Classics

How did domitian die

His closest freedman and wife plotted to assasinate him

How did nero die

he fled the city and killed himself

how did vespasian die and what were his last words

natural causes and “alas, I think I am becoming a god”

what were neros last words

an artist dies with me

Who died of a cheese overdose

antionius pius

what were antonius pius last words

keep things steady

what was trajans one criticism

he liked the company of young boys, but never hurt them

what was julian the apostate best known for

being the last pagan emperor

what was justinian best known for

the law and his commitment to the law

who made up the tetrarchy

diocletian, maximian, galerius, and constantius chlorus

how did the tetrarchs show their dedication to the city of rome

rebuild the curia post, made baths of diocletian, and had the decennalia monument which celebrates ten years of the tetrarchy

What did the tetrarchs try to do with taxes and money

Tried to make all taxes the same amount, and set maximum prices for things in an attempt to better the economy, tried to restore silver coinage

How did the tetrarchs handle law

Tried to make all law universal, gave less power to governors who tended to rebel, gave less power to military to stop them from abusing it and collecting money, tried to create law code to make everything fair

Who started the great persecutions

the tetrarchs

How did the tetrarchs, diocletian and maximian legitimize themselves

by associating with the gods hercules and jupitor and putting this imagery on coins

How did diocletian come to power

army raised him to aug. and he raised maximian to aug. later on as well

How did constantine come into power

galerius, diocletian, and maximian met and decided he would be caesar under licinius, and then const. confronts maxentious at battle of melvian bridge. Then him and licinius share power for a while until tensions grow, there is war, and const. is sole emperor

What happened at the battle of the melvian bridge

Constantine has a vision the night before by the Christian God, who tells him to display the Christian sign on the shields of the soldiers, and he wins the battle - this marks constantine’s conversion to Christianity

What is the edict of milan

Ensures universal toleration of Christianity, gives back property and money to Christians

What is the edict of toleration

Explains the reason for the great persecution and allows Christians to do their thing, published by galerius before he goes back into retirement

What buildings did constantine build and have built for him

St. peteres basililica, vatican, baths of constantine, finished cirus of maximian, basilica of const/maxentius, colossus of constantine, temple of romulus (restored and repurposed), and had arch of constantine built for him

describe constantinople

build over byzantium by const as another capital city, meant to be on equal footing with Rome

name the decorations in constantinople

obelisk from egypt and serpent column from delphi

how did constantine die

natural causes, had a very grand funeral and was buried in mausoleum inside a church, was surrounded by 12 apostles

Who was the first emperor to win the loyalty of the pritorian guard with money

claudius

Describe claudius character

very smart, published books, selected by equestrial class to be representative, found by pritorian guard hiding behind a curtain, easily manipulated by the women in his life, more interested in academia than politics, kept out of the public eye because he had a stutter even though he was said to give great speeches, augustus concerned about his appearance, had a speech impediment

what are the sources for claudius

suetonius, tacctius

what funny thing did claudius do

added three letters to the alphabet

How did claudius legitimize himself

made coins that said the people are now saved from misery or something, expanded the empire

What did claudius build

an aqua duct, a port, the porta maggiore

What is the apocolocyntosis and who wrote it

A satire written by seneca the younger, making fun of claudius

Criticisms of claudius

was a know it all, was too easily manipulated

What did nerva build during his reign

forum transitorum,

Why is nerva’s adoption of trajan important

Trajan was a spaniard, and this was the first time am emperor was not like roman, and nerva cared more about ability than familial ties

How long was nerva’s reign

2 years

Who is this about : “he took much greater pride in the title of Optimus than in all the rest, inasmuch as it referred to his character than his arms” (Dio Cassius)

Trajan

Who did the most expanding of the roman empire

Trajan

Name some of the things Trajan built

baths, libraries, markets, trajan’s column, hexagonal harbour, arch of trajan at beneventum

What are the sources for Hadrian

SHA, dio cassius

What was Hadrian’s nickname

little greek

How did Hadrian bring back stability to the empire

Gave back some conquered land

Who is this about “both before the people and the senate he frequently stated that he would so administer the republic that it would know that the state belonged to the people and was not his property (SHA)

Hadrian

Which emperor promised to not execute slaves without legal cause

Hadrian

What did Hadrian build

Hadrian’s wall for the army, arch of Hadrian in Athens, temple of olympic zeus, pantheon, library of Hadrian in Athens, temple of venus and rome

Name the three important parts of Hadrian’s villa in tivoli

maritime theatre (artificial island), canopus (nile thing), and the golden square

Describe Hadrian’s succession

Second choice Antoninus Pius, and made him adopt two more guys, marcus aurelius and lucis veris

What did severus promise to not do, and then did exactly that (he was even the first to violate this promise)

To not execute senators

Who is this about “…..was not only bold and quick to anger but also treacherous and secretive; and so, deriving from these two characteristics impulsiveness on the one hand and craftiness on the other, he would often attack people with the sudden violence of a thunderbolt and again would often injure them as the result of careful deliberation…he always pretended to be fond of the person whom at the moment he most desired to slay” (Dio)

Domitian

Who is this about “he was, indeed, the most ostentatious lover of the people. So fond was he of travel that he wanted to learn further, at first hand, about everything that he has read concerning the different parts of the world” (SHA)

Hadrian

Whose mother dreamt she was carried snakes when she was pregnant with this emperor

Commodus

What buildings did domitian build

stadiums, theatre, temple of flavians, passageways, arch of titus,

Where did domitian build the stadium

in the domus aurea

Where did domitian live and where did vespasian live

in the flavian palace in the domus aurea, and vespasian lived on his own private gardens, not in a palace

