Ancient Romans

Cloaca Maxima

Great drain; built during the Regal Period to drain marshes and allow settlement of valleys

Servian Walls

First walls of Rome, made of Tufa, hugging the 7 hills

Forum (general)

Central social, religious, political, economic hub

Circus Maximus

Venue for spectacle, mainly chariot races

Cavea (Cauea)

Seating area of multipurpose spaces

Spina

raised spine at the center of the track, for shrines and to count laps

Meta

Conical turning post

Pulvinar

Imperial box seats, also with god statues

Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus

Sky god, father god, most important temple

Manubial Temples

A small temple from one man to one god. Built along the triumphal parade route

The Roman Forum Section

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Capitoline Temples

incl. Saturn, Vespasian & Titus

Rostra Julia

Platforms for public address in the forum

Basilica Julia

Courthouse

Curia Julia

Senate house

Comitium

Curved staircase outside the curia Julia for meetings, said to have inspired the rostra Julia

Via Sacra

“sacred way” ancient road north of Forum

temple of the divine Julius

big pole where he was burned

Palance Tiberius

first imperial residence

Temple of Vesta

Vesta, goddess of the hearth, the temple home to Rome’s eternal flame. Vestal Virgins

Temple of the Castor and Pollux

The only standing piece of the temple is the three columns, originally a victory temple, in the forum

The Domus Aurea

Nero;s “Golden House” built in the aftermath of the Great Fire of ‘64

Lupus Magnus

gladitorial training school built by domitian, right next to colosseum

The Colosseum Section

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Velarium

the fourth level sunshade

Hypogeum

Basement

Bath Complexes Section

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Apodyterium

Entrace, changing room

Palestra

Exercise yard

Tepidarium

warm air room

Caldarium

Hot room (air/water) (hypocaust system)

Frigidarium

Cold room (air/water)

Natatio

swimming pool

Terms

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Pax Deorum

peace of the gods

Epithet

secondary title, used to emphasize specific admirable qualities (usually on temples)

Republic Class

Plebeians and Patricians

Republic offical Positions

Senate (older advisors)

Magistrate

Aedile (local leader, controls games)

Consul (military leader)

Censor (can change social status and class citizens)

Dictator (emergency position that has all powers)

Tribune (added after plebeian strike) (power of veto, Plebeian assembly in senate)

Imperial Classes

Senator

Equestrian

General Populus

Enslaved

Damnatio Memoriae

“memory obliteration” for emperors who were considered bad and needing to be erased from history

Vestal Virgins

Only female priesthood, live in forum, high social class

Bestiarii

animal fights, held in Colosseum at morning

Naumachia

mock naval battles, held in flooded arena

Strigil

metal scraper used to clean off the body

Thermie

water heating mechanism borrowed from Greece

Hypocaust System

uses furnaces and false floors to heat the Tepidarium and Caldarium

Oculus

hole in ceiling to let in natural light

Names

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Aeneas

the roman tale of the foundation // Trojan prince that escaped a burning Troy, alongside his fathr Anchises and his son Ascanius, also a wooden Athena

Venus

Roman god of Beauty, said to be mother of Aeneas

Mars

Roman god of war, father Romulus and Remus

Romulus and Remus

• Son of Mars, god of war, and Rhea Silvia, descendant of Aeneas’s son Iulus: brother to Remus

• Washed up from the Tiber near Palatine Hill, saved by the she-wolf, then taken in by shepherd Faustulus

• Avenged their grandfather and reinstated him as king. Romulus wants the Palatine, Remus wants the Aventine

• Romulus kills Remus for being annoying, and Rome is founded on April 21, 753

• Romulus is the first of the 7 Kings

Stones and Building Section

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Tufa

• compressed volcanic ash; top rock over entire region: plentiful

• used for early tools and the first permanent structures

• very soft, convenient for construction, but brittle (needs round edges)

• Usually covered in plaster (to appear like marble in some cases)

Travertine

seconday limestone; Harder white stone

Roman Concrete

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Luna Marble

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Opus Sectilae

Method of Placing cut colored marble into (floral) patterns

Coffering

layering wood or other materials on top of each other to form squares that contain smaller squares inside (roof of curia julia, Pantheon)

Fresco

Painting directly painted onto building walls, ceilings

Dates Section

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Founding of Rome

April 21, 753 BC (Romulus kills Remus)

Regal Period (7 Kings)

753-509 BC

Republic

509 BC - 44 BC (2nd Century BC: Victory over Greeks)

First Triumtvirate (Octavian/Augustus)

44 BC - 31 AD

Augustan Period

31 BC - 14 AD

14 AD+

Republic

Republic Reign Section (Caesars, Mostly Dynastic Timeline)

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Judio-Claudians

14-68 AD

Period of Four Emerors

68-69 AD

Flavian Dynasty

69-96 AD

Nerva

96-98 AD

Trajan

98-117 AD

Antonine Dynasty

138-192 AD