Roman Governance
A form of government in which people select representatives to govern them and make laws
republic
Members of the Roman landholding upper class who held power
Patricians
A marketplace and public square in a Roman city
forum
Greek for "high city"; temples of each polis were located here.
acroplis
The "Father of History."
Herodutus
The head of government, usually with a limited term in office
consul
The ordinary citizens (farmers, merchants, artisans) of Rome
Plebians
The language of the Romans
Latin
A form of government that operates by trying to establish the popular will by large-scale voting
democracy
A ten-year war around 1250 B.C. where Mycenaeans attacked the trading city of Troy
The Trojan War
To reject a decision or proposal
veto
The Roman Dictator who was killed on a day known as "The Ides of March."
Julius Ceasar
A 200-year period of "Roman Peace."
Pax Romana
A small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution
oligarchy
The war between Athens and Sparta which Sparta won, leaving all of Greece weak.
Peloponnesian War
Rome's first code of civil laws, adopted in 450 B.C.
Twelve Tables
The first Emperor of Rome, he restored order and prosperity after a century of turmoil.
Augustus
The official count of a population, used for taxation purposes.
census
The Spartan slave population
helot
The student of Socrates who believed in another world of perfection with his "Theory of Forms."
Plato
An elected official who protects the rights of ordinary citizens
tribune
The Emperor who moved the Roman capital to Byzantine (Constantinople) and made Christianity the official religion of Rome.
Constantine
A series of wars fought between Rome and Carthage
Punic Wars
Exclusion from a society or group, a form of political banishment used in Athens
ostracism
The period of peace and prosperity in Athens after the Persian Wars under the leadership of this general.
Golden Age of Pericles