What was interesting about the floors in the flavian palace built by domitian

the marble was polished so much you could see your own reflection in it- he was paranoid someone was going to attack him

Who are the buildings and the secret history about, and who wrote them

Justinian, and procopius

Who was the last pagan emperor

julian the apostate

Who is this about “in fact he was horrified rather than delighted on learning that he had been adopted by Hadrian, and he was reluctant to leave his mother’s mansion when ordered to move to hadrian’s private house” (SHA)

Marcus aurelius

Who adopted marcus aurelius

Antoninus pius

What did marcus aurelius build

Finished column of antoninus pius, column of marcus aurelius, arch at ephesus,

How did commodus die

he was strangled in the bath by his wrestling partner,

What is the quinnquenium

the five good years of nero’s reign

body was ill-smelling, eyes dull, gut protruding - who is this

nero

who didn’t let people look at him bc he looked like a goat

caligula

Who’s assassin said “this dagger the senate sends”

Commodus

Who said something along the lines of “I have done so many things but I have accomplished nothing”

severus

Who is this about “alas for the wretched Roman people will be at the mercy of such slow grinding jaws”

Tiberius

Who is lucius sejanus

The guy Tiberius gave a lot of his power to, and he was criticized for this

What is the villa jovis on capri

The place Tiberius went to, possibly to hide from the public eye, and had big cliffs he would throw people off of

How did Tiberius die

smothered or poisoned on orders of caligula

Did people like Tiberius

No, they hated him because he did nothing and he was cruel and disgusting

Who is this about “he was sound neither of body nor mind. As a boy he was troubled with the falling sickness, and while in his youth he had some endurance, yet at times because of sudden faintness he was hardly able to walk, to stand up, to collect his thoughts, or to hold up his head. He himself realized his mental infirmity, and thought at times of going into retirement and clearing his brain. It is thought that his wife Caesonia gave him a drug intended for a love potion, which however had the effect of driving him mad.” (suet.)

Caligula

Which emperor dressed like a god, worn a crown, made people call him a god, and replaced the heads of statues with his own

Caligula

How did caligula die

he either had his throat slit by cholerea, or the imperial guard jumped him, either was it was caused by someone within the imperial household

What does the secret of the empire refer to in tacitus hist.

that an emperor could be chosen outside of Rome, and this was Vespasian

how did vespasian legitimize himself

through the lex de imperio vespasiani (said he had the powers of Tiberius, Augustus, and Claudius), did not talk about the civil war so he could claim to be restorer of peace, recognized titus and domitian as his successors to avoid another civil war

What did Vespasian build and finish building

the colosseum, forum of peace (to associate himself with augustus)

was big and strong, had a good sense of humor, enjoyed dirty jokes and obscenities - who is that about

Vespasian

Who was “born into the purple”

commodus

What happened in Rome when Titus was emperor

Mt. Vesuvius erupted, there was a fire, and there was a plague

Who is this about “….after becoming ruler committed no act of murder or of amatory passion but showed himself in upright, though plotted against, and self-controlled…Again, his satisfactory record may also have been due to the fact that he survived his accession but a very short time (short, that is, for a ruler) for he was thus given no opportunity for wrongdoing…In this respect, indeed, he is regarded as having equaled the long reign on Augustus, since it is maintained that Augustus would never have been loved if he lived a shorter life, not…if he lived longer”

Titus

What did Titus build

baths of titus

Which emperor is responsible for these

Caligula

What is this and who built it

Temple/forum of peace - vespasian

What is this and who built it

stadium and race track, domitian

What is this and who built it

Flavian palace, domitian

What is this, what is it on, and who built it

Depicting roman soliders bringing back enemy heads, on trajan’s column, trajan

Which two emperors built a harbour/port

Trajan and claudius

What does the arch of trajan at beneventum depict

trajan with soliders and children, shows how kind he is, also celebrates his work with the grain dole to feed children

What is this from and who built it

Hadrian’s wall, built to protect the military, Hadrian

What is this, who built it, what is special about it

Arch of Hadrian in Athens, mixes roman and greek architecture, separates older, greek part of city from hadrianic part

Who said this “for it is on behalf of the state that I continue to toil and to undergo dangers and that I have spend so much time here outside of Italy, thought already an old man and weak, unable to take either food without pain or sleep without anxiety” (Dio)

Marcus aurelius

What is this, who built it, where is it, what’s it for

Arch at tripoli, marc built it for lucis veras’ parthian victory

What does this show, where is it, who built it for who

Arch at ephesus, marcus aurelius built it for lucis veras to celebrate his parthian victory

Who said this and about who “for were….to be killed, I should be deprived of a great prize both of war and of victory, a prize such as no human being has ever yet obtained. And what is this prize? To forgive a man who has wronged one, to remain a friend to one who has transgressed friendship, to continue faithful to one who has broken faith” (Dio)

Marcus aruelis about avidius cassius

How did marcus aurelius die

By a doctor on favor of commodus

Who was born into the purple

commodus

Who is julia domna and what did she do

wife of severus, went on campaign with him, big influence on him and carcalla, shows how women indirectly yield a lot of power

Describe briefly what happened after commodus die

• senate chooses pertinax to be emperor, but he cannot pay donative to pritorian guard so they kill him

• pritorian guard auctions off empire to whoever can pay the most - don’t care about merit only money

• Julianus can pay the most

• then julianus, niger, severus, and albinus all have some kind of title/control of military and they all wanna be in power

• severus makes albinus caesar

• then severus marches on rome, julianus is killed by the pritorian guard, and severus takes control of rome

• severus defeats niger, albinus head to be displayed on a stick

Where was severus from

North africa

Who claimed to be the son of marcus aurelius

Severus