HIST 314 Ultimate Study Guide Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the transition from the Roman Republic through the Roman Empire and the fall of the West.

Princeps

“First Citizen”; title used by Augustus to mask autocracy.

Mos Maiorum

Traditional Roman values: virtus (courage), gravitas (seriousness), and pietas (loyalty/duty).

Pax Deorum

“Peace of the gods”; the belief that proper religious observance ensured Roman success.

Damnatio Memoriae

Condemnation of memory; the practice of erasing a disgraced emperor’s name and image.

Paideia

Greco-Roman education in classics (and later Christian texts) that served as a mark of elite status.

Collegium

A cross-class occupational association that provided burial, meals, and work distribution.

Decurions

Local town aristocrats who funded public works in exchange for status.

Interpretatio Romana

Roman interpretation; the process of identifying foreign gods with Roman equivalents.

Logos

Reason or rational principle, which was central to Stoicism.

Fiscus Iudaicus

The Jewish tax imposed after the destruction of the Temple.

Julius Caesar

Leader who declared himself king and was assassinated in $44\,BCE$ by the Liberators (Brutus and Cassius).

Mark Antony

Caesar’s right-hand man and consul who controlled Caesar’s money and later allied with Cleopatra VII.

Cicero

The greatest Roman orator and ‘Savior of the Republic’ who wrote the Philippics and was the greatest victim of the proscriptions.

Octavian (Gaius Octavianus)

The adopted grand-nephew of Caesar who claimed his inheritance and later became Augustus.

Second Triumvirate

A surprise alliance of ‘Caesarians’ (Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus) formed in $44-31\,BCE$ against the Liberators.

Battle of Philippi

Battle in $42\,BCE$ where the Liberators were defeated; Brutus and Cassius subsequently committed suicide.

Battle of Actium

Naval battle in $31\,BCE$ where Octavian trapped Antony’s fleet, leading to the eventual suicides of Antony and Cleopatra in $30\,BCE$.

First Settlement

Event in $27\,BCE$ where Octavian adopted the name Augustus and took proconsular power over Gaul, Spain, and Syria for $10$ years.

Second Settlement

Event in $23\,BCE$ where Augustus gained Imperium Maius (greater authority) and Tribunicia Potestas (veto power).

Lex Julia

Legislation from $18-17\,BCE$ that made adultery a crime and offered tax benefits for having $3$ children.

Ara Pacis

The Altar of Peace; a unique monument from the Augustan Age.

Tiberius

Emperor who ruled from $14-37\,CE$; he was groomed by Augustus and eventually moved to Capri in $27\,CE$.

Sejanus

The Praetorian Prefect under Tiberius who used maiestas (treason) trials to accumulate power.

Caligula

Emperor from $37-41\,CE$ who initially repealed maiestas laws but was later alleged to have turned into a ‘monster’ and made his horse Incitatus a consul.

Claudius

Scholar and historian emperor ($41-54\,CE$) who was appointed by the Praetorian Guard and successfully invaded Britain in $43\,CE$.

Nero

Emperor from $54-68\,CE$ whose reign began with the ‘Good Five Years’ but ended in suicide after multiple revolts.

Seneca the Younger

Stoic philosopher and advisor to Nero; he is the only Roman tragedian whose works survived.

Domus Aurea

The ‘Golden House’ built by Nero after the Great Fire of $64\,CE$.

Year of the Four Emperors

The period of civil war in $69\,CE$ following Nero’s death, involving Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian.

Vespasian

The founder of the Flavian dynasty ($69-79\,CE$) who promoted simplicity and built the Colosseum.

Josephus (Flavius Josephus)

Author who wrote Antiquities of the Jews and documented the Jewish War.

Domitian

Flavian emperor ($81-96\,CE$) known for his paranoia, demand to be called Dominus et Deus, and being targeted by the first major damnatio memoriae.

Trajan

Emperor ($98-117\,CE$) known for the conquest of Dacia, the Alimenta program, and expanding the empire into Mesopotamia.

Hadrian

Emperor ($117-138\,CE$) who built a defensive wall in Britain, deified his lover Antinous, and crushed the Bar Kochba War.

Marcus Aurelius

The Stoic philosopher-king ($161-180\,CE$) and author of Meditations who faced plagues and major wars on the Danube.

Constitutio Antoniniana

Edict issued by Caracalla in $212\,CE$ that granted Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants of the empire.

Elagabalus

A $15$-year-old Severan emperor who mandated the worship of the Syrian sun-god El-Agabal and was remembered as depraved.

Mithras

A mystery religion of Persian origin popular with soldiers, featuring the bull-slayer and taurobolium (blood baptism).

Aurelian

Emperor ($270-275\,CE$) who reconquered the Gallic and Palmyrene empires and built new walls around Rome.

The Tetrarchy

The ‘Rule of Four’ established by Diocletian, consisting of two senior Augusti and two junior Caesares.

Caput-Iugum

A new tax system under Diocletian that combined a head tax (caput) and a land tax (iugum).

Battle of Milvian Bridge

The $312\,CE$ battle where Constantine defeated Maxentius after seeing a vision of a cross of light.

Edict of Milan

A $313\,CE$ decree established by Constantine and Licinius that provided religious tolerance and restitution of property for Christians.

Council of Nicaea

A $325\,CE$ meeting that refuted Arianism, created the Nicene Creed, and defined orthodoxy.

Julian the Apostate

Emperor ($360-363\,CE$) who repudiated Christianity and attempted to revive traditional polytheism.

Theodosius I

Emperor who made Christianity the sole legal religion and oversaw the permanent division of the empire into East and West.

Magister Militum

A Germanic military chief who often served as the power behind the throne in the $5th$ century.

Odoacer

The Germanic general who deposed Romulus Augustulus in $476\,CE$, marking the traditional date for the fall of the West.

Justinian

Known as ‘The Last Roman’; a Byzantine emperor who attempted the reconquest of the Western territories.

Limitani / Comitatus

The division of the military under Diocletian into frontier guards (limitani) and a mobile field army (comitatus).

Coloni

Peasants who became serfs tied to the land as a result of Diocletian’s economic reforms.