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30 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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pontifex maximus
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The pontifex maximus was the chief priest in ancient Rome. During the regal period, the king doubled as the chief priest; during the Republic, the pontifex maximus was elected. See pg. 8.
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Forum
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The central square in Rome, around which temples, law courts, basilicae, and other important buildings were arranged. Romans met there to do business. The word forum is derived from the Latin foras, meaning outside place. Pg. 9.
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Praenomen
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The personal name given to a Roman by parents. During the Republic, there were generally 16 common names for boys; girls were given the feminine form of their father's nomen.
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Nomen
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The family or clan name, equivalent to the last names of American families.
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Cognomen
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A third name sometimes added, which described other family connections or some special achievement or physical characteristic of an ancestor, such as Magnus (the Great), Naso (long-nosed), and Caesar (hairy).
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Paterfamilias
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Paterfamilias is a Latin term which means "father of the household." In Roman law, the father had the right to put to death his children and slaves for any act of disobedience or disloyalty. It was also the father's responsibility to educate his children and teach them the mos maiorum, or ancestral custom.
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mos maiorum
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Means "ancestral custom" in Latin. The father (paterfamilias) taught the children how to behave, and particularly to defer to their elders and betters, etc.--all according to the mos maiorum.
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patricians
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The aristocratic, upper-class in ancient Roman society who could trace their ancestry back to Romulus' first 100 senators. By the start of the Republic they had become rich because they had gained control of the best land.
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plebeians
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"Plebs" or "Plebes," generally the lower, non-aristocratic classes who were small farmers, tradesmen, craftsmen, and unskilled workers.
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the "Secession" of 494 B.C.E.
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An event in which the plebeians "laid down their tools, walked out of Rome, and gathered peacefully on a hillside of the city" in protest of poor treatment by the patricians.
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Menenius Agrippa
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The patrician senator who delivered a speech to the plebes who had seceded. He told them Aesop's Fable of the Stomach, comparing the patricians to the stomach and the plebeians to the body parts. He convinced them to return to the city.
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Coriolanus
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A senator in the early Republic who was so angered that free grain had been distributed by a tribune of the plebs during a famine that he raised a private army against the city. He was dissuaded from attacking by the pleas of his wife and mother.
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The Twelve Tables
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A list of laws published on tablets in the forum in 450 B.C.E. They primarily involved contracts, inheritances, emancipation of slaves, and rights of women. "From this time on, the Senate at least could not be accused of making arbitrary interpretation of the law to suit its own purpose."
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lex Canuleia (445 B.C.E.)
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Lex = law; Canuleia = proposed by Gaius Canuleius. This law was passed by the Senate in 445 B.C.E.; it introduced an important amendment to the the Twelve Tables that allowed patricians and plebeians to intermarry.
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lex Poetilia (326 B.C.E.)
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A law proposed by a man with the nomen Poetilius, which made it illegal to force anyone into slavery because of inability to pay off debts.
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consuls
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Two chief magistrates in the Roman Republic, elected annually. They each had the right of veto over the other. They were heads of state invested by the Senate with imperium (military power and judicial power). Originally held by patricians only, but opened to the plebs in 366.
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praetors
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A magistracy created originally to serve as understudy to consuls. As the Republic grew, their role evolved and they became leaders of the lawcourts; their number eventually expanded to 8. Opened to the plebs in 366 BCE.
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quaestors
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Chief financial officers in ancient Rome (first there were 2, eventually there were as many as eight). First office opened to the plebs (421 BCE).
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censors
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Magistrates who made certain that the citizen rolls were up to date, to make sure that no one could cheat in an election by voting more than once. They became powerful because they had the ability to strike the name of any member of the Senate whose morality came into question.
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Via Appia (completed, 312 BCE)
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"The Appian Way," a road whose construction was commissioned by censor Appius Claudius. It connected Rome to Tarentum in the South and helped Rome to spread its influence.
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tribune of the plebs
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This was a special office created after the secession of 494 BCE. There were ten tribunes elected solely by the plebs, whose job was to protect and promote the rights of plebs. Their persons were sacrosanct, and they could propose legislation AND veto the act of any other magistrate.
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aediles
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They were originally the tribunes' assistants, "little more than secretaries." Later they were elected by the popular assemblies, and it was their job to handle weights and measurements, keep the city clean, and put on games and gladiatorial shows.
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nobiles
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"Nobles." This was a technical term meant to designate those who could claim a consul in their family tree.
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Senate
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Originally the council formed by Romulus to advise kings. During the Republic it performed a similar function for the magistrates and the people. Membership grew from 100 to 300, and eventually to 600. Membership was for life, and senators wore a broad purple stripe on their togae which made them recognizable.
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consulta
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"Opinions" or "Advice," that which the Senate gave to the magistrates. The consulta virtually had the force of law, as it was frowned upon to ignore it. The initials SPQR indicated that something (such as a building, a road, etc.) had been constructed with the approval of the Senate.
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popular assemblies
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There were two: one arranged by families, one by property class. The people of the assemblies (by law, any male citizen 18 and over) wouold meet to make laws, hear appeals, and vote to declare war (all according the advice of the senate)
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concilium plebes
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"The council of the plebs." This was a body of plebeians established in 471 which were elected to pass resolutions which originally affected only plebeians. Their resolutions were called plebiscita.
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plebiscita
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The resolutions passed by the concilium plebes.
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lex Hortensia (287 BCE)
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A law proposed by a man named Hortensius, which was passed by the Senate in 287 BCE. It gave the force of law to any of the plebiscita passed by the concilium plebes, which meant that plebeian laws were now binding on ALL Roman citizens.
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imperium
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"Power to rule" in Latin; a Roman who had imperium ( a consul or a dictator) had the power to lead an army or handle judicial matters.
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