Documents for "Ancient History, Rome":

• acta official texts of ancient Rome, written or carved on stone or metal. Usually acta were texts made public, although publication was sometimes restricted. Acta were first posted or carved for...

• Aemilian Way see Roman roads.

• agrarian laws in ancient Rome, the laws regulating the disposition of public lands ( ager publicus ).

• Alba Longa city of ancient Latium, in the Alban Hills near Lake Albano, c.12 mi (19 km) SE of Rome. It was a city before 1100 BC and apparently the most powerful in Latium. Legend says that it was founded by...

• Alesia hilltop town of Celtic and Roman Gaul, on the site of Alise-Sainte-Reine, near Dijon. It was held by Vercingetorix and his men (52 BC) when Caesar besieged it. Caesar prevented Vercingetorix' allies...

• Antonines collective name of certain Roman emperors of the 2d cent., namely Antoninus Pius ; his adopted sons, Marcus Aurelius and Verus; and Commodus.

• Appian Way Lat. Via Appia, most famous of the Roman roads , built (312 BC) under Appius Claudius Caecus. It connected Rome with Capua and was later extended to Beneventum (now Benevento), Tarentum (Taranto), and Brundisium (Brindisi). It was the chief...

• Appii forum [Lat.,=Appius' market], important stop on the Appian Way, c.40 mi (64 km) E of Rome. It was at the head of a canal through the Pontine Marshes. When Paul arrived here on his way to Rome, he was met...

• Asculum ancient town, Apulia, SE Italy, 18 mi (29 km) S of Foggia, on a branch of the Appian Way. Here Pyrrhus won a hard-fought battle against the Romans in 279 BC Modern Ascoli Satriano is in the...

• Aventine hill: see Rome before Augustus under Rome.

• Bruttium ancient region, S Italy, roughly occupying the present Calabria , the "toe" of the Italian peninsula. Bruttium faced Sicily across the Strait of Messina. Inhabited in the interior by the Brutii (whose chief town was Cosenza) and by the Lucani, it was settled (8th cent. BC)...

• Caere ancient city of Etruria, c.30 mi (50 km) N of Rome, Italy, at the site of the modern Cerveteri. Although a few miles from the sea, it had ports at Alsium (near modern Palo) and Pyrgi (modern Santa...

• Campus Martius under Rome see Rome before Augustus; Roman Empire; Renaissance and Modern Rome.

• Cannae ancient village, Apulia, SE Italy, scene in 216 BC of Hannibal 's crushing defeat of the Romans. Hannibal's troops assumed a crescent-shaped formation to meet the Roman troops, which were especially concentrated in the center. As the Romans advanced, Hannibal...

• Capitol in Rome: see Capitoline Hill.

• Capitoline Hill or Capitol, highest of the seven hills of ancient Rome, historic and religious center of the city. The great temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, on its southern summit, was dedicated in 509 BC; it was foremost...

• Casilinum ancient town, Campania, S Italy, 18 mi (29 km) N of present-day Naples. It probably was founded (c.600 BC) by the Etruscans. It was captured (215 BC) from Carthage by the Romans and served as a...

• censor title of two magistrates of ancient Rome (from c.443 BC to the time of Domitian). They took the census (by which they assessed taxation, voting, and military service) and supervised public...

• centumviri [Lat.,=a hundred men], in ancient Rome, law court of a varying number of members representing each Roman tribe that heard civil cases involving land and property claims. Under the empire the...

• Cerveteri see Caere.

• civil war in Roman history: see Marius and Sulla ; Pompey and Julius Caesar.

• consul title of the two chief magistrates of ancient Rome. The institution is supposed to have arisen with the expulsion of the kings, traditionally in 510 BC, and it was well established by the early 4th...

• Cumae ancient city of Campania, Italy, near Naples. According to Strabo, it was the earliest Greek colony in Italy or Sicily, and it seems to have been founded c.750 BC by Chalcis. The area has yielded...

• decemvirs [Lat.,=ten men], in ancient Rome, group of 10 men appointed to a special judicial or executive capacity. The most famous were those who developed in the 5th cent. BC the Laws of the Twelve Tables,...

