Roman Civilization Midterm Review

In Roman names, what standard praenomen does the abbreviation 'L.' represent?

Lucius

What term describes a de facto marital union between slaves, or between a slave and a free person, which had no recognized status under civil law?

Contubernium

What are the three core components of the Roman naming system for men (the tria nomina)?

Praenomen (first/given name), Nomen gentilicium (family/clan name), and Cognomen (branch/personal surname).

In Roman names, what standard praenomen does the abbreviation 'P.' represent?

Publius

Which Roman magistrates held the power to conduct the public census, assess citizen property, revise Senate rolls, and award public contracts?

The Censors (censores).

How many centurions commanded a maniple consisting of two centuries?

Two centurions (the First Centurion commanding the right half, and the Second Centurion commanding the left half).

What term refers to a Roman independent of paternal power (paterfamilias), possessing full legal autonomy?

Sui iuris

What legal obligations did a freedperson owe to their former enslaver (patronus) after manumission?

Deference (obsequium), specific customary labor services (operae), and rights of guardianship/inheritance if the freedperson died without direct heirs.

In a Roman military encampment, why was a 200-foot open space left between the outer palisade and the inner tents?

To assemble/move troops safely, store livestock/booty, and protect tents from enemy fire and missiles during night attacks.

Which Republican officers were elected by the plebeian assembly specifically to protect plebeians against patrician magistrate abuses?

Tribunes of the Plebs (tribuni plebis).

What is the function of the nomen gentilicium in a Roman male's name?

It is the hereditary family name (gens) that identifies the clan to which the person belongs (typically ending in '-ius').

What was the pomerium in ancient Rome?

The sacred city boundary of Rome that legally separated the civil sphere (domi) from the military sphere (militiae).

For the name P. Cornelius L.f. P.n. Scipio, who was the grandfather of this individual?

Publius Cornelius Scipio (indicated by P.n.).

In Polybius's description of the legion, how did the weapon equipment of the triarii differ from that of the hastati and principes?

The triarii (oldest veterans) carried heavy thrusting spears instead of throwing javelins.

What major recruitment change did Gaius Marius introduce in 107 BC to enlarge the Roman army?

He dropped the property qualification and enrolled landless, unemployed citizens (proletarii), creating a professional career army.

In Roman names, what standard praenomen does the abbreviation 'M.' represent?

Marcus

Which Roman judicial magistrates presided over law courts, held military commands, and served as provincial governors?

The Praetors (praetores).

What were ancestral wax masks (imagines) used for in noble Roman families?

They were displayed in the home atrium and worn by actors in funeral processions to commemorate distinguished ancestors.

What was conubium in Roman law?

The legal right of intermarriage between Roman citizens (or citizens and privileged non-citizens).

Before Marius's reforms, who was eligible to serve in the Roman army?

Citizen property owners who met a minimum property qualification, supplemented by allied troops.

What does the Latin phrase mos maiorum mean?

'The custom of (our) ancestors'—unwritten traditional customs and precedents that guided Roman social and political behavior.

When a Roman male citizen was adopted by another male citizen, how was his new name formed under traditional practice?

He took his adoptive father's full name and added his original birth family nomen with the adjectival suffix '-ianus' as an additional cognomen.

What is infamia in Roman law?

A legal stigma resulting in the diminution or loss of official civic reputation and legal privileges (affecting actors, prostitutes, gladiators, etc.).

What was ius vitae necisque in Roman family law?

The ancient legal 'power of life and death' held by a paterfamilias over persons in his patria potestas.

What was a peculium?

A fund of money or property granted by a paterfamilias or slave owner (dominus) to a child in potestate or slave to manage, legally belonging to the head of household.

Which Roman magistrates supervised grain markets, public buildings, roads, brothels, and public games?

The Aediles (aediles).

What social class constituted the wealthy 'non-political wing' of the Roman ruling class, possessing senatorial wealth without holding office?

The Equestrians or Knights (equites / ordo equester).

What rank was held by the six junior officers assigned to each legion, who were usually young men of elite or equestrian families?

