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Study Guide
Exploring History-Stu
Guide: The Romans
Test 1
Luther Burbank Middle School
Los Angeles, CA 90042
Ms.
Roman Vocabulary
Amphitheatre A place where Romans went to
watch animals and people fighting
Aqueduct A system of pipes and channels
which brings clean water into towns
Barbarian A person who lived outside the
Roman Empire, seen as having a
violent nature.
Basilica A large building where town
business was carried out (like a
modern Town Hall)
Camouflage An aid designed to hide or disguise something
Cavalry Soldiers who fight on horseback
Chariot Cart with two wheels pulled by horses. Romans raced chariots, and Celtic
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warriors rode into battle on them.
Election Process where people vote to choose the people they want to be in
charge. Elections are often held to decide who will govern a country
Forum Open space in the middle of a town for markets and meeting people (like a
market square)
Gladiator A slave trained to fight other gladiators or animals in amphitheatres.
Hypocaust Roman central heating - It works by hot air flowing through gaps between
walls and flooring
Latin The language spoken and written by the Romans
Legend A story made up about people in the past
MosaicA pattern made from coloured pieces of stones and pottery.
Myth A made up story often about gods and spirits which is told to explain things
about the world.
Pedagogue A Roman slave who was trained as a teacher.
ProfessionalA person trained to do a special job in exchange for payment (wages).
Republic A country without a king, queen or emperor. The people who rule it are
elected. France, Italy and Germany are countries today which are
republics.
Roman Governor – The ruler of Roman Britain,
who worked for the Roman Emperor.
Sacred Something that is believed to be holy and to have
a special connection with a god or gods.
Senate The Roman government, made up of senators.
Senator A person elected to be part of the government.
Some countries today, like the U.S.A., still have
senators.
Sewage The dirty water and worse which is poured down
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sewers from drains and lavatories.
Sewers Pipes or tunnels that carry away sewage
Slave Someone sold to another person to work for them for free. They don't have
any rights or freedom.
Strigil A metal object used in Baths to scrape sweat, dirt and excess oil off.
Stylus A metal pen for scratching words into wax on wooden tablets.
Tax Money or items given to the government. This payment helped to pay for
things like soldiers in the army and building roads.
Tribe A group of people who live in one part of a country and are ruled by a
chief.
Underworld A gloomy place where Romans believed your soul went after you died.
Villa A large house in the country. Some villas were farmhouses and some were
like palaces.
Warrior A trained soldier, someone who has had lots of experience in wars.
Wreath A hand made ring of leaves or flowers.
Women in the Roman World
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Life in Roman tim
women was quit
The father was t
important memb
family. He had th
of life or death o
everyone. When
baby was born it
be laid at its fath
- if the father pic
baby up it would
if he ignored the
would be taken a
die. Mothers and
were never seen
important.
"Not that I loved Caesar less,
but that I loved Rome more". (Act III, Scene II). William
Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
From the 1st cen
B.C. women beg
have more rights
could divorce un
husbands. But th
never seen as re
being equal to m
Emperors
Julius Caesar
44-41
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The Caesars of the Ancient Rome
GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR was born in the year 100 BC into a patrian family who
claimed decendancy from the kings of Alba Langa and through them, Aeneas of Troy
whose mother was the goddess Venus. Caesar's name Julius comes from Iulius, the
family name. This comes from Iulus, the name of Venus' son.
At the time of his birth, Rome was still a republic and the empire was only really
beginning. The senators ruled, motivated by the greed of power in the hope of becoming
either a consul or a praetor, the two senior posts which carried imperium, the legal right
to command an army. From these posts it was possible to, with the help of the army at
your command, conquer new territories and so gain a triumph and the pleasure of
knowing that your name would be remembered forever in statues and inscribed
monuments, paid for by the spoils of the war.
Caesar made his way to praetorship by 62 BC and many of the senate felt him a
dangerous, ambitious man. Because of this, they deprived him of a triumph after his
praetorian command in Spain (61-60 BC) and they also did their best to keep him out of
consulship. He finally became consul in 59 BC.
