History Key Terms 2 Essay

Submitted By Blakebkr
Words: 2376
Pages: 10

Imperium= Absolute power.

Patrician= An aristocrat or nobleman.

Plebeian= A commoner.

Twelve Tables= Was the ancient legislation that stood at the foundation of Roman law.

Praetors= Each of two ancient Roman magistrates ranking below consul.

Censor= Either of two magistrates who held censuses and supervised public morals.

Tribunes= An official in ancient Rome chosen by the plebeians to protect their interests.

Struggle of the orders= Was a political struggle between the Plebeians (commoners) and Patricians (aristocrats) of the ancient Roman Republic lasting from 494 BCE to 287 BCE, in which the Plebeians sought political equality with the Patricians.

Punic Wars= Were a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage from 264 BC to 146 BC. At the time, they were probably the largest wars that had ever taken place.

Hannibal (aka Hannibal Barca)= Was a Punic Carthaginian military commander, generally considered one of the greatest military commanders in history.

Battle of Cannae= The two consuls Lucius Aemilius Paulus and Caius Terentius Varro led a force of over 50,000 against Hannibal’s less than 40,000 and met him.

Cornelius Scipio= Roman general who commanded the invasion of Carthage in the second Punic War and defeated Hannibal.

Latifundia= A large landed estate or ranch in ancient Rome or more recently in Spain or Latin America, typically worked by slaves. Tiberius Gracchus= Was a Roman Popularis politician of the 2nd century BC, together with Gaius Gracchus, one of the Gracchi brothers.

Populares= Were leaders in the late Roman Republic who relied on the people's assemblies and tribunate to acquire political power.

Optimates= Were the traditionalist Senatorial majority of the late Roman Republic.

Equestrians (aka equites)= A member of the equites.

Marius= Was a Roman general and statesman. He held the office of consul an unprecedented seven times during his career.

Sulla= Was a Roman general and statesman. He had the distinction of holding the office of consul twice, as well as reviving the dictatorship.

First Triumvirate= A group of three men holding power, in particular the unofficial coalition of Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus.

Julius Caesar= Was a Roman general, statesman, Consul, and notable author of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire.

Second Triumvirate= A coalition formed by Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian.

Octavian (Emperor Augustus)= Was the founder of the Roman Empire and its first Emperor, ruling from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD. He was born Gaius Octavius into an old and wealthy equestrian branch of the plebeian Octavii family.

Title Augustus= Was an ancient Roman title given as both name and title to Gaius Octavius; Rome's first Emperor.

Virgil= Was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues, the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid.

Livy= Was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Julio-Claudian Dynasty= Normally refers to the first five Roman Emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero, or the family to which they belonged; they ruled the Roman Empire from its formation, in the second half of the 1st century (44/31/27) BC, until AD 68, when the last of the line, Nero.

Flavian Dynasty= The Flavians rose to power during the civil war of 69, known as the Year of the Four Emperors.

The Coliseum= Is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy.

Jesus of Nazareth= Is the central figure of the Christian religion, a savior believed to be both God incarnate and a human being.

Paul of Tarsus= Was an apostle who taught the gospel of Christ to the first-century world.

Diocletian= Was a Roman emperor from 284 to 305. Born to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia, Diocletian rose through the ranks of the