Flashcards #6 Ancient Rome

Geography of Rome

centrally located in the Mediterranean Sea, broad fertile plains helped promote unity

Roman Senate

most powerful governing body, members were upper class

Patricians

Roman landowning upper class

Plebeians

Roman lower social class, "commoners"

Pax Romana

"Roman Peace" a time of economic prosperity

Roman "Bread & Circuses"

entertainment to distract the public from government

Roman Empire

spread over a large area including, Europe, North Africa and southwest Asia

Laws of the 12 Tables

set of laws written and displayed in public as a result of demands by plebeians

Aqueducts

water brought from the mountains into the cities and towns often from great distances.

Latifundia

large estates or farms owned by wealthy Romans

Roman Engineering: Roads

built to help move the military personnel around the empire and to quell possible rebellions

Punic Wars

Roman wars with Carthage to control the Mediterranean region

Julius Caesar

Roman politician who led the downfall of the republic and rise to an empire

Religion in Rome

polytheistic and eventually Christian

Christians in Rome

persecuted and not tolerated early in their existence, some are fed to lions

Emperor Constantine

established a new Roman capital at Constantinople in the eastern section of the empire

Emperor Diocletian

divides the Roman empire into east and west

Mediterranean Sea

Body of water that was key to the Roman Empire

Commoners

Plebeians were also known as ...

The continents that made up the Roman Empire

Europe, N. Africa and Southwest Asia.

Mare Nostrum

The ancient Romans called the Mediterranean

Our Sea

The ancient Romans called the Mediterranean mare nostrum, meaning "our sea".

Carthage

Rome's enemy in the Punic Wars

Reasons for the fall of Rome

High taxes put people in poverty, people no longer feel a sense of pride in being Roman.