Much of the thanks for this achievement should be given to Gnaeus Pompeius (Pompey
the Great) who had just come back from a campaign which had doubled the income of
the Roman treasury and gained three new provinces to the empire. Because of this he had
popular support and his voice carried great weight with the public at large. Because of
Pompey, however, to become a leading person in Roman politics you had to have more
then just an ordinary triumph.
It was because of this that Caesar, during his consulship, pushed through a special law
giving him a five-year command in Cispine Gaul and Illyricum, both provinces in the
empire covering North Italy and the Adriatic coast of Yugoslavia. Caesar saw this as a
great opportunity to extend the empire either into Gaul or in the Balkins. While in Gaul,
the most important section of the Roman Army, positioned at the German border, was
under his control.
He was a brilliant military leader and lead many campaigns:





58 BC -The Helvetic Campaign
57 BC -The Belgic Campaign
56 BC -The Venetic Campaign
55 BC -The German Campaign
54 BC -The British Campaign
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Because the whole point of these campaigns was to get high public and political acclaim,
he wrote about all the campaigns and sent the books to Rome so people knew and
remembered his name.
Caesar had all the acclaim he could hope for and the triumph to back it up, however, to
get the position he felt his achievements deserved, he had to take his troops across the
River Rubicon and in doing so declare civil war on the state and Pompey. Pompey, the
person who had got Caesar to where he was, was sent to stop him but failed. General
Pompey fled to Egypt while Caesar entered Rome in triumph as Dictator. The battle for
Rome continued for five years of bloody fighting. He was assassinated by a group of
senators, possibly in support of Pompey or possibly for some gain of their own, on the
Ides of March 44 BC, below a statue of Pompey.
Agustus –
(27 BC - 14 AD)
Agustus' first step was to repair the bitter wounds of civil war. On January
13 of 27 BC, Octavian, in his own words, "transferred the Republic from
my own power to the authority of the Senate and the Roman people." This
action showed shrewd political planning, as Augustus used it purely for
public show. The Senate awarded him the name of Augustus, and mobs
demanded that he retain power.
Augustus carefully retained the titles of traditional offices to disguise his
absolute power. He kept only the offices of consul and proconsul and
claimed that he held no more power than his colleagues. Some Romans
complained that the loss of liberty was too great a price to pay for peace,
but most recognized that under the so-called liberty of the Roman
Republic, a few hundred men had divided the spoils of empire while the
workers and the provincials suffered. The majority of Romans welcomed
the peace and stability of the Augustan Age.
The rule of Augustus brought social stability, economic revival, and
efficient administration to Rome, but it was unable to ensure the future.
Augustus seemingly owed his power to the Senate and Roman people; in fact, his power
came from his personal authority, and there was a real possibility his death might trigger
a renewed civil war. For decades, Augustus watched his chosen successors die until only
his stepson, Tiberius, remained. His selection of an heir outside of his immediate
bloodline set the precedent for the future; struggles for power once fought on the
battlefield were now waged in the imperial palace.
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Augustus hoped to retain power within the Julian family, while disguising the
fact that he had established a monarchy. He had only one child, a daughter
Julia by his first wife, and his 51-year marriage to his third wife, Livia,
brought him much personal happiness and a remarkable political partnership,
but no further children. Livia had two sons, Tiberius and Drusus, from a
Tiberius - 14 - 37 AD previous marriage to Tiberius Claudius Nero. Tiberius and later Drusus's son
Claudius became emperors of the
Claudian line. Julia's grandson
Gaius-Caligula and her great-grandson Nero
eventually reached the imperial throne.
Together these rulers made up what came to
be known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
Caligula - 37 - 41
Caligula murdered senators for their property
and their wives, gave away Rome's provinces
to his boyhood playmates, considered making his horse consul, and demanded to be
worshipped as Jupiter. Not surprisingly, one of his own guards murdered him. In the
confusion following Caligula's assassination, some senators decided they might dispense
with emperors and debated the return of the republic. The praetorian soldiers, who had
profited under imperial rule, wanted a new emperor. The traditional story is that they
found the only plausible candidate, Caligula's uncle, hiding fearfully in the palace and
gave him the imperial throne.
