Julius Caesar
Before his famous military career, Caesar was captured by these seafaring criminals in 75 BC, cheerfully socialised with them during his captivity, then had them all crucified once ransomed.
Pirates
Augustus was born with this name before his adoption by Caesar, and kept it until the Senate granted him his famous honorific in 27 BC.
Gaius Octavius (Octavian)
This general, seven times consul and conqueror of Jugurtha, reformed the Roman army and was Caesar's uncle by marriage — making him both the dominant populist figure of his age and an indirect model for Caesar himself.
Marius
This is the Latin term for the formal list of enemies published by Sulla — and later by the Second Triumvirate — which stripped named individuals of legal protection and offered rewards for their heads.
Proscription
This man, Rome's greatest orator, was the author of the Philippics — a series of speeches so viciously attacking Mark Antony that Antony made his execution a personal condition of the Second Triumvirate's proscriptions.
Cicero
Caesar's alliance with Pompey was cemented not just politically but personally when Pompey married this woman, Caesar's own daughter, in 59 BC.
Julia
What did Augustus dramatically reduce to give the Roman people an appearance of peace?
This man, Cicero's great enemy and Caesar's master of horse during the dictator's absence, was notorious for his wild behaviour in Rome — reportedly riding through the city in a chariot pulled by lions.
Mark Antony
During which battle were Mark Antony and Cleopatra defeated, leading to their suicides?
The Battle of Actium
Pompey received the honorary title "Magnus", meaning "the Great", after his campaigns in Africa. This was a pointed reference to this Macedonian conqueror whose achievements Pompey consciously sought to emulate.
Alexander the Great
What is Caesar famously credited as saying before he cross the river Rubicon?
The Die is Cast
Imperium
Mark Antony's reputation in Rome collapsed after he was accused of subordinating Roman interests to those of Cleopatra — most damagingly, this rumour that he intended to move the capital of the Roman world to this eastern city.
Alexandria
This word, derived from the Latin for "people," described the political faction of the late Republic that championed the assemblies and legislation by the masses over the authority of the Senate — Caesar, Marius, and the Gracchi all operated within it.
Populares
Marcus Lepidus, the forgotten third member of the Second Triumvirate, had previously served as this — Rome's chief priest — a position he retained even after being stripped of all other power by Octavian.
Pontifex Maximus
Caesar's political genius was demonstrated in his policy of this — deliberately sparing defeated enemies and incorporating them into his administration rather than executing or exiling them, a stark contrast to Sulla.
Clemency
This temple was reopened by Augustus to signify to the Roman people that he had restored peace.
Temple of Janus
This Stoic senator became the symbolic conscience of the late Republic — using procedural obstruction and moral example to resist both Caesar and the corruption he believed had rotted Rome from within.
Cato
This term refers to the vast swathes of land which were bought up by elites after the Punic Wars.
Latifundia
This Thracian gladiator led the most serious slave revolt in Roman history from 73–71 BC, defeating multiple Roman armies before being finally crushed by Crassus.
Caesar's appointment as this role in early 44 BC was the title that most alarmed traditionalists, as it had previously only ever been a temporary emergency office with a six-month limit.
Dictator for Life
To avoid the fate of Caesar, Octavian carefully avoided monarchical titles, instead accepting this deceptively modest title meaning "first citizen," which disguised his total control behind republican language.
Princeps
This figure served as Caesar's partner in the consulship of 59, but famously did nothing in the roll after the people tipped buckets of manure on his head.
Bibulus
This disease was rampant throughout all parts of Rome, especially in poorer regions.
Malaria
This emergency decree could be passed by the Senate and normalised political violence throughout the Roman Republic.
The Senatus Consultum Ultimum