| Adriatic Sea | Sea to the
east of Italy that was home to much trading and navy
maneuvers. |
| Agricola | Roman
commander who won the Battle of Mons Graupius and succeeded
in conquering Scotland for Rome in 79 A.D. He was governor
of Britain for awhile. |
| Alaric | Visigoth
leader who sacked Rome in the 5th century. |
| Alps | Mountain
range that formed a convenient northern boundary for the
Roman Republic and early Empire. The great Carthaginian
General Hannibal crossed the Alps with his troops during the
Second Punic War. The Romans were continually fighting
against the Gauls, Celts, and others who lived just on the
other side of the Alps. |
| Aqueduct | Stone "pipes"
that carried water from outlying areas to large cities. Why
were they so tall and tilted? They had to carry rainwater
and water from higher altitudes downward to reservoirs in
large cities. The pictures that we normally see are of
aqueducts above ground, but most of them were underground. |
| Architecture | The Romans
were architecture wizards, inventing all kinds of new ways
of building. Among them were the arch, the aqueduct, and the
road. The Roman emphasis was on big and functional. |
| Attila | Hun leader
who led his people in two invasions of Italy. The first was
stopped by the Romans at Chalons in 451. The second, in the
following year, was Ravenna, the new capital of the Western
Empire, as its target but was also stopped at the insistence
of Pope Leo I. The Huns came from Central Asia and drove
other barbarian tribes before them into the teeth of the
Roman defenses. It has been argued that some of the
barbarian invasions of the Goths and Visigoths were really
attempts to escape the ravaging hordes of the Huns. |
| Augustus | The first
Roman Emperor. His real name was Octavian, and he was Julius
Caesar's adopted son. He played a large role in the civil
war that followed Julius Caesar's assassination, and his
victory and strength made him an ideal candidate to fill the
void in government left by Caesar's death. In between, he
was a member of the Second Triumvirate, along with Marc
Antony and Lepidus. When Antony became involved with
Cleopatra (Egypt's pharaoh) and decided to fight Rome,
Octavian played a part in defeating Antony's forces. Once
Antony was out of the way and Lepidus was forced to retire,
Octavian was free to become Augustus Caesar. |
| Baths | Means of
getting clean and visiting with one's peers. The bath was a
building or (usually) a complex that contained many rooms,
only one or two of which contained water. Other rooms were
for getting massages, relaxing, and changing clothes. The
water in the baths was usually hot and was heated by what
the Romans called a hypocaust, which kept hot air in
the walls surrounding the water room, thus keeping the water
warm. The baths were often destinations for Senators or
other important people who wanted to conduct business
(political or otherwise) in a private place. |
| Belgae | People who
populated Western Europe and Britain. They were one of the
first people Julius Caesar conquered, both in Gaul and again
in Britain. |
| Britain | Largest part
of the island the Romans called Britannia. It was invaded by
Julius Caesar twice (in 55 and 54 B.C.) and conquered by
Claudius in 43 A.D. Roman legions settled in Britain for
hundreds of years, leaving in 410. |
| Brutus | Senator who
will forever be known as the one who most disappointed
Julius Caesar. Brutus traced his lineage back to another
Brutus, who did away with the last King of Rome, Tarquin the
Proud, and put in his place the Republic. Brutus fought with
Pompey against Caesar, but Caesar pardoned Brutus and made
of him a great friend. Brutus was one of the Senators who
killed Caesar. Later, he joined with Cassius, also one of
Caesar's assassins, in the civil war against Octavian and
Marc Antony. Brutus lost the famous battle of Philippi and
took his own life. |
| Caligula | Roman emperor
who gained fame for his cruelty and his wickedness. He also
spent away a huge treasury built up his predecessors,
Augustus and Tiberius. |
| Cannae | Hannibal's
greatest victory. Forced into a pitched battle, he deployed
his troops to make it appear that the center of the line was
weak. When the Romans charged, the center of the line gave
way. The bloodthirsty Romans charged ahead, pursuing the
retreating center, then found themselves flanked and
completely encircled by the suddenly lively infantry and the
suddenly appearing cavalry. With no place to go, the Romans
fought to the death. And die they did. Of 70,000 Roman
soldiers who took that day, less than 2,000 survived.
Carthaginian losses were low. |
| Carthage | Ancient city
that began as a sea-trading center. Legend says that Dido,
princess of Tyre, founded Carthage. The city grew and grew,
building a large Mediterranean trade base and conquering
neighboring territories and peoples. Hanno and other sailors
charted new lands. The Carthaginian army and navy soon grew
very large. Carthaginian colonies on Sardinia and Sicily
came into conflict with Rome, and the Punic Wars began. They
were three in number, and Rome won all three. Carthaginian
General Hamilcar Barca fought Rome in the First Second Punic
War. The Second Punic War was the most devastating. This war
featured the Carthaginian general Hannibal (Hamilcar Barca's
son) and his famous march over the Alps to the very gates of
Rome. Hannibal won several brilliant victories but was
ultimately defeated and exiled. This was the end of the
Second Punic War. Many years later, Rome provoked an attack
by Carthage, igniting the Third Punic War. Rome was vicious
in victory, burning Carthage to the ground and sowing salt
into the ground. Eventually, the Romans rebuilt Carthage,
strictly as a Roman colony. It came to prominence once more,
mainly at the insistence of Julius Caesar. |
| Cassius | Roman leader
who fought with both Crassus and Pompey against Julius
Caesar in the wars that led to Caesar's becoming dictator.
