| Definition | Term |
|---|
| The Roman voting assembly, based upon the division of the Roman people into five classes and 193 centuries. Only a magistrate with imperium could summon this body. It had the power | |
| Composed of the stadion race (200 meters), wrestling, discus throw, long jump, and javelin throw. The winner of any three won the entire competition, but we don't know how a winner | |
| Roman general who received the agnomen (official nickname) “Africanus” after he defeated Hannibal in the second Punic war at the city of Zama in N. Africa in 202 BCE. Earlier i | |
| Legislation of the first century BCE designed to curb spending on games and thus reduce both bribery and the threat of violence posed by gladiatorial schools. | |
| Unwieldy, hot, woollen outer garment worn by Roman men (not on a daily basis!) to display their citizenship and to show that they didn't have to perform physical labor. Boys wore t | |
| Greek word for “individual excellence” used to describe heroes' strength and courage in Homer's Iliad. | |
| Egyptian wooden fighting sticks approximately one meter in length, often branched at the end to provide a better grip and sometimes reinforced with metal at the tip. | |
| Walls 2-4 meters high, sometimes reinforced with netting, which protected spectators from violence in the amphitheater, especially during venationes. | |
| : An attitude of dutiful respect towards those to whom one is bound by ties of religion, blood relationship, etc. | |
| The amphitheater with the largest capacity in the Roman world, seating 50,000-80,000 people. It employed sophisticated interior and underground organization, and was built by the F | |
| The method by which Rome took on cultural traits of its provinces and vice versa. When people assimilate to Roman culture after conquest, we call it “Romanization.” Greek cultu | |
| The purpose of marriage in Roman society was to produce children. The most fertile period for women is between 20 and 29 years old, by which age most Roman women were already marri | |
| Roman equestrian (novus homo) who became consul seven times, reformed the army, and defeated northern barbarians in the late second century CE. | |
| The wife of the paterfamilias, usually 5 to 10 years younger than her husband at first marriage. The materfamilias was in charge of the administration of the house (slaves, purchas | |
| 344 meter long barrier along the central axis of the circus where the eggs- and dolphin-counters were located, and around which chariots turned. | |
| The empire expanded its control and developed roads throughout North Africa and all of Greece and Macedonia, eastern Spain, and the western coast of Turkey (Asia Minor). The size o | |
| Three wars between Rome and Carthage that in full ran from 264 BCE to 146 BCE. The first Punic War was fought over the island of Sicily, which the Romans ultimately won after a ser | |
| The commercial and political heart of Rome, where gladiatorial games were regularly held during the Republic after 216 BCE. | |
| 4 horse chariot | |
| Hot dry summers, mild wet winters. | |
| Children learned from various people in the familia: from family dependents/slaves who acted as tutors and from observing their mothers and fathers at work. Literacy was important | |
| | Definition | Term |
|---|
| Urbani were slaves employed in the city (domestic slaves giving personal services) or employed as administrators in the country. Rustici were slaves employed in the countryside (do | |
| minor magistrate in charge of public works, religious ceremonies, and the organization of the games (including the Ludi Romani) after 366 BCE. | |
| Informal unions between slaves (since they could not legally marry) which, when they resulted in childbirth, produced illegitimate children. These unions were sometimes recognized | |
| Originally a “duty” survivors owe the deceased in the form of a funeral and funeral games, later used to designate gladiatorial combats held on such an occasion. | |
| The oldest living male of a Roman familia who legally had the power of life and death over all family members -- patria potestas -- and served as “chief priest” for the familia | |
| The Roman domus was both a private family residence and the site of daily business. The atrium, or courtyard, was used to receive visitors and conduct religious ceremonies, while t | |
| Games held to honor a man who has died. The competitions held at funeral games create glory, not only for the person who has died, but also for the living people who compete in and | |
| Follower of Sulla and Roman general in the late Republic who defeated Mithridates and conquered much of Asia Minor for Rome. He built Rome's first permanent theater and was the fir | |
| “Roman games” mainly consisting of chariot races that began as occasional, votive offerings to Jupiter Optimus Maximus in return for military victory. The Ludi Romani were not | |
| Any Roman citizen who was not a patrician. Plebeians constituted a majority of the Roman populace and could include people of very high social standing and wealth. | |
| The money/property a slave could collect to eventually purchase his or her own freedom, completely controlled by the master. | |