• Eastern Empire see Roman Empire under Rome ; Byzantine Empire.

• equites [Lat.,=horsemen], the original cavalry of the Roman army, chosen, according to legend, by Romulus from the three ancient Roman tribes; the equites were selected from the senatorial class on the...

• Eryx ancient city, W Sicily, Italy. Long a source of conflict between Carthage and Syracuse, it was destroyed (c.260 BC) by the Carthaginians in the First Punic War. Its temple of Venus Erycina was an...

• Etruria ancient country, W central Italy, now forming Tuscany and part of Umbria. It was the territory of the Etruscans, who in the 6th cent. BC spread Etruscan civilization throughout much of Italy. They...

• Etruscan civilization highest civilization in Italy before the rise of Rome. The core of the territory of the Etruscans, known as Etruria to the Latins, was northwest of the Tiber River, now in modern Tuscany and part of...

• Falerii ancient city of Etruria, Italy, W of the Tiber River. It was the capital of the Faliscans, a tribe who fought with the Etruscans against Rome. Falerii fell to Rome in 241 BC Modern Civita...

• fasces [Lat.,=bundles], ancient Roman symbol of the regal and later the magisterial authority. The fasces were cylindrical bundles of wooden rods, tied tightly together, from which an axe projected; they...

• fasti in ancient Rome, dies fasti were days on which public business could be transacted without impiety. The word also came to be used for the calendars and almanacs that contained such information as holy days, festivals, and...

• Flaminian Way one of the principal Roman roads , the greatest artery from Rome to Cisalpine Gaul. Construction was begun (220 BC) by Caius Flaminius. The road ran N from Rome to Narnia (modern Narni), to Mevania (Bevagna), NE to Nuceria (Nocera...

• Forum Appii see Appii forum.

• Gabii ancient town of Latium, 12 mi (19.3 km) E of Rome on the road to Praeneste (modern Palestrina). According to legend, Romulus was reared there. One of the most important of the Latin cities, it...

• Gallic Wars campaigns in Gaul led by Julius Caesar in his two terms as proconsul of Cisalpine Gaul, Transalpine Gaul, and Illyricum (58 BC-51 BC). Caesar's first campaign was to prevent the Helvetii (who lived N of the Lake of Geneva) from crossing...

• Gaul gôl , Lat. Gallia, ancient designation for the land S and W of the Rhine, W of the Alps, and N of the Pyrenees. The name was extended by the Romans to include Italy from Lucca and Rimini northwards, excluding...

• gladiators [Lat.,=swordsmen], in ancient Rome, class of professional fighters, who performed for exhibition. Gladiatorial combats usually took place in amphitheaters. They probably were introduced from...

• Heraclea ancient Greek city, in Lucania, S Italy, not far from the Gulf of Tarentum (Taranto). There Pyrrhus defeated the Romans in 280 BC Bronze tablets giving Roman municipal laws were found nearby.

• Hippo Regius see Annaba , Algeria.

• Iguvine Tables several inscribed bronze tablets dating from the 1st and 2d cent. AD, discovered in 1444 at Gubbio, Italy (the ancient Iguvium and later Eugubium). Most of them are still preserved there. They set...

• Janiculum see Rome before Augustus under Rome.

• Lanuvium ancient city of Latium, Italy, c.20 mi (32 km) S of Rome, in the Alban Hills near the Appian Way. It was celebrated for its temple of Juno. The modern village is Lanuvio; there are ruins of a...

• Latin Road see Roman roads.

• Latin Way see Roman roads.

• Latins in ancient times, inhabitants of Latium, particularly of the great plain of Latium. The Latins established themselves in many small settlements. Gradually increasing in size, these settlements were...

• legion large unit of the Roman army. It came into prominence c.400 BC It originally consisted of 3,000 to 4,000 men drawn into eight ranks: the first six ranks, called hoplites, were heavily armed, while...