Military Tribunes (tribuni militum).

What was the name of Rome's ancient main sewer system, praised by Strabo for flushing waste into the Tiber River?

The Cloaca Maxima.

In Polybius's description of the Roman legion, who were the hastati?

The youngest heavy infantrymen in the main line of battle, equipped with full armor (panoply), oblong shields, and two javelins.

What was the main function of a male guardian (tutor) assigned to an independent woman or minor child in Rome?

To safeguard property and formally approve legal transactions (auctoritas); providing direct elementary schooling was NOT a tutor's duty.

What is the specific Latin term for a slave born directly into the master's household, as opposed to a purchased slave (empticius)?

Verna (plural: vernae).

How were Roman daughters traditionally named during the Republic?

They took the feminine form of their father's clan name (nomen), changing the masculine '-ius' ending to '-ia' (e.g., a daughter of Tullius was named Tullia).

When the slave Tiro was manumitted by his enslaver Marcus Tullius Cicero, what became his official Roman name?

Marcus Tullius M.L. Cicero Tiro (where M.L. = Marci libertus).

What financial inheritance penalty did Augustus impose on unmarried (caelibes) and childless (orbi) members of the elite under his marriage laws?

Restrictions and limitations on their right to inherit property from non-relatives under wills.

What key legal disability applied to ALL women in ancient Rome regardless of wealth or social standing?

No female could vote or hold political office.

In Roman names, what standard praenomen does the abbreviation 'C.' represent?

Gaius

Under Augustan adultery law, what offense was a husband guilty of if he discovered his wife's adultery but refused to divorce her?

Lenocinium (pimping/pandering).

In Roman names, what standard praenomen does the abbreviation 'Cn.' represent?

Gnaeus

What was a male former slave who had been legally freed called in Roman society?

Libertus (or libertinus).

In a Roman house (domus), what room served specifically as the formal dining room?

The Triclinium

How many cohorts comprised a standard post-Marian Roman legion?

Ten cohorts per legion.

What is the difference between agnatio and cognatio in Roman law?

Agnatio is legal kinship traced strictly through male lineage under patria potestas; cognatio includes all blood relations (including through females) within six degrees.

How did a woman's name change legally upon her marriage in ancient Rome?

A woman's name did NOT change upon marriage; she retained her birth family's feminine nomen.

What was a dos in Roman marriage arrangements?

A dowry—property provided by the bride's father or family to the husband to assist with household expenses during marriage.

When Gaius Octavius was adopted by testament by Gaius Julius Caesar, what became his official full adoptive name?

Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus.

What famous open field along the Tiber in northwest central Rome was used for military drilling, voting assemblies, and recreational activity?

The Campus Martius (Field of Mars).

What formal legal act released a slave from the power (manus) of their master and conferred freedom and Roman citizenship?

Manumissio (manumission).

Under the Emperor Augustus's moral legislation (Lex Iulia de adulteriis), how did the legal status of adultery change?

Adultery became a public crime prosecuted in a public criminal court rather than being handled purely as a private family matter.

What tactical fighting unit of two centuries (~160 men) in the mid-Republican legion was replaced by Marius with the cohort (~500 men)?

The Maniple (manipulus).

How did filiation evolve across three generations starting from a freedman (1st gen: M. Tullius M.L. Tiro) to his free-born grandson?

1st gen: shows freed status ('M.L.'); 2nd gen: shows father's filiation ('M.F.'); 3rd gen: displays full filiation with father and grandfather ('M.F. M.N.').

What officers were appointed by Roman consuls to command non-Roman allied troops?

Prefects (praefecti).

If a Roman citizen named Marcus Tullius Cicero had two daughters, how were they formally distinguished?

The elder daughter was called Tullia Maior and the younger was called Tullia Minor.

What term described an advisory council of family and friends that Roman magistrates and patresfamilias were expected to consult before making major decisions?

Consilium

What term designates an attendant assigned to accompany elite young children to protect, supervise, and monitor their moral behavior?

Paedagogus (Pedagogue).