| The result of a re-structuring of the troops into groups of 120 men trained as distinct elements of the legion (there were 40 in the legion). Maniples signified an improvement over | |
| 2 horse chariot | |
| 2-3 million, which amounted to 33-40% of the population. Since more than twenty percent of the population was enslaved, Rome at this time can undoubtedly be called a “slave socie | |
| The most famous circus in the Roman world, the Circus Maximus sat 150,000-350,000 people and accommodated up to 12 charioteers at any one time. Although given its permanent form by | |
| Gladiators contributed to civil strife when they were used to start riots, kept as bodyguards, or retained as an informal army. | |
| Commander in multiple wars throughout the first century BCE including the Social War. He introduced legislative reforms that, in general, returned political power to the elite, inc | |
| The legal power of certain magistrates and, by extension, the area where that power was exercised (hence the Imperium Romanum, “power of the Romans”). | |
| A mosquito-borne disease active during summer and fall in the Mediterranean, especially common near Rome. It directly influenced settlement patterns, encouraging people to live in | |
| Panhellenic, crown-awarding games. The Olympian Games (founded in 776 BCE) were dedicated to Zeus at Olympia. The Pythian Games were dedicated to Apollo at Delphi. The Isthmian Gam | |
| “Hunts” held in the circus and amphitheater, which involved the display of animals, and combat between animals or between animals and humans. | |
| | Definition | Term |
|---|
| A high-prestige Greek sport which combined boxing and wrestling. Pankratiasts competed naked; biting and eye-gouging were not allowed. Herakles may be the patron of the sport. | |
| The basic act of Greco-Roman religion, sacrifice establishes a positive relationship between a human being and god. In exchange for favor and protection, a human being makes an off | |
| Either adapted from the Etruscans, people living to Rome's north, as funeral games, or from the Samnites, people living to Rome's south, as an accompaniment to banquets. The Romans | |
| “Surrendering into the good faith” of the Romans. The formal surrender by sacred oath of a conquered state into Roman control, whereby Rome promised decent treatment and protec | |
| A Greek race in full armor two stadia long (approx. 400 meters). The hoplitodromos connects military training and athleticism | |
| An informal power relationship between a patron and client. The patron was a wealthier well-connected man who provided services and protection; the client, in return, provided vote | |
| Equestrian (novus homo), orator, philosopher, and politician of the last years of the Republic. Cicero succeeded in politics not as a general or military commander, like many of hi | |
| A member of the ruling elite of Rome. The aristocratic families who made up the patrician order claimed descent from the city's original senators, who, according to legend, were ap | |
| One of the oldest permanent amphitheaters in the Roman world, built in 70 BCE. | |
| Sources suggest that job categories for slaves were very distinct, more than would seem necessary; for example, “doorkeeper” and “sweeper” were two different positions. Thi | |
| Turning points in the shape of large gilded cones at either end of the spina. | |
| The whole Roman household including husband, wife, children, slaves, extended family, and freedmen dependents. | |
| War fought from 91-88 BCE between Rome and her Italian allies (socii) over the citizenship rights of Rome's conquered peoples. Resulted, in 89 BCE, in the extension of citizenship | |
| Within the aristocracy, a group of individuals, probably all heads of individual familiae, who controlled the movement of property into and out of the group. | |
| Greeks wrestled naked, while Egyptians (mostly) competed clothed. Wrestling seems to have been a high prestige sport for the Egyptians, while Greeks valued the pankration more. The | |
| Plebeian tribunes and brothers who agitated for greater popular control during the last hundred years of the Republic. T. Gracchus championed land reform and land redistribution, w | |
| An epidemic probably of small-pox that began under the Emperor Antoninus Pius and lasted from 165-190 CE. 10% of the population died, including two emperors. It was probably transm | |
| According to legend, Pheidippides ran from the coastal town of Marathon to Athens to announce the victory won at Marathon against the Persians. He apparently collapsed dead as soon | |
| The elite sponsor of a spectacle, who spends extravagantly on public games (as an aedile) or munera (as a private person) to gain popular support. | |
| Mostly consisted of cultivation of cereals (wheat and barley), olives, grapes, and legumes (beans, chickpeas, lentils), which made up the majority of the Mediterranean diet. The ev | |
| Constitution of the early Republic which created the comitia centuriata and divided the Roman people into centuries, with 170 centuries for the infantry and 23 centuries for everyo | |
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