Roman Culture: Key Figures and Events

Mount Vesuvius

Volcano in Campanian region, Italy.

Eruption Date

August 24, 79 AD.

Pompeii Population

20,000 people killed instantly.

Herculaneum Burial Depth

Buried under 50-70 feet of volcanic material.

Pliny the Elder

Led evacuation fleet during Herculaneum disaster.

Pliny the Younger

Recorded accounts of Vesuvius eruption.

Tacitus

Roman historian born in Gaul.

Praetor

Elected Roman magistrate position.

Life of Agricola

Published work by Tacitus in 98 AD.

Germania

Tacitus' ethnographic work on Germanic tribes.

Lucius Apuleius

Platonist philosopher and novel writer.

Metamorphoses

Novel about Lucius transformed into a donkey.

Cult of Isis

Popular religious cult in Rome.

Ammianus Marcellinus

Historian covering Rome from 96 to 378 AD.

Rērum Gestārum Librī

Ammianus' history of Rome in 31 books.

Adrianople Battle

378 AD defeat of Romans by Huns and Goths.

Atilla the Hun

Sole ruler of the Hunnic Empire after 445 AD.

Hunnic Empire Collapse

Rapid disintegration after Atilla's death in 453 AD.

St. Augustine

Theologian born in 354 AD in Algeria.

Neoplatonism

Philosophy emphasizing evil as absence of good.

Confessions

Autobiographical work by St. Augustine.

City of God

Theological treatise by St. Augustine.

Religious Community

Established by Augustine upon returning to Tagaste.