• Leontini ancient city, E Sicily, c.20 mi (32 km) S of Catania. It was (729 BC) a colony of Chalcidians from the island of Naxos and passed (5th cent. BC) under the rule of Syracuse. It was the legendary...

• Lilybaeum ancient city of Sicily, on the extreme western coast. It is the modern Marsala. It was founded (396 BC) by Carthage and became a stronghold. In the First Punic War it resisted a long Roman siege (250-242 BC). Rome finally won (241 BC) the city and used it as a base for the...

• Lucania ancient region of S Italy. It was bounded on the east by the Gulf of Tarentum (now Taranto) and by Apulia, on the north by Samnium and Campania, on the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea, and on the south...

• Lucrece or Lucretia , in Roman legend, Roman matron, illustrious for her virtue. She was the victim of rape by Sextus, son of Tarquinius Superbus. Having enjoined her husband, Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, and his...

• Lusitania Roman province in the Iberian Peninsula. As constituted (c.AD 5) by Augustus it included all of modern central Portugal as well as much of W Spain. The province took its name from the Lusitani, a...

• Marsic War see Social War.

• Milvian Bridge or Mulvian Bridge, Latin Pons Milvius or Pons Mulvius. It was built by Marcus Aemilius Scaurus in 109 BC over the Tiber near Rome as part of the Flaminian Way. By defeating Maxentius here in...

• Minturnae ancient town of Latium, Italy, 7 mi (11.3 km) E of Formia. It was important because it controlled the bridge on the Appian Way over the Liris River. Founded by a people called the Aurunci or...

• Mulvian Bridge see Milvian Bridge.

• Mylae ancient port, NE Sicily, now Milazzo. It was settled by colonists from Messina. Here in 260 BC the Romans in a newly built fleet were led to victory over the Carthaginians by the consul Caius Duilius in the First Punic War; it was...

• Noricum province of the Roman Empire. It corresponded roughly to modern Austria S of the Danube and W of Vienna. It was bordered on the west by Rhaetia and on the east by Pannonia. Noricum was...

• Ostia ancient city of Italy, at the mouth of the Tiber. It was founded (4th cent. BC) as a protection for Rome, then developed (from the 1st cent. BC) as a Roman port, rivaling Puteoli. Augustus,...

• Paestum ancient city of Lucania, S Italy. It was a colony of the Greek city of Sybaris (c.600 BC) and was first named Posidonia. It flourished with the rest of Magna Graecia through the 6th cent. BC The Romans...

• Palatine hill: see Rome before Augustus and Roman Empire under Rome.

• Pannonia ancient Roman province, central Europe, southwest of the Danube, including parts of modern Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia. Its natives, the warlike Pannonians, were Illyrians...

• Panormus ancient name of Palermo , Italy.

• patrician member of the privileged class of ancient Rome. Two distinct classes appear to have come into being at the beginning of the republic. Only the patricians held public office, whether civil or...

• Peraea in Roman times, the area E of the Jordan River, between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, and S of the Decapolis.

• plebeians see plebs.

• plebs or plebeians [Lat. plebs =people], general body of Roman citizens, as distinct from the patrician class. They lacked, at first, most of the patrician rights, but with the establishment of the tribune of the people in the 5th cent. BC, they gradually achieved political equality with the...

• praefect see prefect.

• Praenestine Way see Roman roads.

• praetor in ancient Rome, originally a consul , and later a judicial magistrate (from c.366 BC). In 242 BC two praetors were appointed, the urban praetor ( praetor urbanus ), deciding cases to which citizens were parties, and the peregrine praetor ( praetor peregrinus ) deciding cases between foreigners. The urban praetor exercised the functions of the consuls in their absence and of the peregrine praetor when he was holding a military command. Two additional...

• Praetorians bodyguard of the ancient Roman emperors. Growing out of an early troop that served as bodyguard to the general commanding in Rome, they were formally organized in the time of Augustus. The number...

• prefect or praefect , in ancient Rome, various military and civil officers. Under the empire some prefects were very important. The Praetorian prefects (first appointed 2 BC) usually numbered two; they commanded the...

• pretor see praetor.

