Rome Review Sheet

According to legend, the city of Rome was founded by Romulus and Remus. They were twin sons of the god Mars and a Latin princess. The twins were abandoned on the Tiber River as infants and raised by a she-wolf. A farmer found them and new who their grandfather was, so he brought the twins to him. They defeated the grandfather’s uncle and decided to build a city near the spot, which they named Rome.

The Latins built the original settlement of Rome. They were considered to be the first Romans.

The Etruscans were born in northern Italy. They were skilled metalworkers and engineers, and strongly influenced the development of Roman civilization. They influenced Rome’s architecture, and Romans adopted their alphabet.

The last king of Rome. He was called Tarquin the Proud. He was a harsh tyrant and was driven from power. Because of him, the Romans declared they would never again be ruled by a king.

He was a Carthaginian general. He was a brilliant military strategist who wanted to avenge Carthage’s earlier defeat. He was involved in the second Punic War, in which he attempted to capture Rome. Hannibal won his greatest victory at Cannae, and inflicted enormous losses on the Romans. However, the Romans prevented Hannibal from capturing Rome.

The father of Hannibal. He commanded the Carthaginian during the first Punic War in the later stages. He led a successful war against Rome in Sicily. He also expanded the territory of Carthage into Spain.

A general that devised a plan to attack Carthage. His strategy forced Hannibal to return to defend Carthage. At Zama near Carthage, the Romans finally defeated Hannibal.

Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus were two brothers who attempted to help Rome’s poor. They were tribunes, and proposed reforms, such as limiting the size of estates and giving land to the poor. They made enemies with numerous senators, who felt threatened by their ideas. They both met violent deaths, and a civil war followed their deaths.

He was a military leader. Joined forces with Crassus and Pompey. Caesar was elected consul. He was a strong leader and a genius at military strategy. After serving one year as consul, he appointed himself governor of Gaul, and eventually conquered all of Gaul. The senate ordered Caesar, because of Pompey, to return home. Caesar defied the senate’s order, brought his army toward Rome, and Pompey fled. After defeating Pompey’s armies, Caesar was appointed dictator by the senate, and later was named dictator for life.

A popular general. He formed the triumvirate with Caesar, Crassus, and himself. Pompey had become Caesar’s political rival. He had the senate order Caesar to disband his legions in Gaul and return home. Caesar defied the senate’s order and marched his army toward Rome. Pompey fled, and Caesar’s troops defeated Pompey’s armies.

a wealthy Roman. Created a triumvirate with Pompey, Caesar, and himself.

Caesar’s 18-year-old grandnephew and adopted son. Joined with Mark Antony and Lepidus to create the Second Triumvirate and take control of Rome. Forced Lepidus to return, then he and Mark Antony became rivals. Mark Antony fell in love with Cleopatra from Egypt, and Octavian accused Antony of plotting to rule Rome from Egypt and another civil war erupted. Octavian defeated the combined forced of Antony and Cleopatra. Later, Antony and Cleopatra both committed suicide. Octavian became the unchallenged ruler of Rome.

An experienced general who formed the Second Triumvirate with Lepidus and Octavian. After Lepidus was forced to retire, he became rivals with Octavian. While leading troops against Rome’s enemies in Anatolia, he met Queen Cleopatra of Egypt and fell in love with her. Mark Antony followed her to Egypt, but Octavian accused Antony of plotting to rule Rome from Egypt. Octavian defeated the combined forces of Antony and Cleopatra, and they both committed suicide.

a powerful politician that was part of the Second Triumvirate, along with Mark Antony and Octavian. Octavian forced Lepidus to retire.

He was an important senator that plotted Caesar’s assassination.

He was an important senator that plotted Caesar’s assassination.

After Octavian became the unchallenged ruler of Rome, he eventually accepted the title Augustus. Rome was at the peak of its power while Augustus ruled. Rome’s ablest emperor. He stabilized the frontier, glorified Rome with splendid public buildings, and created a system of government that survived for centuries. He set up a civil service. Augustus was the first emperor of the Roman empire.

He was a Jew born in Bethlehem in Judea. At the age of 30 he began his public ministry. During this time he preached, taught, did good works, and performed miracles. His teachings contained many ideas from Jewish tradition, such as monotheism and the principles of the Ten Commandments. Jesus emphasized God’s personal relationship to each human being. He ignored wealth and status, so his message had special appeal to the poor. Jesus’ growing popularity concerned Roman and Jewish leaders. The chief priests said that his teachings were contempt for God and the Roman governor accused Jesus of defying the authority of Rome. Jesus was arrested and sentenced to be crucified.

an apostle. Peter traveled to Rome from Jerusalem and became the first bishop there.

an apostle. He had an enormous influence on Christianity’s development. Paul was a Jew who had never met Jesus and at first was against Christianity. While traveling, he had a vision of Christ and spent the rest of his life spreading and interpreting Christ’s teaching.

followers of Jesus who preached and spread his teachings.

