Rome

(noun)

An Italic civilization that began on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BCE. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, and centered on one city, it expanded to become one of the largest empires in the ancient world.

Related Terms

Examples of Rome in the following topics:

  • The Seven Kings

    • For these reasons, the kingdom of Rome is considered an absolute monarchy.
    • Romulus was Rome's legendary first king and the city's founder.
    • After founding and naming Rome, as the story goes, he permitted men of all classes to come to Rome as citizens, including slaves and freemen, without distinction.
    • He used the treasures Rome had acquired from conquests to build great monuments for Rome, including the Roman Forum, the temple to Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill, and the Circus Maximus.
    • Explain the significance of the Seven Kings of Rome to Roman culture

  • Republican Wars and Conquest

    • One by one Rome defeated both the persistent Sabines and the nearby Etruscan and Latin cities.
    • With this success in hand they managed to bring together a coalition of several of Rome's enemies, but by 282 BCE, Rome finished off the last vestiges of Etruscan power in the region.
    • Rome steadfastly refused to negotiate with Pyrrhus as long as his army remained in Italy.
    • These conflicts with Pyrrhus would have a positive effect on Rome.
    • Rome quickly moved into southern Italia, subjugating and dividing the Greek colonies.

  • The Founding of Rome

    • Myths surrounding the founding of Rome describe the city's origins through the lens of later figures and events.
    • The national epic of mythical Rome, the Aeneid by Virgil, tells the story of how the Trojan prince, Aeneas, came to Italy.
    • The story tied Rome to the legends of Troy, explained the Punic Wars, glorified traditional Roman virtues, and legitimized the Julio-Claudian dynasty as descendants of the founders, heroes, and gods of Rome and Troy.
    • The Aeneid also contains prophecies about Rome’s future, the deeds of Augustus, his ancestors, and other famous Romans.
    • Virgil wrote the Aeneid during a time of major political and social change in Rome, with the fall of the republic and the Final War of the Roman Republic tearing through society and causing many to question Rome’s inherent greatness.

  • The Establishment of the Roman Republic

    • Tarquinius was the son of the fifth king of Rome’s Seven Kings period, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, and he was married to Tullia Minor, the daughter of the sixth king of Rome’s Seven Kings period, Servius Tullius.
    • Because her father was a chief magistrate of Rome, her pleas for justice and vengeance could not be ignored.
    • Lucius Junius Brutus, a leading citizen and the grandson of Rome’s fifth king Tarquinius Priscus, publicly opened a debate on the form of government Rome ought to have in place of the existing monarchy.
    • Tarquinius was subsequently refused entry into Rome and lived as an exile with his family.
    • Explain why and how Rome transitioned from a monarchy to a republic.

  • The Flavian Dynasty

    • The Second Battle of Bedriacum tilted the balance decisively in favour of the Flavian forces, who entered Rome on December 20.
    • His brother Titus Flavius Sabinus II, as city prefect, commanded the entire city garrison of Rome.
    • In Rome meanwhile, Domitian was placed under house arrest by Vitellius, as a safeguard against future Flavian aggression.
    • By the end 70, he finally returned to Rome, and was properly installed as Emperor.
    • Nearly one-third of all coins minted in Rome under Vespasian celebrated military victory or peace.

  • Founding of the Roman Empire

    • Augustus rose to power after Julius Caesar's assassination through a series of political and military maneuvers, eventually establishing himself as the first emperor of Rome.
    • The young Octavian quickly took advantage of the situation and ingratiated himself with both the Roman people and his adoptive father's legions, thereby elevating his status and importance within Rome.
    • Nonetheless, Antony eventually succeeded in driving most of them out of Rome, using Caesar’s eulogy as an opportunity to mount public opinion against the assassins.
    • The optimate orator Marcus Tullius Cicero began attacking Antony in a series of speeches, portraying him as a threat to the republican order of Rome.
    • Despite his marriage, Antony continued a love affair with Cleopatra, the former lover of Caesar and queen of Egypt, further straining political ties to Rome, and Octavian used Antony's relationship with Cleopatra to his own advantage, portraying Antony as less committed to Rome.

  • Flavian Architecture

    • Under the Flavian dynasty, a massive building program was undertaken, leaving multiple enduring landmarks in the city of Rome, the most spectacular of which was the Flavian Amphitheatre, better known as the Colosseum.
    • The bulk of the Flavian construction projects was carried out during the reign of Domitian, who spent lavishly to restore and embellish the city of Rome.
    • The Colosseum is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy.
    • Along with the spoils, estimated 100,000 Jewish prisoners were brought back to Rome after the war, and many contributed to the massive workforce needed for construction.
    • The slaves undertook manual labor such as working in the quarries at Tivoli where the travertine was quarried, along with lifting and transporting the quarried stones 20 miles from Tivoli to Rome.

  • Art and Literature in the Roman Republic

    • His Aeneid tells the story of the flight of Aeneas from Troy and his settlement of the city that would become Rome.
    • The genre of satire was also common in Rome, and satires were written by, among others, Juvenal and Persius.
    • Vast numbers of Greek statues were also imported to Rome as a result of conquest as well as trade.
    • A large number of paintings also survived in the catacombs of Rome dating from the 3rd century CE to 400, prior to the Christian age, demonstrating a continuation of the domestic decorative tradition for use in humble burial chambers.Wall painting was not considered high art in either Greece or Rome.
    • A mid-first century CE bust of Cicero in the Capitoline Museums, Rome.

  • Crises of the Republic

    • A flood of unemployed citizens entered Rome, giving rise to populist ideas throughout the city.
    • Once again, the situation ended in violence and murder as Gaius fled Rome and was either murdered by oligarchs or committed suicide.
    • Pompey, the consuls, and the Senate all abandoned Rome for Greece in the face of Caeser’s rapidly advancing forces, and Caesar entered the city unopposed.
    • The bust of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, an optimate who marched against Rome and installed himself as dictator in 82-81 BCE.
    • Silvestre David Mirys' rendition of the the tribune Gaius Gracchus addressing the people of Rome.

  • Military Successes of the Nerva-Antonine Dynasty

    • Rome's borders in the east were indirectly governed through a system of client states for some time, leading to less direct campaigning than in the west in this period.
    • The conclusion of the Dacian Wars marked a triumph for Rome and its armies.
    • The two wars were notable victories in Rome's extensive expansionist campaigns, gaining Trajan the people's admiration and support.
    • The conclusion of the Dacian Wars marked the beginning of a period of sustained growth and relative peace in Rome.
    • Trajan began extensive building projects and became an honorable civil leader, improving Rome's civic infrastructure, thereby paving the way for internal growth and reinforcement of the Empire as a whole.