• proconsul in ancient Rome, governor of a province. He was in sole charge of the army, of justice, and of administration in his province and could not be prosecuted for maladministration until his office...

• publican [Lat.,=state employee], in ancient Rome, man who was employed by the state government under contract. As early as c.200 BC there was a class of men in Rome accustomed to undertaking contracts...

• Punic Wars three distinct conflicts between Carthage and Rome. When they began, Rome had nearly completed the conquest of Italy, while Carthage controlled NW Africa and the islands and the commerce of the W Mediterranean. When they ended, Carthage was ruined,...

• Puteoli ancient city of Campania, S Italy, 8 mi (13 km) W of Naples. Founded c.520 BC by Samian Greeks from Cumae, it came under Roman control by the end of the 4th cent. BC and was made a citizen colony...

• quaestor Roman magistrate, with responsibility for the treasury; in early times a quaestor also had judicial powers. At first there were two quaestors. Sulla named 20, and Caesar set 40 as the number (45...

• questor see quaestor.

• Quirinal one of the seven hills of Rome, NE of Capitoline Hill. It was the site of several ancient shrines and the quarter of the quirites, probably the aristocracy in the first centuries of Roman history. In the 16th cent. a papal palace was built there; known as Quirinal palace, it was the residence of the kings of Italy from 1870 to...

• Regillus, Lake in ancient Latium, SE of Rome, possibly near Frascati. Traditionally it was the scene of a battle (499 or 496 BC) by which Rome gained supremacy in Latium.

• Regium Julium see Rhegium.

• Rhegium ancient city, S Italy, on the Strait of Messina. It is the modern Reggio di Calabria. Founded (c.720 BC) as a colony of Chalcis, many Messenians later settled there. It was powerful until its defeat and destruction (386 BC) by Dionysius the Elder of Syracuse. The Romans, who...

• Roman Empire see Rome ; Byzantine Empire ; Holy Roman Empire.

• Roman roads ancient system of highways linking Rome with its most distant provinces. The roads often ran in a straight line, regardless of obstacles, and were efficiently constructed, generally in four layers...

• Rubicon Lat. Rubico, small stream that flows into the Adriatic and in Roman times marked the boundary between Cisalpine Gaul and ancient Italy. In 49 BC, after some hesitation, Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon to...

• Rulers of the Roman Empire Rulers of the Roman Empire ( including dates of reign ) Augustus, grandnephew of Julius Caesar, 27 BC-AD 14 Tiberius, stepson of Augustus, AD 14-AD 37 Caligula, grandnephew of Tiberius, 37-41 Claudius,...

• Sabelli people of ancient Italy who spoke Oscan. They were a loose group and seemed to have had little or no political unity. Oscan-speaking tribes expanded over central Italy, and by the 5th cent. BC...

• Sabines ancient people of central Italy, centered principally in the Sabine Hills, NE of Rome. Not much dependable information on them can be gathered. They were probably Oscan-speaking and therefore may...

• Salona Latin Salonae, ancient city of Dalmatia , 3 mi (5 km) NE of modern Split, Croatia. A port on the Adriatic, it was used as a base for Roman conquest and was made a Roman colony and the capital of Illyricum in the 1st cent. BC The busy...

• Samnites people of ancient Italy. Their country was Samnium. The Samnites were Oscan-speaking and therefore should be included among the Sabelli. The Tabula Agnonensis, a bronze tablet that carries an inscription engraved in the full Oscan alphabet, is an important record of the language. The loose confederation of agricultural tribes, expanding in the 4th cent...

• Samnium ancient country of central and S Italy, mostly in the S Apennines. It was E of Campania and Latium and NE of Apulia.

• Segesta ancient city of NW Sicily. Traditionally called a Trojan colony, it was the longstanding and bitter rival of Selinus. Athens undertook (415-413 BC) the disastrous expedition against Syracuse as an...

• Selinus ancient city of Sicily. It was founded (628? BC) by Dorian Greeks. The constant rival of neighboring Segesta, Selinus got Syracuse to interfere in a quarrel, which led to the unsuccessful Athenian...

