Western Civ Exam #2

146 BCE

• Third Punic War ended

• Sack of Corinth - wiped out by the Romans

• Romans became the dominant power in the Mediterranean

31 BCE

• the Republic ended (Imperial Roman period)

• the Empire started

• Octavian vs Antony & Cleopatra: victory at Actium*

• Augustus began his kingship

Antonine Dynasty

• line of Roman emperors who ruled

• “Five Good Emperors“

• Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antonius Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Commodus

• Roman empire reached great stability and prosperity

Arian Controversy

• major debate during early Christianity about whether Jesus was divine & human, or just human, or just divine

• it was decided that Jesus and God are the same person

Carthage

• ancient city in North Africa

• became a wealthy trading and naval power that controlled much of the western Mediterranean

• Punic Wars

• was Rome’s main rival until Rome destroyed it in 146 BCE

Cicero

• Roman statesman, lawyer, philosopher, and orator

• defended the Roman Republic

• remembered as one of Rome’s greatest public speakers

Cleopatra

• the Hellenistic queen of Egypt

• last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt

• defeated by Octavian

• after she died, Egypt became part of the Roman Empire

Constantine (the emperor)

• son of a tetrarch

• very ambitious

• didn’t want to share more power than he had to

• made a new empire, Constantinople (Byzantium)

Constantinople (the city)

• Constantine’s city

• one of the 4 imperial cities

• major center of trade and Christianity

Consuls

• chief magistrates and top generals under the Republican self-rule

• highest elected officials in the Roman Republic

• 2 were elected each year to lead govt and military

Diocletian

• a Roman emperor

• reorganized the empire thru the Tetrarchy

  • a system that divided power among 4 rulers

Emperor Julian

• Roman emperor

• tried to restore paganism after Christianity became dominant

• died during a campaign against Persia

Essenes

• Jewish religious group

• lived in secluded religious communities

• practiced strict purity rules

• wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls

  • a collection of ancient Jewish manuscripts discovered near the Dead Sea

First Triumvirate

• the original alliance - informal

• with Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus

• dominated Roman politics

Gnostics

• followers of a religious movement

• taught that salvation came thru spiritual knowledge (gnosis)

• the spiritual world was more important than the material world

• a dualistic philosophical and religious system

Hannibal

• Carthaginian general

• fought Rome in the 2nd Punic War

• famous for crossing the Alps with elephants to invade Italy

Julius Caesar

• Roman general and dictator

• conquered Gaul

• won a civil war

• ended the Roman Republic before being assassinated

• promise of a major command in Gaul (modern France)

Mark Antony

• Roman general

• ally of Julius Caesar

• member of the 2nd Triumvirate

• Cleopatra relationship

• defeated by Octavian at the Battle of Actium

Nero

• died 68 CE

• had a huge pleasure palace

• palace was partially destroyed in The Great Fire 64 CE

• had an extravagant lifestyle

• controversial rule

• ended w suicide

Paul of Tarsus

• St. Paul

• the apostle to the non-jews

• missionary & writer

• spread Christianity

• wrote many letters in the New Testament

Patricians

• original aristocrats - ruling group after expulsion of kinds

• hereditary membership

• held the most political and social power

Pontius Pilate

• Roman procurator of Judea

  • non-senatorial governor, representative of the emperor

• presided over the trial of Jesus and authorized his crucifixion

Punic Wars

destroyed Rome and Carthage, with Rome winning all 3, making it a dominant Mediterranean power

1st

• fought mainly over Sicily

• Rome won and became a major naval power

2nd

• led by Hannibal

• Hannibal had many victories, but Rome still won

3rd

• Rome besieged Carthage

• Rome captured and destroyed the city, ending Carthage as a rival power

Romulus

• supposedly killed his brother, then founded Rome

• Rome’s first king

Septimius Severus

• Roman emperor

• strengthened the military

• founded the Severan Dynasty

Second Triumvirate

• legally recognized alliance btw Octavian, Mark Antony, and Lepidus

• formed after Julius Caesar’s assassination

• defeated Caesar’s enemies and helped lead to the rise of the Roman empire

Struggle of the Orders

• Plebeians demand political and civic rights

• Plebeian leaders: the Turbines (extraordinary powers)

  • most influential members

  • temporary terms, like the consul

  • swore to have each other’s backs if something were to happen

• eventually, the Patrician-Plebeian Nobility ruled Rome together

Tiberius Gracchus

• a tribune of the Plebeian leaders

• didn’t like one man ruling

• had political opportunity

• tried to redistribute land to poor citizens

• death marked the start of growing unrest in Roman republic

Tribunes

• elected officials in Rome

• represented and protected the rights of the Plebeians (common ppl)

• did it thru their power to veto laws and govt actions