Roman Culture Final Terms

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Magna Graecia

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(“Great Greece”) Broad descriptive term for the whole region of Southern Italy and Sicily colonized by Greeks from the 8th century BCE.

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Tumulus

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Large Earth mound

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Symposia/Symposium

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Ceremonial drinking bouts held by Greek male aristocrats and displayed in poetry and songs, displays of wit and invective, and conservation were all important.

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Necropleis/Necropolis

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(Greek “City of the Dead”) Area of a town where the dead were buried-traditionally outside the walls in order to protect the inhabitants from disease and the religious defilement of death.

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Lituus

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Curved stick used by an augur (see auspicium) it’s a symbol of office.

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Podium

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1. supporting platform of a building or temple, from which public speeches were often delivered; 2. balcony of a theater or arena from which the emperor viewed the event; imperial dais.

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Fossa

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1. “ditch”; 2. grave dug for an inhumation burial-see below.

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Agger

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(“mound”) a military rampart.

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Hoplon

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hoplite-Greek armored infantryman who carried a heavy shield (hopolon) and fought in pitched battle as part of a massed formation (phalanx).

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Amphorae

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In the late 7th and 6th centuries, potters in Etruscan coastal centers made these pottery vessels for the storage of olive oil and wine; large, two-handled clay jar used to transport liquids such as wine, oil, and fish sauce in bulk.

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Gentes/Gens

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Extended family or clan linked by a common ancestor.

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Nomina

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“Name”

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Nomen

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Middle component of the typical Roman “three names”; representing an individual’s clan (gens); see also cognomen and praenomen; identified clan.

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Praenomen

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(pl. praenomina) First component of the typical Roman “three names” (see also nomen and cognomen). The praenomen represents an individual’s given or “first” name, and distinguishes members of the same family (e.g., Marcus Tullius Cicero, and his brother Quintus Tullius Cicero).

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Polis

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“city” “city state” (Greek) by the end of the 8th century, some of the Greek colonies of Sicily and southern Italy began these.

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Gamoroi

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Narrow oligarchies, composed of the descendents of the first settlers, for a long time controlled the best land and the public offices-these are in Syracuse-those who shared the land.

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Hippeis

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In other cities, the governing groups or horsemen.

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Demos

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The citizen body of a community (Greek) Greeks of a less exalted status formed the citizen body with military service, but little in the way of political rights.

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Forum Romanum

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The city’s political and religious center.

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Forum Boarium

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The chief market and harbor of urban Rome.

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Ara Maxima

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An alter dedicated in honor of one or more gods, where a sacrifice could be made-this was dedicated to the Greek hero Heracles (Latin, Hercules).

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Regia

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Sacred building in the Roman Forum between the via Sacra and the Temple of Vesta, believed to have been built by king Numa; residence of the king during the regal period, thereafter headquarters of the pontifex maximus.

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Comitium

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(pl. comitia) in all Roman communities, a designated place for citizens to meet when summoned by officials; at Rome, this was situated north of the Forum at the foot of the Capitoline hill. The plural comitia denotes such a citizen assembly itself.

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Curia Hostilia

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1. The earliest group into which Roman citizens were divided; 2. the meeting place of a citizen unit or other group, in particular a senate or town council. The principal meeting place for Rome’s own senate was the building called the Curia in the Forum (pl. curiae).

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Senate

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(Senatus) Advisory council first of Rome’s kings, thereafter of the state’s senior magistrates. Its role in affairs, and hence its Auctoritas, came to be increasingly important, until it suffered challenges from powerful individuals during the last century of the Republic, and was eventually overshadowed by the emperors.

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Sacra Via

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the chief processional route of the city which by the last third of the 4th century was paved.

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Atria/Atrium

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Central reception room in a Roman household.

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Origins

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Cato the Elder wrote this the first prose history in Latin-Origins being the main theme of the work.

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Rex

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“king”

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Rex Sacrorum

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A priestly office that continued the king’s religious functions long after the political and military powers had been lost.

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Domus Publica

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The house of the leader of an important college of priests and quite possibly the sixth-century dwelling of the kings.

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Populus Romanus

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(“people” “Roman people”) Broad collective term for the citizen body of the Roman state, as in the standard formulation “Senate and People of Rome” (Senatus Populusque Romanus, SPQR).

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Curiae

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Plural of curia.

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Curia

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1. The earliest group into which Roman citizens were divided; 2. The meeting place of a citizen unit or other group, in particular a senate or town council. The principal meeting place for Rome’s own senate was the building called the Curia in the Forum.

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Curiones

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officials, either priests or at least had priestly attributes,

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Libones

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only ones known of for communal meals

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Flamines

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during major festivals and religious rites at the curiae.

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Census

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In the Roman Republic, the official list of Roman citizens (only; not the entire population) used for voting, taxation, and recruitment of troops. The list was drawn up publicly by 2 censors every 5 yrs. Further duties of a political, financial, and social nature became attached to their offices, which consequently became a very influential and prestigious one, even though its holders lacked imperium. From Augustus’ time onwards, there were no more censors of the traditional type, and instead emperors periodically censused entire and population region by region.

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Classis

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Tullius’ census divided Romans into those who could afford to equip themselves for service on foot (“those summoned”).

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Infra Classem

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And those who could not (“below those summoned”) see above.