Cassius organized the plot to kill Caesar and also helped
kill him. He later fought with Brutus against Octavian and
Marc Antony at Philippi. After his defeat, he took his own
life. |
| Celts | People who
populated Western Europe and Britain. They were one of the
first people Julius Caesar conquered, both in Gaul and again
in Britain. |
| Christianity | Religion that
began small and eventually became the official religion of
the Roman Empire. At first, Christians were persecuted and
often killed for their beliefs because they wouldn't swear
oaths to the Roman gods. Christians were put into combat
against lions and gladiators. But the emperor Constantine
had a change of heart while marching to do battle and
decided to become a Christian. Thereafter, Christianity was
tolerated and given revered status throughout the
Empire. |
| Cicero | Great public
speaker and philosopher who believed firmly in republican
government. He was a supporter of Pompey and an opponent of
Julius Caesar. |
| Circus Maximus | Largest
building of its kind in all the Empire. The Circus in
general was a large building, usually in the shape of a
racetrack, used for chariot races. The Circus Maximus was
also used for horse-riding races, boxing, wrestling,
gladiator bouts, and other popular kinds of entertainment.
The construction of the Circus Maximus dates back to the
Etruscan period, and the last race took place there nearly a
thousand years later. |
| Claudius | Emperor who
succeeded in greatly expanding the borders of the Empire. He
followed Julius Caesar's lead and succeeded where he had
failed, conquering Britain in 43, and added North Africa and
much of Arabia as well. He gave the Empire much money,
trade, and pride, then was assassinated so his wife could
make way for her son, Nero. |
| Colosseum | Largest arena
in Rome, with a capacity of 50,000. Opened in A.D. 80, it
was home to all kinds of entertainment and spectacles. Its
round shape meant that chariot races were not part of the
program, but just about everything else was eventually fair
game, including animal fights, gladiator bouts, games, and
much more. |
| Commodus | Brutal, cruel
Roman emperor (son of Marcus Aurelius) who didn't do much in
the way of making his people respect him. He delighted in
shocking the people with public spectacles of cruelty, and
he had many innocent people killed because they were
suspected of treason. |
| Constantine | Roman emperor
who is most famous for founding the new capital,
Constantinople, and for making Christianity the official
religion of the Empire. |
| Constantinople | City in
present-day Turkey that was founded in 324 by Emperor
Constantine as a new watchtower in the East. When the Empire
split, it became the capital of the Eastern Empire and,
later, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. Constantinople
was ideally situated on the Strait of Bosporus, straddling
Europe and Asia Minor. Its location gave it control over all
trade coming to and from the Black Sea and the eastern end
of the Mediterranean Sea. |
| Consul | Head of
government under the Republic. Consuls originally numbered
two and then progressed to more. (They numbered three under
the First Triumvirate and Second Triumvirate.) Consuls were
elected and served a fixed term. They could be re-elected.
Gaius Marius served as a consul seven times. |
| Corvus | Device that
turned the tide for Rome in the Second Punic War. Called a
corvus because it resembled a crow, it was a wooden
device that allowed one ship to latch onto another ship and
keep the two connected by the wooden mini-land bridge. This
allowed soldiers to storm from ship to ship. The
Carthaginian navy was superior to the Roman navy at this
point in history, so the introduction of the corvus
made it possible for Rome to turn a naval battle into a
naval battle. Given the Roman superiority in army matters,
this was a significant innovation indeed. |
| Crassus | Consul and
member, along with Pompey and Julius Caesar, of the First
Triumvirate. Crassus was head of the province of Syria and
was killed by Parthians because of what they saw as his
interference in their affairs. Crassus also played a leading
role in the defeat of the slave revolt begun by
Spartacus. |
| Diana | Goddess of
the moon and the hunt. Guardian of cities, young animals,
and women. Twin sister of Apollo. Known as the Greek goddess
Artemis. |
| Dido | Legendary
founder of Carthage. A princess of Tyre, she is said to have
run away and founded the fabled city. She is later to have
said to have met Aeneas, the Trojan War soldier who is
thought to have founded Rome. |
| Diocletian | Roman emperor
who instituted the Tetrarchy, which consisted of four rulers
of the Empire. Maximianus was head of the Western Empire,
and Diocletian was ruler of the Eastern Empire. Both adopted
the title of "Augustus." Two generals, Constantine and
Galerius, ruled in the name of "Augustus." Diocletian also
tried to squash the Christian religion. It didn't work.
Diocletian believed that 20 years was enough time any man to
rule the Roman throne, so he stepped down 20 years after he
became emperor, leaving the title of Augustus to
Constantine. |
| Domitian | Roman emperor
who gained fame for his cruelty and his wickedness. He also
tried to win the love of the people by building large
structures and giving them lavish entertainment. The
ultimate symbol of both was his building of the Colosseum.
He also had statues of himself built and put in public
places throughout the city. |
| Empire | A
dictatorship with one-man rule that evolved from the Roman
Republic. At its height, the Roman Empire stretched from the
north of Britain to the desert of Egypt. Emperors were cruel
and bent on conquering. Art and architecture flourished, but
math and science did not. The idea of the empire began with
Julius Caesar, who was killed because he was ruling the
government by himself. His adopted son, Octavian, became the
first emperor, calling himself Augustus Caesar. The Roman
Empire split into two parts, East and West. The West fell in
476. The East, which came to be known as the Byzantium
Empire, continued for several hundred years. |
| Etruscans | People who
inhabited Italy before the Romans did. They got their name
from the region where they lived, Etruria. Allies of
Carthage, the Etruscans were enemies of the Greeks who had
set up colonies in southern Italy. This rivalry led to
massive Etruscan defeat at the Battle of Cuma in 474. At one
time, the Etruscans had conquered Rome. The Romans
eventually conquered the Etruscans but also borrowed a
number of customs from them. |
