Roman History Final Study Guide

Vocabulary flashcards covering the exam format and the comprehensive list of terms, people, events, and architectural works for the Roman History Final.

Numismatics

The evolution of currency from raw bronze to a centralized system - Diocletian

revetment

Applying thin, decorative marble slabs onto concrete or masonry walls - meant luxuary, republic era

Crisis of the 3rd century

50 year civil war, many different men claiming to be emporer, 3 different regions in the empire, breakdown of the system

The Imperial Cult

state religion system that deified imperial leaders after death

Damnatio Memoriae

Act of destroying someones reputation, name and image from the public. Example: Geta from the Severan Dynasty

Spolia

repurposing building materials, stone or decorative art, from earlier structures: Constantine did this a lot

Donations of Alexandria

Political act by Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony in which they distributed lands held by Rome and Parthia among Cleopatra's children

Edict of Milan

Constantine signed this to legalize christianity in the empire

Res Gestate

1st century CE, bronze, turkey, detailing Augustus’s accomplishments

Tetrarchy

Style of ruling put in place by Diocletian, 2 Augustus (Senior) emperors, 2 Caesar (Junior) emperors

The Dominate

Used to describe the Roman Empire beginning with Diocletians rule

Battle of the Melvin Bridge

Where Constantine defeated Maxentius, Constantine had a vision of the early Christian symbol (xpistos) led to him legalizing christianity

The Second Sophistic

a major Greek cultural and literary movement during the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE for Roman Elites

Praetorian Guard

Established by Augustus, a legion of guards to protect the emperor

The Five Good Emperors

A term, person, or event to know for the Roman History final exam.

Arch of Titus

Art, object, or architecture to know for the Roman History final exam.

The Flavian Ampitheater

Art, object, or architecture to know for the Roman History final exam.

Trajan’s Column

Art, object, or architecture to know for the Roman History final exam.

The Pantheon

Art, object, or architecture to know for the Roman History final exam.

Edward Gibbon

A term, person, or event to know for the Roman History final exam.

Antonine Altar at Ephesus

Art, object, or architecture to know for the Roman History final exam.

Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius

Art, object, or architecture to know for the Roman History final exam.

Ludovisi sarcophagus

Art, object, or architecture to know for the Roman History final exam.

The Porphyry Sculpture of the Tetrarchs in Venice

Art, object, or architecture to know for the Roman History final exam.

Palace of Diocletian, Split

Art, object, or architecture to know for the Roman History final exam.

Basilica of Maxentius/Constantine/ Basilica Nova

Art, object, or architecture to know for the Roman History final exam.

Sarcophagus of Constantia

Art, object, or architecture to know for the Roman History final exam.

Cubiculum ceiling of the Catacomb of Saints Peter and Marcellinus, Rome

Art, object, or architecture to know for the Roman History final exam.

Constantinople

Art, object, or architecture to know for the Roman History final exam.

Bricks and brick walls

perfected during the 1st century AD, mass-produced to build durable walls, public monuments, and military fortifications throughout the empire. They were often stamped with producer, owner, and date information

Honorific and triumphal arches

freestanding structures to celebrate victories, acting as a symbol of roman power

Aqueducts

engineering system that used gravity to transport water to towns

Necropolis

was a ‘city of the dead’ located outside of Rome due to laws surrounding burying the dead in the city

Provinces

established units of the Empire outside of Italy, govern conquered territories, collected taxes and secured borders

Asia

133 BC - modern day Turkey, wealthy cities

Funerary architecture

Function and uses - a place for people to visit the dead, large architectures ensures memory and status

Valerian

Claimed soldier Emperor, 253-260 BC, defeated and captured

Aurelian

Soldier-emperor who ended the Crisis of the Third Century by reuniting the fractured empire, build brick walls to protect the empire from Germanic invasions

Flavian Dynasty

1st century AD, Vespasian, Titus and Domitian, Ampitheater, after Nero and year of the four emperors

Battle of Actium

31 BCE was a naval conflict off Greece where Octavian defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra, ending the Roman Republic's civil wars and establishing the Roman Empire

Caracalla

Son of Septimius Severus, 211-217 AD, named after his soldier cape, ‘a sober leader’ needed for his time of rule

Marcus Aurelius

One of the five good emperors, 161-180 AD, shift in culture: philosophy

Antonius Pius

One of the five good emperors, 138-161 AD, devout and loyal, a holy man, rules the largest version of the Roman empire

Galen of Pergamon

Physician, surgeon, intellectual, revolutionized medicine and his book is one of the most thorough account of medicine from the ancient world

Trajan

One of the five good emperors, 98-117 AD, best to the romans, military politician, from span