Rome's Beginnings, Culture & Geography
What geographic features helped Rome trade and connect with other cultures?
The Mediterranean Sea
Who were the patricians in Roman society?
Wealthy males with inherited power
What type of religion did early Romans practice?
Polytheism – belief in many gods
What was the official language of the Roman Empire?
Latin
In what year did the Western Roman Empire fall?
476 CE
When Rome conquered a region, what did local people have to do?
Follow Roman laws, adopt Latin as their first language and pay taxes.
Why was Ancient Rome a patriarchal society?
Men held legal and political power while women had few rights
Why did Roman leaders persecute Christians?
Christians refused to worship Roman gods or the emperor
What is ethnocentrism?
The belief that one’s culture.
What institution gained power after Rome’s fall?
The Catholic Church
Explain how Rome’s geography helped it grow into a powerful empire.
Its central location on the Italian Peninsula made trade and control across the Mediterranean easier
How did Rome’s class system keep inequality in place?
Laws and traditions gave more power to patricians and men while plebeians, women, and enslaved people had limited rights
How did Christianity change the Roman Empire’s system of power?
It became the official religion, turning Rome into a Christian theocracy that changed its laws.
How did Latin influence later European languages?
Latin mixed with local languages and became the Romance Languages: Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian among others
How does Roman law still affect the modern world?
Ideas like “innocent until proven guilty” and written legal codes come from Roman law
What is the term for the blending of Roman and local customs across conquered regions?
Acculturation
Who were enslaved people in Rome, and what kind of work did they do?
They were prisoners of war or born into slavery; they performed labor in homes, farms, and public works.
What message made Jesus of Nazareth popular among the poor and enslaved?
His teachings about compassion, forgiveness, and equality before God
Why was speaking Latin seen as a sign of superior status in the Roman Empire?
It was the language of education and status, as colonization made people believe the dominant culture, and its language, were superior.
What helped the Eastern Roman Empire last longer than the Western Empire?
It was richer and closer to trade routes.
Why did Rome encourage the use of Latin in its territories?
To assimilate the new colonized areas.
How did patriarchy affect women in Roman society?
Women lived under male authority and were excluded from government and decision-making.
How did Emperor Constantine change the status of Christianity in the empire?
He legalized it through the Edict of Milan in 313 CE.
What happened to local languages under Roman rule?
They were replaced or mixed with Latin.
Why was he Roman Empire divided in two?
Emperor Diocletian divided the empire to make it easier to govern.