chapter 7 and 8

republic

a form of government in which the leader is not a king and certain citizens have the right to vote

patrician

a social class of wealthy, powerful landowners, they formed the ruling class in the Roman Republic

plebeian

in the Roman Republic, a social class made up of minor landholders, craftspeople, merchants, and small farmers

consul

a chief executive officer of the Roman Republic; two were elected each year to run the government and to lead the army into battle

praetor

an official of the Roman Republic in charge of enforcing civil law

triumvirate

a government by three people with equal power

dictator

an absolute ruler

imperator

commander in chief; the Latin origin of the word

paterfamilias

in the Roman social structure, the dominant male head of the household, which also included his wife, sons and their wives and children, unmarried daughters, and slaves

insulae

Roman apartment blocks constructed of concrete with wooden-beam floors

Latins

people from the ancient country of Latium, an area in what is now the country of Italy

Latium

a plain in central Italy on which the city of Rome was built

Etruscans

northern Italian society that initially dominated the Romans; the Etruscans helped convey Greek concepts to the expanding Romans

Etruria

northern region of Italy; home to the Etruscans

Roman Confederation

system whereby Rome allowed some peoples to have full Roman citizenship, while most of the remaining communities were made allies

Livy

Roman historian

Cincinnatus

the temporary Roman dictator who was given power to rescue Rome from a neighboring tribe, and then willingly gave up power after the enemy was defeated

Senate

300 elected members from Rome's upper society

centuriate assembly

elected the chief officials, such as consuls and praetors, and passed laws

council of plebs

assembly for the plebs only; came into being as a result of the struggle between the two social orders in Rome; later received the right to pass laws

struggle of the orders

a great social conflict that developed between patricians and plebeians; the plebeians wanted real political representation and safeguards against patrician domination

tribunes of the plebs

Roman officials elected by the Council of the Plebs who had the power to protect the plebeians

Twelve Tables

Rome's first code of laws; adopted in 450 B.C.

Law of Nations

grew out of the twelve tables and included standards of justice still used today (innocent until proven guilty)

Carthage

an ancient city on the north coast of Africa

Sicily

an island in the Mediterranean Sea off the southwest tip of the Italian peninsula

First Punic War

from 264 B.C. to 241 B.C., Rome and Carthage fought over the island of Sicily in a naval war. Initially, Rome struggled due to their weak navy. However, the Romans devised a strategy to board Carthaginian ships and engage in hand-to-hand combat. This tactic allowed Rome to gain control of Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia

Hannibal

Carthaginian military commander who, in the Second Punic War, attempted a surprise attack on Rome, crossing the Alps with a large group of soldiers, horses, and elephants

Second Punic War

Carthaginian General Hannibal wanted revenge for Sicily, entered Spain and went East into Roman territory. After much fighting Rome eventually wins again and gains control of Spain, becoming the Mediterranean's dominant power

Battle of Zama

the battle in 202 BC in which Scipio Africanus decisively defeated Hannibal at the end of the second Punic War

Scipio Africanus

Roman general who defeated Hannibal

Third Punic War

50 years later the Romans completely wiped out Carthage by burning the city to the ground, salting the fields and selling its people into slavery

Cato

the Roman senator who feared Carthage would grow too strong and ended every speech with a cry, "Furthermore, I think Carthage must be destroyed"

Tiberius Gracchus

Roman politician who wanted to give land to the poor

Gaius Gracchus

along with Tiberius, tribune who attempted to introduce land and citizenship reform within the Roman republic; killed on the command of the Senate

Marius

a Roman general who recruited volunteer warriors who swore oaths of loyalty to him

Lucius Cornelius Sulla

Roman consul, he battled Marius in a civil war

First Triumvirate

Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey

Second Triumvirate

Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus

Cleopatra VII

Antony allied himself with this Egyptian monarch

Battle of Actium

battle between Antony and Octavian for control of the empire. Octavian won in 31 B.C.

Five Good Emperors of Rome

Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius

Pax Romana

200-year period of peace in Rome

Hadrian's Wall

built by Hadrian in Britain to keep out the Picts and the Scots

Caracalla

gave Roman citizenship to every free person in the empire

Virgil

Roman poet who wrote the Aeneid

Horace

wrote satires

Livy

wrote The Early History of Rome

Spartacus

a Roman gladiator who led the most famous slave revolt in Italy

Circus Maximus

horse and chariot races

Jupiter

god of sky and thunder

Juno

goddess of love and marriage

Minerva

Goddess of wisdom and war

Mars

god of war

procurator

in the Roman Empire, an official in charge of a province

clergy

church leaders

laity

regular church members

plague

an epidemic disease

inflation

a rapid increase in prices

bishopric

a group of Christian communities, or parishes, under the authority of a bishop

monk

a man who separates himself from ordinary human society in order to dedicate himself to God; monks live in monasteries headed by abbots

monasticism

practice of living the life of a monk

missionary

a person sent out to carry a religious message

nun

a woman who separates herself from ordinary human society in order to dedicate herself to God; nuns live in convents headed by abbesses

abbess

the head of a convent

wergild

"money for a man"; the value of a person in money, depending on social status; in Germanic society, a fine paid by a wrongdoer to the family of the person he or she had injured or killed

ordeal

a means of determining guilt in Germanic law, based on the idea of divine intervention: if the accused person was unharmed after a physical trial, he or she was presumed innocent

patriarch

the head of the Eastern Orthodox Church, originally appointed by the Byzantine emperor

icons

pictures of religious images

idolatry

the worship of religious images