Key Terms

Question 0

Numa Pompilius

Answer 0

“First” King of Rome, chosen by Senate, foreigner from Sabine
Ruled by justice, law, and proper observances (rituals to appease gods)
instilled and maintained peace
“Religious King” archetype
his goal was to transform Rome from a war-like state to a peaceful state by instituting a number of religious rites, priesthoods, etc. to turn people’s focus to living well to obtain goodwill of gods

Question 1

Romulus

Answer 1

one of twins born of Rhea Silva (Remus and Romulus)
founder of Rome on Palatine Hill
legend of being born of Mars, surviving Tiber river as an infant, washing upon shores of Palatine hill (fig tree; landmark), raised by “she-wolf” (Laurentia), kills twin brother to rule Rome

Question 2

The wall of Romulus

Answer 2

Romulus aimed to fortify Palatine Hill by building a wall around it.
Evidence arose in ~2007 of a wall being built around 9/8thc BCE giving credence to Romulus’ wall

Question 3

Palatine Hill

Answer 3

site of twins’ childhood upbringing, site of formation of Rome, one of main 7 hills of Rome
Forum later formed between Palatine and Capitoline hills

Question 4

Rape of Sabine Women

Answer 4

To build Rome’s population, Romulus “stole” women from the neighboring city of Sabine. He opened Rome as a type of ‘asylum’/penal city to criminals, second sons, and other exiled men. Romulus then through a festival in which the daughters of Sabine were “married” (read: raped by) to the men brought into Rome.

Ruler of Sabines, Titus Tatius, leads army to Rome and they eventually reach a truce which allies Sabine and Rome, increasing Rome’s forming population.

Question 5

Tarquin the Proud (“Superbus”)

Answer 5

basically ends the monarchy due to his cruelty
he inherits the crown from his father Tarquin the First after brutally murdering Servius Tillius.

After raping Lucretia (see Rape of Lucretia), he instigates a rebellion which ends Tarquin dynasty.

the name “superbus” was given due to his actions (forbidding his own father’s burial, rules by force and violence, literally murders anyone who opposes him)

Question 6

Servius Tillius

Answer 6

“servius” almost a term for a servant
part of Tarquin the First’s household, Tarquin’s wife Tanaquil legend (Tullius bursts into flames when asleep, Tanaquil forbids anyone to put flames out until he wakes of his own accord, Tullius awakes and flames die out)
Tarquin was an Etruscan king, when other “Roman” born want to be king, Tanaquil pushes Tillius (someone from her household) to be the 6th King of Rome.

Question 7

Brutus

Answer 7

“Stupid” Brutus
very clever because he never said anything, plotted carefully

Basically he goes with King Tarquin the Proud’s sons to see the oracle of Delphi who tells the sons that the next king of Rome will be the one who kisses his mother first. The sons immediately run to their own mother while Brutus kisses the ground (Mother Earth is mother to all). After the Rape of Lucretia (see card), Brutus stages a coup. He brings her dead body to the Forum and bars out Tarquin’s army, effectively deposing the Tarquin dynasty and ending the Kings of Rome.

Question 8

Rape of Lucretia

Answer 8

Tarquin the Proud’s sons are debating whose daughter is the most beautiful when a man claims that his daughter, Lucretia, is the most beautiful, Roman, queenly, and domestic. The sons race to see her and confirm this when Tarquin the Proud exclaims he will be the one to have her. She refuses and Tarquin threatens to kill her and a servant and claim that the servant tried to rape her resulting in both of their deaths. Lucretia gives in but then explains these events to her father and proceeds to kill herself.

This event leads to Brutus’ coup and the end of Tarquin’s reign.

Question 9

“Rex” in Rome

Answer 9

Archaeological evidence in the forms of a black stone and other clay inscriptions indicate one referred to as “Rex” or recei, the latin word for King. This gives credence to the idea that there was someone called a King who had the power to receive gifts and arrange mass construction, economy, etc.

Question 10

Polybius

Answer 10

Greek author who wrote a “universal history” focusing on Rome’s expansion from middle of 3rd century to own day.

• active in Greek political & military matters
• 167 on, lived in Rome => become close with key members of Roman elite

Question 11

Volsinii

Answer 11

Etruscan city, forced into dependent status to Rome in 280s-70s.

• 265BCE, most powerful families lost control of Volsinii and sought Roman help
• Marcus Fulvius Flaccus (consul in 264) destroyed city, allowed survivors to settle nearby
• any civic unrest in allied cities, Rome helped leading families, easier to make them submit

Question 12

Twelve Tables

Answer 12

Consolidation of ancient Roman Law and earlier traditions which formed a code of legislation.

