NLE Roman Locations

Colosseum

also called the Flavian Amphitheater; location of gladiator games, where you might hear "iugula!" (kill him!), "hoc habet" (he's hit!), or "morituri te salutamus" (we who are about to die salute you).

Circus Maximus

location of chariot races; according to the poet Ovid, this was a good place to meet potential dates; features of this building include a spina (center divider), metae (turning posts), and carceres (starting gates)

Campus Martius

"Field of Mars" where the army originally trained

Via Appia

The road between Roma and Brundisium; the earliest and most important road out of Rome; called the Regina Viarum, "queen of roads"

Pantheon

Roman temple famous for its huge dome and oculus, dedicated to the worship of all the gods

Forum

city center, where much of Rome's public business was conducted

Palatine Hill

the hill in Rome where the imperial palaces were located

aqueduct

constructed to convey water from one location to another

thermae

public baths, which contained a caldarium (hot room), tepidarium (warm room), frigidarium (cold room)

amphitheatrum

oval or circular building with seating tiers that surrounded the central performance area, primarily used for gladiatorial games

curia

the Senate house in the Roman Forum

basilica

the building which housed the law courts in the Roman Forum

insula

apartment building

triclinium

dining room in a Roman domus; contained the tres lecti "three couches" on which the diners would recline

atrium

the main room in a Roman domus

culina

kitchen, where a "coquus" might prepare "cena"

Britannia

Britain's Roman province; Julius Caesar led an expedition there during his campaigns in Gaul; conquered by the emperor Claudius in 43 AD

Gaul (Gallia)

France's Roman province; Julius Caesar led a 10-year-long campaign here

Hispania

Spain's Roman province; its silver and gold mines made it an important asset to the Roman empire

Aegyptus

Egypt's Roman province; home of the famous female pharaoh Cleopatra and an important source of grain and papyrus for Rome

Asia Minor

Turkey's Roman province; the location of many Greek colonies, as well as the site of Troy

Mare Nostrum

"our sea" - the Mediterranean to the ancient Romans

Sicilia

island off the "toe of the boot" of Italy; Rome's "breadbasket" - the source of much of Rome's imported grain

Tiber River

the river running through Rome

Ostia

Rome's port town at the mouth of the Tiber

Graecia

Greece

Germania

Germany

Battle of Cannae

During the 2nd Punic War, in 216 BCE, Carthaginian general Hannibal defeated the Roman forces soundly in this battle.

Battle of Actium

Octavian (soon to be Augustus) defeated Marc Antony and Cleopatra in this naval battle off the west coast of Greece

Aegean Sea

The body of water between Greece and Asia Minor. An Athenian king gave it his name when he jumped to his death, thinking his son Theseus had died trying to kill the Minotaur.

Adriatic Sea

The body of water between Italy and Greece

Brundisium

Adriatic port city in southeastern Italy (on the heel of the boot) and at the end of the Via Appia. You would take a ferry from here if you wanted to travel to Greece from Italy.