Ancient Rome

Diocletian

Roman emperor who divided Rome into two parts in a desperate attempt to prevent the fall of Rome

Constantine

Roman emperor who gave religious tolerance to all (Christians) and moved the capitol to Constantinople ("New Rome")

patricians

Roman members of the landholding upper class

Virgil

Roman poet who tried to immortalize Rome and tell of it's glory and history in poetry; wrote the Aeneid

Ptolemy

Roman scientist who was the first to propose a geocentric model of the solar system

Julias Caesar

a Roman general who conquered Gaul and invades Rome to become the first dictator

republic

a form of government where citizens elect representatives

Hadrian

a man who codified Roman law and built a wall across Britain to protect Rome from attackers

mosaic

a picture made from chips of colored stone or glass; a popular art form in Ancient Rome

Gaius Gracchus

a powerful Roman politician who helped feed the poor and restricted the power of the senate

Tiberius Gracchus

a powerful and popular (with the plebes) politician in Rome who distributed land to poor farmers

Augustus

aka: Octavian; the first Roman emperor, rids Rome of its republic

Huns

A group of nomadic horsemen that pushed the Germanic tribes into Rome as they migrated from Asia to Europe

Pax Romana

A period of Roman Peace

Greece

The civilization that heavily influenced Roman architecture (and pretty much every other feature of their culture)

polytheism

The type of religion that Rome had

aqueducts

bridge-like structures that carried water from the hills into Roman cities

Hannibal

brilliant war strategist who lead the Carthage army through the Alps to attack Rome in the Second Punic war

Etruscans

civilization that controlled central Italy during the beginning of Rome's empire and introduced Rome to the toga and alphabet

plebeians

farmers, merchants, artisans, and traders of Rome; the name for the bulk of Rome's population

mercenaries

foreign soldiers serving for pay, used by Rome toward the end of its reign

consuls

in Roman government, those who supervised government and commanded the army

Latifundia

large Roman farms that hurt small farmers because they produced more food

tribunes

officials elected by plebeians to represent them in government

dictator

ruler who has complete control over a government

Punic Wars

series of wars between Rome and Carthage, first over trading rivalry and then for revenge; Rome wins all of them and takes more of Carthage each time until it is destroyed completely

Constantinople

the new Roman capital, established by Constantine (used to be called Byzantium but was changed with the creation of "New Rome")

Latins

the people who founded Rome

12 tables

the place where all the Roman laws were written down to be seen by all

imperialism

the policy of establishing control over foreign lands and peoples (Rome uses this)

fall of Rome

when the Germanic leader, Odacer, ousted the Roman emperor it caused the _______ _______ _______