• strong focus on debt collection, creditor responsible for getting debtor to court, allowed to sell debtor into slavery but NOT in Rome, also could have debtor work for creditor until debt is paid
• very specific, focus on family/household centered social life

Question 13

Siege of Saguntum (219 BCE)

Answer 13

Hannibal wants to start a war with Rome so his first move is to take Saguntum.

• historical issue => Saguntum is South of the Ebro River so it’s technically Carthagian land so there shouldn’t have been a problem with Rome…however, there may have been a private treaty previously struck b/w Rome and Saguntum
• Hannibal’s just trying to demonstrate Carthage’s control S. of Ebro, Rome sends and embassy demanding Hannibal => effectively declares war with Hannibal

Question 14

Battle of Cannae (216 BCE)

Answer 14

Hannibal brutally defeats Roman armies in Cannae. Rome had sent her entire military force and Hannibal surrounds and decimates them. This was a HUGE defeat for Rome and crippled her power.

• Romans blamed this on the behavior of 2 consuls => L. Aemilius Paullus and C. Terentius Varro
• Big Question: Where the fuck do we get people to fight for us now???

Question 15

Fabius Maximus

Answer 15

known as very docile, aka lambkin

• “Shield” part of Shield and Sword…he’s elected consul and basically leads Hannibal around to buy the Romans time to recover their defenses
• goal is to ensure the safety of Roman troops

Question 16

“The Shield and the Sword”

Answer 16

Shield = Fabius Maximus, Sword = Claudius Marcellus

• Maximus focuses on Rome’s defense while Marcellus focuses on strategic offensive moves for Rome
• Marcellus is a born warrior, one of the last aristocratic warriors (dude fucking killed king of Gaul single-handedly, fucking aggressive as hell…)

Question 17

Marcellus’ Siege of Syracuse (214-212 BCE)

Answer 17

Marcellus takes the war away from Italy to Sicily in Syracuse.
After King Hiero II (loyal to Rome) dies, his successors are pro-Punic so Rome lays a 2 year siege to the port of Syracuse. Marcellus’ successful siege is the first major victory for Rome in the 2nd Punic War and begins to turn the tide against Hannibal.

Question 18

Archimedes

Answer 18

the Eureka! dude
Basically he was super close to Hiero II and loyal to Syracuse so he was this kickass inventor who kept Marcellus at bay for about 2 years with his cool inventions. When Marcellus finally beat Syracuse, he wanted to see Archimedes but the poor dude didn’t survive the siege.

Question 19

Scipio Africanus

Answer 19

• this dude is fucking amazing. He’s basically 24 and gets elected as the leader of this major military force in Rome even though he hadn’t even earned the right to be a consul at that point. He’s super charismatic and only got elected because Romans were freaking the fuck out about this Hannibal guy and at a public assembly Scipio just stands on a hill above everybody else and is like “Elect me cause I’m awesome” AND THAT’S IT.
• perpetuates legends of himself being reincarnation of Hercules and descendant of Alexander the Great and conception of some snake monster thing
• goes to Spain and KICKS ASS. Avenges the Romans from Cannae in Carthage by slaughtering 57K (threw the severed head of Hannibal’s brother into Hannibal’s camp. boss ass motherfucker.
• cuts off Hannibal’s supply in Metaurus, strands Hannibal in Italy => turning the tide

Question 20

Magna Mater / Cybele

Answer 20

~204BCE Romans start getting super religious and superstitious

• they consult this super old illegible book which somehow gets interpreted to say “guys. guys. k see there’s this old black rock or some shit. doesn’t look human or whatever but I swear it’s the image of this Goddess Cybele. it’s in Pessinus, so just go grab that shit, take it back to Rome, set up a temple for that shit, and BOOM ya’ll bitches will win the war”
• so ROME DOES THIS
• Pessinus is an area controlled by the Attalid Kings in city of Pergamon
• Magna Mater = Big Mother
• was Rome trying to build international connections? They basically do this shit in the middle of a fucking war.
• also Cybele stone retraces the route of Aeneas (rise of nationalism, strengthening place in the Greek world)

Question 21

The Battle of Zama (202 BCE)

Answer 21

-basically like the end of Rocky, yuppie (Scipio) vs. experienced general (Hannibal)
Hannibal doesn’t have a flaw, but Scipio’s ingenuity against Hannibal’s elephant formation leads to victory

Question 22

Patricians and Plebeians

Answer 22

Patricians => usually part of handful of powerful families, claimed privileges ensuring leadership of the city, claimed exclusive rights over religious life in Rome
Plebeians => outnumbered pats but not all non-pats were plebs, wide range of wealth & status meant no unified goals, leaders more powerful in times of debt high food prices or poverty, main weapon was secession (see secession of plebs)

Question 23

Secession of Plebeians

Answer 23

the main weapon of plebeians
-a sort of strike in times of war; they’d all recede to a hill outside of Rome, elect own leadership, refuse to cooperate with magistrate until their grievances were addressed