According to elite Roman moral writers like Cicero, which occupations were considered respectable for gentlemen?

Agriculture, landowning, military command, law, and unpaid public service (magistracies); wage labor, retail trade, usury, and tax collecting were deemed vulgar.

In Roman names, what standard praenomen does the abbreviation 'Ti.' represent?

Tiberius

What is the legal authority exercised by a Roman paterfamilias over his children and agnatic descendants?

Patria potestas (paternal power).

What war was fought in 90-89 BC by Italian communities protesting their lack of Roman citizenship rights, and what was its outcome?

The Social War (or War with the Allies); Rome yielded and granted full citizenship to all free people in Italy.

Where were Roman tombs and sepulchers required by law to be located?

Outside the city walls (pomerium), alongside major roads leading out of Rome.

Under the post-Marian professional army system, how long did soldiers enlist for full active military service?

Twenty years for Roman citizens (and twenty-five years for allied auxiliaries).

How was a manumitted slave's full Roman name constructed upon gaining freedom?

The freedperson took the former enslaver's praenomen and nomen, inserted 'L.' or 'M.L.' (libertus) in place of filiation, and kept their original slave name as their cognomen.

What term refers to the asymmetrical, reciprocal social relationship between upper-class elite Roman protectors and lower-class dependents?

Clientela (the patron-client relationship between patronus and cliens).

What were the primary character traits the Romans sought when selecting centurions?

Steadfastness, perseverance, and calm leadership under pressure, rather than reckless or rash daring.

Which Roman emperor granted Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants across the entire Empire in AD 212?

Emperor Caracalla.

What was the key legal distinction between marriage cum manu and marriage sine manu from the wife's perspective?

In marriage cum manu, the wife passed into the legal authority (manus) of her husband/his family; in marriage sine manu, she remained under the patria potestas of her birth father.

In Polybius's description of the pre-Marian Roman legion, who were the velites?

The youngest and poorest soldiers, serving as light-armed skirmishers equipped with javelins, a sword, and a small round shield.

What reward did non-citizen provincial auxiliary soldiers (auxilia) receive upon honorable retirement from the military?

Full Roman citizenship.

What were columbaria in the context of Roman burial practices?

Subterranean tomb structures containing wall niches to store cinerary urns holding cremated remains.

For the name P. Cornelius L.f. P.n. Scipio, who was the father of this individual?

Lucius Cornelius Scipio (indicated by L.f.).

In the filiation designation 'M.f. M.n.', what do 'f.' and 'n.' stand for?

'f.' = filius (son of Marcus); 'n.' = nepos (grandson of Marcus).

What pension benefit was commonly awarded to veteran soldiers upon retirement from twenty years of service?

A grant of land, often in a provincial veteran colony.

Who were the chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, always two in number, elected annually, who gave their names to the year?

The Consuls (consules).

Was the Roman Senate a formal legislative body that directly passed binding statutory laws (leges) during the Republic?

No; the Senate was an advisory council of ex-magistrates whose decrees (senatus consulta) carried immense authority and were enforced by magistrates.

What four major factors determined an individual's place and legal privileges in Roman society?

(1) Wealth, (2) Freedom status (freeborn, freedperson, or slave), (3) Roman citizenship status, and (4) Sex/gender.

What legal process resulted in a person under the paternal power of one family head coming under the patria potestas of another?

Adoptio (adoption).

What were the three common origins or types of a Roman cognomen?

(1) Descriptive physical/character traits (e.g., Cicero = 'chick-pea', Brutus = 'dullard'), (2) Honorary titles (e.g., Magnus, Africanus), and (3) Family-derived branch names.

What public assembly met in the Campus Martius to elect senior magistrates and vote on legislation, structured according to property centuries?

The Comitia Centuriata (Centuriate Assembly).

What was a legatus in the Roman military structure?

A high-ranking legionary officer of senatorial rank with magisterial experience.

In Roman law, how were slaves legally categorized?

Slaves posed a unique problem because they were treated legally both as items of property (res) and as human persons.