Polio in childhood had left Claudius I (AD 41-54) with a limp and a stammer, but he
ruled well and added Britain to the Roman Empire. He showed both intelligence and
compassion in his grants of citizenship, his admission of Gauls to the Senate, and his
humanitarian legislation on debt and the treatment of slaves. His fourth wife Agrippina
(known as Agrippina the Younger) poisoned him to ensure that her son Nero would
inherit the throne.
Claudius 41 - 54
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was
born in 41 AD to Nero Claudius Drusus and his wife
Antonia. Although he came from a royal blood line,
his family had a very low opinion of his abilities and
often ignored him. Labeled an invalid from birth
because of physical disabilities including partial
paralysis, stammering, slobbering, and limping, he
was the last person his family thought would inherit
the throne and serve as Roman Emperor. An outcast
in his home environment, Claudius turned to the
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study of history to occupy his time. He authored various works about orthographic reform
of the Roman alphabet and a work defending Cicero, a republican politician and orator.
Claudius also enjoyed playing dice games.
Claudius' rise to power came after Emperor Gauis (Caligula), his nephew, was
unexpectedly murdered on January 1, AD 41. Claudius became heir to the throne, to
many a Roman's dismay. The soldiers, courtiers, freedman, and foreigners were his main
support although the senatorial aristocracy also offered to back the new emperor. Many
Romans sought to have Claudius assassinated because of his cruel and ruthless
discussions and actions with members of the senate and knighthood. It is thought by
some that he even executed senators on occasion. Despite this conflict Claudius did
respect these agencies and gave new opportunities to them both.
Claudius' reign is marked with an expansion of the Roman Empire. He invaded and
conquered Britain in AD 43 and captured Camulodunum. There he started a colony of
veterans and built client-kingdoms to protect the small populated land. Claudius also took
over North Africa and annexed Mauretania, where he established two provinces as well.
Around AD 49 he also annexed Iturea and allowed the province of Syria to control it,
trying not to come into conflict with the Germans and the Parthians.
In the area of civil administration he encouraged urbanization. The judicial system
improved under his reign and he favored the modern extension by individual and
collective grants in Noricum. Claudius also made many administrative innovations. He
increased his control over finances and province administration and gave jurisdiction of
fiscal matters to the governors under him in the senatorial provinces.
Claudius' personal life was wrought with conflicts that ultimately led to his undoing. He
married three times. His first wife, Boudicca, started a revolt, and his second wife had a
strong sexual appetite that led her to conspiracy and ultimately, her execution. Claudius'
third time was not a charm either. He decided to stay within the family and married his
niece, Aggripina. She was very influential over Claudius to the point where he adopted
her son Nero. Then she fed Claudius a dinner containing poisonous mushrooms which
killed him. Her main motive was that her precious son, Nero, might inherit the throne.
Although Claudius was generally thought of as a weak leader and was labeled, even by
his own family, as someone not worthy to rule; he made notable contributions to the
development of the Roman empire. He conquered and colonized Britain, established
provinces in North Africa, and he urbanized and innovated his civil administration. He
died an unnecessary and tragic death at the hand of his own wife and was succeeded by
his adopted son, Nero.
The 15-year-old Nero (AD 54-68) began his reign
amid predictions of a new Golden Age for Rome,
but fawning courtiers encouraged his despotic
tendencies. He murdered both his mother and his
wife at the urging of his mistress. In AD 64 a fire
Nero 54-68
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devastated much of Rome. The historian Tacitus suggests in his writings that Nero
blamed the fledgling Christian community for the blaze.
According to some sources, his persecution of Christians resulted in the deaths of two of
Christianity's most influential apostles, Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Nero had a childish
need for applause, and he gave vocal concerts at Greek festivals. The spectacle of a
singing emperor disgusted the Romans. The neglected legions became restless, and
rebellions erupted throughout the empire. All four Julio-Claudian emperors lived in the
shadow of Augustus, and none felt secure on his throne. Insecurity brought tyranny,
which then provoked conspiracies in the Senate and in the palace. Finally, even the army
turned away from the dynasty that had created the empire.