Question 24

Sack of Veii

Answer 24

~396 BCE Romans capture and destroy Etruscan city of Veii ~10 miles from Rome - some become Roman citizens, others exiled or enslaved - siege warfare and tunneling technology form - major gain of land and subsequent distribution

Question 25

Camillus

Answer 25

- Marcus Furius Camillus, recognized as hero, military tribune with consul powers 6x and dictator 5x => sign of Republic's fragile order - lead Roman army to defeat Gallic army occupying Rome, reclaimed Rome and recovered stolen treasures - opened highest offices to plebeians in 367 => crucial point in struggle of orders - becomes huge figure of myth and history

Question 26

consuls

Answer 26

supreme office, annually selected * imperium => command an army, life or death power over soldiers - lists of people holding magestrates

Question 27

Lapis Satricanus

Answer 27

stone block found, had details of people who put up the statue

Question 28

Cincinnatus

Answer 28

famous dictator, consul, Romans turn to him to lead campaign, becomes dictator and fights - charismatic leaders key nature of 5th c Rome - leaders become moral examples for proper Roman behaviour

Question 29

Latin War (340-338 BCE)

Answer 29

- poorly documented time - Rome dominates Latium, municipia under Roman control; allies with Rome but no say in votes - new Roman settlements, 334 Plebs want more land so Rome gives it, new colonial political changes

Question 30

Latin colonies

Answer 30

- colonists travel with plebs to new lands - leaping point to send settlements to broader peninsula - key for Roman expansion

Question 31

Caudine Forks (321 BCE)

Answer 31

- during the second samnite war | - Samnites defeat Romans, two stories: entire Roman force is killed, army marches back to Rome in shame

Question 32

Ovinius Law

Answer 32

- law to establish fixed number of senators with procedure (lectio senatus) to replace/remove them - senate becomes permanent body - procedure occurred every five years lead by two censors

Question 33

Appius Claudius Caecus censor

Answer 33

- elected censor with his colleague - several plans: build a road, change worship of Hercules from cult to public, allow sons of freedmen into senate, change tribal structure

Question 34

Pyrrhus of Epirus

Answer 34

- descendent of Alexander the Molossian - king of Epirus, very powerful general - alarmed at Rome's growing influence, allies with Tarentines against Thurii (Roman allies), eventually battles with Rome - ~280-275 BCE fights war in Italy, 27.5k troops with elephants cross into Italy - 280 defeats Romans at Heraclea, 279 heavy losses on both sides but defeats Romans in Ausculum, 278 leaves to fight Carthaginians - 275BCE returns to ITaly but ambushed by Carthaginians and his fleet is destroyed - 275 Rome defeats him in Benventum, he dies 3 years after withdrawing...so sad * *Key: his defeat demonstrates Rome's strength against Greece

Question 35

Dido

Answer 35

- phoenician queen of North Africa who falls in love with Aeneas - when he leaves her, she kills herself and curses Rome - this is why Romans believe they were destined to go to war with Carthage (Carthaginians believed to be Dido's descendents)

Question 36

First Romano-Carthagian Treaty (509BCE)

Answer 36

- as stated by Polybius, this treaty dates from the consulship of Lucius Junius Brutus and Marcus Horatius (first consuls after expulsion of kings) and establishment of temple of Jupiter Capitolinus - treaty defines where each state can sail and where they are allowed to sell/trade their goods; attempt to avoid conflict by limiting interference

Question 37

corvus/crow

Answer 37

- large plank-like device that forms a stable bridge between two ships allowing for easier boarding - device was used by Romans against Carthaginian fleet because Rome fights better on land

Question 38

The Battle of Aegates Islands (241 BCE)

Answer 38

- Carthaginian fleet gets surrounded and destroyed on their way to resupply Hamilcar Barca (Hannibal's father) - he believes Carthage betrayed him by forfeiting to Rome

Question 39

Triumph

Answer 39

a religious ceremony awarded by the Senate to a victorious Roman general celebrating his greatness - Roman generals are never allowed to enter the city with his sword and troops unless it's for a Triumph - shows off all spoils, sometimes will kill foreign kings at ceremony, basically treated like a god - limitations: no Triumph if victory over slaves or Romans and servant follows general all day just to remind him he's human

Question 40

Praetorship

Answer 40

- created in 4th c as a junior magistrate with imperium to lead armies and oversee court cases => imperium so basically a junior consul - initially 2 praetors = 1 in Rome for court cases while another traveled; eventually adds new praetors for each new territory - oversees a "provincial" = originally military commands

Question 41

Prorogatia

Answer 41

- growing need for governors not just generals - system by which an elected officials term of duty can be extended in absentia for more than a year because Rome needs more governors to govern growing number of territories