History Quiz Rome Flashcards
Explain the story of Romulus and Remus
Romulus and Remus - twins, put in basket at birth, raised by wolves
Grew up, founded a city where the wolves had found them
Quarreled where site should be, each made their own site
Remus made fun of Romulus, Romulus promptly killed him and named his site Rome
What was the most powerful governing body?
the Senate
Who could become council members?
patricians, or landholding elites
How long did council member serve?
life
consuls
supervised business of government/commanded armies
What were the conditions of becoming a consul?
could only serve one term
had to consult with Senate
checks on power in place
What would the senate do if there was a war?
They would choose a dictator
What were the conditions of becoming a dictator?
had complete control over government
given power to rule for 6 months - then gives it up
Cincinnatus
famous dictator in 16 days organized army victorious in battle celebrated victory went back to farm
plebians
farmers, merchants, artisans, traders, etc.
bulk of the population/little say
450 BC - laws written on 12 tablets in the marketplace
Plebians didn’t know laws before - not written down
now “plebs” could appeal verdict by judge
soon enough…
plebs could elect “tributes” to protect pleb interests
tributes could veto laws for plebs
eventually, the Senate would choose plebs as consuls
even later, plebs could be part of the Senate
all without resorting to war
What was the basic unit of Roman society?
family
patriarchal
patriarchal father has absolute power strict discipline/total respect wife was subject to husband not allowed to run own affairs must be: loving, dignified, strong
What was the Role of Women in Roman society?
had more rights than Greek women
women gained more rights - could run business
most women worked at home raising children
Eventually:
gained more of a public role
a rare few has political influence
Education in Rome
unlike other civilizations, boys and girls learned to read/write
the wealthy would hire Greek tutors for their children
learned history rhetoric, and some politics
Religion
combination of Latin, Etruscan, and Greek mythology/gods
feasts/celebrations were common events (unity). Romans prayed to gods and worshipped them