Civil war returned to Rome as one person after another claimed the throne and marched
on the capital. In AD 69, known as the Year of the Four Emperors, a savage contest for
power exploded the myths adopted by Augustus to hide his dictatorship. The secret of the
empire was now clear. Augustus had pretended to follow Roman republican tradition by
seeking the Senate's confirmation of his actions, but in reality the emperor's authority
derived solely from his control of the army.
The savage civil war of the Year of the Four Emperors concluded with the triumph of
Vespasian (AD 69-79 ),a plainspoken and practical soldier from the Italian
middle class whose style contrasted with the eccentricity of the noble
Julio-Claudians. As commander of the Roman armies in the East,
Vespasian crushed the Jewish rebellion in Palestine.
Vespasian 69 - 79
He then returned to Rome and left his son to destroy both the city of
Jerusalem and in AD 73 to conquer Masada, the hilltop fortress near the
Dead Sea where the Jews made their last stand. Vespasian's thriftiness
restored the economy after the lavish expenditures of Nero. He recruited
senators from among western provinces and also carefully ensured the
loyalty of the military to the new dynasty he created, called the Flavians.
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The Fall of Rome
The Roman Empire of the fourth century A.D. extended entirely around the basin of the Mediterranean Sea,
including modern Turkey, Israel, Egypt, and North Africa. Modern France (called Gaul) and modern Spain
and Portugal (Iberia) were entirely Roman. Modern England was Roman, but modern Scotland and Ireland
were barbarian (non-Roman, or non-civilized). The northern borders of the empire were the Rhine and
Danube Rivers. The lands north of these rivers were occupied by a variety of tribes of Scandinavian origin
that the Romans called the Germans.
Rome was engaged in border skirmishes with the tribes north of the great European rivers. Strong emperors
occasionally extended the empire over the rivers while weak emperors tended to lose those lands. The
largest organized rival of the Romans was the Persian Empire to the east, occupying modern Syria, Iran,
Iraq, and Afghanistan. The Persians were the political descendants of the Parthians who had revolted away
from Greek rule following Alexander's conquests and, thereafter, successfully resisted Roman invasions.
The Romans had existed as an important power for over 1000 years. They had brought stability, prosperity,
and order to the civilized West. Excellent roads connected the far reaches of the empire with the capital at
Rome. These were built originally for military purposes but improved all communications and trade. Roman
law kept the internal peace and 20 to 30 Roman legions defended the frontiers.
All was not perfect, however. Emperors held absolute authority. This worked well with good emperors, but
incompetent ones could do great harm. The rules for succession to the throne were never clear, and
debilitating civil wars often resulted. The bureaucracy that managed the empire on a daily basis grew more
corrupt, increasing the dissatisfaction of the common citizen. The wealth of the empire gradually
concentrated in the hands of a minority while a large slave population did most of the work. The borders of
the empire were immense and put a strain on military resources (500,000 soldiers defended a frontier that
required 3 million or more to be secured). Roman conquests had ceased in the second century A.D.,
bringing an end to massive inflows of plunder and slaves. Taxes increased and production fell as the work
force declined. A plague may have killed 20 percent of the empire's population in the third and fourth
centuries, further reducing trade and production.
In the late third century, the Roman Empire was split into eastern and western halves in an attempt to
make for easier rule and better control. In 323 Constantine became emperor after a civil war and
established his eastern capital at Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople. During the next century the
eastern and western parts of the empire gradually established separate identities, although nominally the
same empire. These identities were partially due to the different pressures brought to bear on them from
the outside and the local culture. The Western Empire was predominantly Latin; the Eastern Empire was
predominantly Greek (although they referred to themselves as Romans). The Eastern Empire survived the
cataclysm of the third and fourth centuries because it had a larger population (70 percent of the empire's
total), better emperors, more money, and a far better army and navy.
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