman legions and Praetorian Guard begin to learn in 69 CE?

They could act as Emperor makers.

M13 | Who founded the Flavian Dynasty?

Titus Flavius Vespasianus (Vespasian).

M13 | What change did Vespasian make in the imperial bureaucracy?

Equestrians increasingly replaced freedmen in the civil service/imperial bureaucracy, gaining wealth and higher status.

M13 | What major building did Vespasian begin in 72 CE?

The Flavian Amphitheatre, later known as the Colosseum.

M13 | What were Vespasian's reported last words?

Ut puto deus fio — I think I am becoming a god.

M13 | Who was Titus in relation to Vespasian?

Vespasian's elder son, a successful general groomed to succeed him.

M13 | What major building did Titus open in 80 CE?

The Flavian Amphitheatre (Colosseum).

M13 | What disaster was Titus criticized for responding slowly to?

The 79 CE eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, which buried Pompeii and Herculaneum.

M13 | Why was Nerva chosen as emperor in 96 CE?

After the Praetorian Guard murdered Domitian, the Senate quickly nominated Nerva to avoid another civil war.

M13 | What was the alimenta?

A baby bonus program introduced to help poor farmers and needy children.

M13 | Whom did Nerva adopt as his son and successor in 97 CE?

Trajan, a respected and popular general.

M13 | Why was Nerva's adoption of Trajan politically useful?

It gained the support of the army.

M13 | What made Trajan unusual among Roman emperors?

He was from Spain and was the first provincial/non-Italian emperor.

M13 | Under which emperor did the Roman Empire reach its greatest territorial extent?

Trajan.

M13 | What major territory did Trajan conquer across the Danube?

Dacia, in the region of modern Hungary and Romania.

M13 | What did Rome gain from Trajan's conquest of Dacia?

Great wealth in gold and slaves.

M13 | What was a congiaria under Trajan?

A cash gift to Roman citizens; Trajan gave each citizen 75 denarii from Dacian spoils.

M13 | What does Trajan's Column depict?

The Dacian War in great detail.

M13 | Why were Trajan's congiaria and Trajan's Column important?

They were propaganda showing that Roman citizens shared in the wealth and glory of conquest.

M13 | Who succeeded Trajan and was also from Spain?

Hadrian.

M13 | What was Hadrian's frontier policy?

He abandoned many new provinces, shortened the frontier, and pulled borders back to more defensible lines such as the Rhine and Danube.

M13 | Why did Hadrian shorten Rome's frontiers?

The Empire was becoming too large and expensive to defend.

M13 | What famous defensive structure did Hadrian build in Britain?

Hadrian's Wall across northern England.

M13 | What major temple did Hadrian build in Rome?

The Pantheon, the Temple to All the Gods.

M13 | What happened to the Senate's political power during the Empire?

The Empire was increasingly run by the Emperor and advisers; the Senate became more like a prestigious Town Council and lost real power.

M13 | What was unusual about Marcus Aurelius' accession?

He insisted that his brother Lucius Verus become co-emperor.

M13 | What did the co-emperorship of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus suggest about governing Rome?

The Empire had become so large that it increasingly needed more than one ruler to manage it.

M13 | What intellectual tradition is Marcus Aurelius associated with?

Stoicism; he was a Stoic philosopher-statesman.

M13 | What does the course identify as beginning under Marcus Aurelius?

The long Decline & Fall of Rome.

M13 | Who was Commodus?

The natural son of Marcus Aurelius and, according to the notes, a ruler who lacked the ability to govern.

M13 | Which god did Commodus identify himself with?

Hercules.

M13 | How many times did Commodus reportedly appear as a gladiator in the Colosseum?

735 times.

M13 | Who was Septimius Severus?

A North African emperor who founded the Severan line and married into a Syrian royal family.

M13 | What major military privilege did Septimius Severus grant soldiers?

Soldiers were allowed to marry, so their children could become heirs and inherit.

M13 | Why did allowing soldiers to marry help Septimius Severus?

It made him more popular with the army and increased morale.

M13 | What major citizenship reform is associated with Caracalla in the notes?

Citizenship was granted to everyone in the Empire except slaves.

M13 | What tax consequence did Caracalla's citizenship grant have?

It allowed the emperor to collect more taxes from more people.

M13 | What military drawback did the citizenship grant create?

Non-Romans had less incentive to join the army to earn citizenship.

M13 | Who dominated the rule of Alexander Severus according to the notes?

His grandmother and his mother, Julia Mamaea; Alexander was effectively a puppet emperor.

M13 | How did the Severan line end?

Alexander Severus and Julia Mamaea were murdered by the army.

M14 | What did the Imperial Cult worship?

The emperors and members of their families as gods.

M14 | Who first organized the Imperial Cult?

Augustus, initially for the worship of Julius Caesar.

M14 | What happened to Julius Caesar after his death in the Imperial Cult?

He was officially recognized as a god, the Divine (Divus) Julius Caesar.

M14 | What does apotheosis mean in the Imperial Cult?

The transformation of an emperor into a god after death.

M14 | Could Roman empresses be deified?

Yes; examples in the notes include Livia and Faustina.

M14 | Why did many common Romans turn to Eastern religions and mystery cults?

They were new, exciting and hopeful and offered meaning and purpose.

M14 | What did upper-class Romans often turn to instead of mystery cults?

Philosophy.

M14 | What did mystery religions/cults commonly offer?