• senate, Roman governing council of the Roman republic. It was the outgrowth of the council of the kings. By the 3d cent. BC the senate was a group of 300 men with a high degree of political, legislative, and...

• Servile Wars name given in Roman history to three slave uprisings. The agricultural slaves were exploited by their owners, who had extreme powers and were never averse to using them. The first of the Servile...

• Social War or Marsic War [Lat. socii =allies], 91BC-88 BC, struggle brought on by demands of the Italian allies for the privileges of Roman citizenship. The allies had fought on the side of Rome and had helped establish Roman hegemony,...

• Solin Bosnia and Herzegovina: see Salona.

• Sybaris ancient city of Magna Graecia, S Italy, in Bruttium, on the Gulf of Tarentum (now Taranto). It was founded in 720 BC by Achaeans and people from Argolis, the Troezenians. It became a wealthy Greek...

• Tarquinii ancient city of Etruria, central Italy, NW of Rome. The head of the Etruscan League, it was defeated in wars with Rome in the 4th cent. BC In the 3d cent. BC it lost its independence. Tarquinii...

• Thurii ancient city of Magna Graecia, S Italy, in Bruttium, on the Gulf of Tarentum (now Taranto). It was founded by Pericles in 443 BC to replace ruined Sybaris. New Greek colonists came, among them the...

• Titus, Arch of see Titus , Roman emperor.

• Trastevere see Renaissance and Modern Rome under Rome.

• tribune in ancient Rome, one of various officers. The history of the office of tribune is closely associated with the struggle of the plebs against the patrician class to achieve a more equitable position in the state. From c.508 BC the military tribunes ( tribuni militum ) were the senior officers of the legions, elected by the people and with the rank of magistrate; a plebeian could hold the position. The office of military tribune with the power of consul ( tribuni militum consulari potestate ) was established in 444 BC The office meant that certain of the military tribunes were invested with the political power of the consul. Although military tribunes were abolished (367 BC), the...

• Triumvirate in ancient Rome, ruling board or commission of three men. Triumvirates were common in the Roman republic. The First Triumvirate was the alliance of Julius Caesar , Pompey , and Marcus Licinius Crassus formed in 60 BC This was not strictly a triumvirate, since the alliance had no official sanction. The three men were able to control Rome, and the alliance aided Caesar's rise to power by giving...

• Tusculum city of ancient Latium. The ruins of this city are near modern Frascati, 15 mi (24 km) SE of Rome, Italy. According to legend, Tusculum was founded by Telegonus, son of Ulysses, and it early...

• Valerian Way see Roman roads.

• Veii ancient city of Etruria, 11 mi (18 km) NW of Rome, Italy. One of the most powerful member cities of the Etruscan League, it was constantly at war with Rome. It fell (c.396 BC) to the Roman army...

• Veneti people of ancient Italy. They occupied the shore of the Adriatic from Trieste to the mouth of the Po River and spoke an Illyrian language. Friendly toward Rome, they came under Roman rule in the 2d...

• Via Appia see Appian Way ; Roman roads.

• Villanovan culture the culture of a people of N Italy in the early Iron Age (c.1100-700 BC). The term is derived from the town of Villanova, near Bologna, where the first excavations of a Villanovan cemetery were...

• Virginia in Roman legend, daughter of the centurion Virginius. Her father stabbed her to save her from the lust of Appius Claudius Crassus, decemvir. This precipitated the fall of the decemvirs. The story occurs...

• Volscians or Volsci , people of ancient Italy. They occupied the country SE of the Alban Hills. They were early opponents of the Romans and Latins. The story of Coriolanus , a Roman who led the Volscians against Rome, only to turn back at the last minute and be put to death by the Volscians, is probably more legend than truth. Warfare apparently continued from the 6th...

• Volsinii ancient city of Etruria, Italy, on the site of modern Orvieto. It was a powerful member of the Etruscan League, and the spirit of the league was broken when Romans conquered and thoroughly sacked...

• West Roman Empire see Roman Empire under Rome.