Ancient Rome and Early Middle Ages

Vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts from Early Rome, Roman Republic, Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, and early Islamic history.

Early Rome's development location

On the hills around the Tiber river

Early Roman political system

Monarchy

Patricians

A group of elite families in the Roman Empire

Roman Senate

A very powerful advisory body to the council

The Struggle of the Orders

Led to greater political powers for the plebians

Roman Republic collapse cause

A gap between the most powerful and lower classes

Pax Romana

A long period of stability and peace in the Roman Empire

Julio-Claudian dynasty

A group of emperors who are related to Augustus

Main forces of Romanization in the provinces

The army and Law

Roman emperors' treatment of Christians

Began to execute Christians as early as Nero

Effect of Paul's teachings

Transformed the followers of Christ into a universal religion

Boudicca

A British ruler who exemplified resistance to Roman Rule

Diocletian

Emperor around 300 who divided the empire in two

Great Persecution (303 AD)

Targeted Christians

Early Christian administrative structures

Modeled on Roman imperial urban administration

Constantine’s coinage system reform

Led to the creation of a stable currency

Collapse of the Roman Empire in the West

Happened gradually over a century or more

Justinian's Corpus of Civil Law

Preserved Roman law for future generations

Rus

Applied to the lands ruled by the princes of Kiev

Capital of the Byzantine Empire

Constantinople

Religious head of the Orthodox Church

The Patriarch of Constantinople

Ramadan

The month of fasting between sunrise and sunset in Muslim culture

Arab communities before the emergence of Islam

Generally organized into tribes

Shared sacred aspect (Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, Islam)

A sacred book

Similarity between Muslim rulers and Byzantine emperors

Claiming both political and spiritual authority