Purification, monotheism, communion, life after death, secret rites, and levels of initiation.

M14 | Who was Mithras?

A Persian/Asian god of light, truth and goodness who battles the forces of darkness.

M14 | What titles were associated with Mithras?

Lord of Light, God of Truth, Saviour from Death, Giver of Bliss, Warrior, and Victorious.

M14 | How many degrees or rites of initiation were associated with Mithraism?

Seven.

M14 | Where were Mithraic temples commonly built?

In caves or structures designed to look like caves.

M14 | What is the tauroctony?

The image of Mithras slaying a bull.

M14 | What did the bull-slaying in Mithraism symbolize?

The death of a symbol of strength/fertility that brought new life or rebirth.

M14 | What other themes were connected to Mithraism?

Astronomy, zodiac signs, prosperity and an afterlife.

M14 | What was Sol Invictus?

The Eastern Sun Unconquered sun-god cult.

M14 | Who especially worshipped Sol Invictus?

Soldiers; Sol Invictus was a patron god of soldiers.

M14 | Who was Jesus of Nazareth according to the course notes?

A Jewish Palestinian carpenter's son who claimed to be the son of Yahweh.

M14 | When and under whom was Jesus crucified according to the notes?

Around 30 CE by Pontius Pilate, during the reign of Tiberius.

M14 | What core ideas did early Christianity promote in the notes?

Love, forgiveness of sins, equality, everlasting life, purification, community and communion.

M14 | Who did early Christianity initially attract?

The poor, slaves, people with disabilities, women and other social outcasts.

M14 | How did Christianity initially spread?

Through the travels of early disciples.

M14 | What happened at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 CE?

Constantine won and became Augustus of the West, claiming divine Christian aid.

M14 | What symbol did Constantine say he received in a vision?

The Chi-Rho, the first two Greek letters of Christ.

M14 | What does In Hoc Signo Vincas mean?

In this sign you will conquer.

M14 | Where did Constantine place the Chi-Rho before the Battle of Milvian Bridge?

On his army's shields and on the labarum (battle standard).

M14 | What did the Edict of Milan do in 313 CE?

Legalized Christianity.

M14 | What did Constantine make a legal holiday in 321 CE?

Sunday, the Christian Sabbath.

M14 | Why was making Sunday a holiday politically clever according to the notes?

Sunday was also important to worshippers of Mithras and Sol Invictus.

M14 | What happened at the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE?

Constantine gathered Christian bishops and scholars to define Christian doctrine and help organize the Church.

M14 | What did Theodosius do in 380 CE?

Made Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire and banned paganism.

M14 | Was formal medical schooling required to call yourself a doctor?

No. Medical schools were optional; many learned through apprenticeship, and the notes say you were a doctor because you said you were.

M14 | Who was Hippocrates of Kos?

The figure presented as the basis of Greek and Roman medicine.

M14 | What approach did Hippocrates bring to medicine?

A clinical science focused on health and illness, diet, exercise and rest rather than religion, superstition and magic.

M14 | What is the Hippocratic Corpus?

About 70 medical texts attributed to Hippocrates.

M14 | What is the Hippocratic Oath?

An oath taken by doctors to do no harm.

M14 | Who was Galen?

A 2nd-century CE physician who built on Hippocrates and Celsus, especially in anatomy, physiology and pathology.

M14 | How long did Galen's influence last?

Well beyond the Roman period.

M14 | What happened at the Temple of Aesculapius on the Tiber?

People believed sleeping there could bring dream-cures.

M14 | What home remedy did Cato believe was a cure-all?

Cabbage.

M14 | Who were the Roman military medics?

The medicus.

M14 | Why were military medics important to civilian medicine?

They developed techniques in the army that were later brought into civilian practice.

M14 | What skills did a medicus learn?

Stopping bleeding, setting bones, closing wounds, using medicinal herbs and amputating limbs.

M14 | What was especially crucial to a wounded soldier's survival?

Cleaning and closing the wound to prevent infection.

M15 | Where was much Roman music used?

In Roman comedies.

M15 | What was the cornu?

A curved, flared Roman brass horn.

M15 | What military function did the cornu serve?

It relayed orders because its pitch could cut through the noise of battle.

M15 | Which percussion instruments in the notes were mostly associated with the East?

Castanets, cymbals, kettledrums, tambourines and the sistrum.

M15 | What military effect did Eastern kettledrums have?

Their thunder-like sound was used to intimidate enemies.

M15 | What was the sistrum?

A bronze rattle from Egypt, especially associated with the cult of Isis.

M15 | Why were foreign musical instruments banned in 115 BCE according to the notes?

They were considered unappealing to Roman ears and associated with strange religious cults.

M15 | Which reigns make up the Golden Age of Imperial Literature in the course?

Augustus, Tiberius and Caligula.

M15 | Who was Maecenas?

A major literary patron, friend of Augustus, and supporter of scholars and poets who wrote patriotic themes.

M15 | Which poet did Maecenas introduce to Augustus?

Vergil.

M15 | Who does the course call Rome's greatest prose writer?

Livy.

M15 | What did Livy's History of Rome cover?

Roman history year by year from the early Republic to Augustus in 142 books.

M15 | What is Vergil's major work?

The Aeneid.

M15 | What historical span does the Aeneid cover?

From the fall of Troy to the rise of Augustus.

M15 | What is the main theme of the Aeneid in the notes?

Rome's fate/destiny is to rule the world, spare the weak and defeat the proud.