He gained control of the western part of the empire and continued many of the social and economic policies of Diocletian. Years later he got control of the East, restoring the concept of a single ruler. Additionally he moved the capital from Rome to the Greek city of Byzantium. The new capital was strategically located for trade and defense purposes on a crossroads between West and East. The center of power in the empire shifted from Rome to the east when Byzantium became the capital.

a strong-willed army leader and an emperor of Rome. He ruled with an iron fist and severely limited personal freedoms, however, he restored order to the empire and increased its strength by doing so. He doubled the size of the Roman army and controlled inflation by setting fixed prices for goods. He claimed descent from the ancient Roman gods and created elaborate ceremonies to present himself in a godlike aura, in order to restore the prestige of the emperor. He divided the emperor in the East and West. He took the eastern half for himself and appointed a co-ruler for the West. Diocletian shared authority, but he kept overall control.

a powerful chieftain. The Huns united for the first time under Attila. He led attacks against both the East and West part of the Roman empire. In the East, his armies attacked 70 cities. The Huns then started attacking the West. Attila’s forces went for Rome, but famine and disease kept them from conquering the city.

a poet that spent ten years writing the most famous work of Latin literature, Aeneid. It was the epic of the legendary Aeneas. Virgil modeled the Aeneid after the Greek epics of Homer. His writings carried weight and seriousness of the Roman character.

the wealthy landowners that held most of the power in Rome.

the common people, they were farmers, artisans, and merchants. They made up the majority of the population.

the mixing of elements of Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman culture. Also often is called classical civilization.

a period of peace and prosperity in Rome during Augustus’s rule. Peace reigned throughout the empire, except for some fighting with tribes along the borders.

three wars fought between Rome and Carthage. The first was for control of Sicily and the western Mediterranean, which ended in the defeat of Carthage. The second Punic War was when Hannibal wanted to avenge Carthage’s earlier defeat by capturing Rome. Hannibal won his greatest victory at Cannae and inflicted enormous losses on the Romans, but the Romans prevented Hannibal from capturing Rome. In the third Punic War, Rome laid siege to Carthage. Carthage was set on fire and the inhabitants were sold into slavery. Its territory was made a Roman province.

a form of government in which power rests with citizens who have the right to vote for their leaders.

Rome’s increasing wealth and expanding boundaries brought many problems. These problems caused the republic to end and a dictator-ruled empire to begin. Caesar Augustus was the first emperor of the Roman Empire. An empire is a political unit in which a number of people or countries are controlled by a single ruler.

officials. They commanded the army and directed the government, but had limited power. Their term was one year. The same person could not be elected consul again for ten years. One consul could veto the other consul’s decisions.

Plebeians' representatives. They protected the rights of the plebeians from unfair acts of patrician officials.

the aristocratic branch of Rome’s government. It had legislative and administrative functions in the republic. The 300 members were chosen from the upper class, but later plebeians were allowed in the senate. The senate had influence over both foreign and domestic policy.

Large military units that soldiers were organized into. The Roman legion was made up of 5,000 infantry, and a group of cavalry supported each legion. Legions were divided into smaller groups of 80 men, which were called a century.

a leader who had absolute power to make laws and command the army. Dictators were chosen by consuls and then elected by the senate. A dictator’s power lasted for only six months.

a virtue that a person had when they had the values of discipline, strength, and loyalty.

a drastic drop in the value of money coupled with a rise in prices.

The dispersal of the jews.

a priest who supervised several local churches.

early in the Roman republic, the plebeians forced the creation of a written law code. Without written laws, patrician officials often interpreted the law to suit themselves. A group of ten officials wrote down Rome’s laws. These laws were carved on twelve tables and hung in the Forum. The Twelve Tables established the idea that all free citizens had a right to the protection of the law.

arches supported bridges and aqueducts. They were also combined with the dome and concrete to create other structures, such as the Colosseum

used in architecture in Rome. Was used to create the Colosseum.

French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Romanian. These languages are called Romance languages because of their common Roman heritage.

Pictures or designs made by setting small pieces of stone, glass, or tile onto a surface. Most Roman villas had at least one colorful mosaic.