Rome
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magister officiorum Senior official in the bureaucracy of the late empire and the Ostrogothic kingdom of Italy.
magistrate An official of the Roman state elected by the whole community. The most important magistrates were (in descending order) censors, consuls, praetors and aediles. A dictator or an interrex (a person appointed solely to hold elections) were magistrates, but tribunes (elected only by the plebeians) were not.
patricians This inner circle of families within the equestrian order claimed descent from the aristrocracy of the Regal Period. During the Republic they gradually lost control of a monopoly of magistracies but even under the principate some priesthoods were reserved for patricians. The emperors occasionally created new patricians, as an honour and to provide sufficient for the various patrician priesthoods.
plebeians All members of the Roman state who were not patricians. Tradition recorded a number of conflicts between patricians and plebeians during the early Republic (known collectively as the Struggle of the Orders) through which the prerogatives of the patricians were reduced and the rights of the plebeians recognised, for example in the institution of the tribunate or in the convention that votes of the plebeians (plebiscita) were binding on the entire state.
pontifex maximus The most senior priest of the college of pontiffs, and holder of the most prestigious priesthood in Rome. As well as presiding over the pontiffs he also supervised a number of other priests including the priestesses of Vesta.
populares During the last century of the Republic a series of senatorial politicians, of whom the most famous were the Gracchi brothers and Julius Caesar, based their political programme on fighting for the interest of the Roman people. Land-distributions, colonial schemes, and subsidized or free grain were distinctive features of their activities but in practice they became involved in all political debates, often using popular assemblies to outflank their opponents (who adopted the name Optimates). This conflict contributed to the civil strife of the late Republic.
praetor A magistrate of the Roman state. After the creation of the consulship the praetors were the more junior magistrates and had a range of judicial, administrative and military responsibilities. The number of praetors and the diversity of their roles increased as the city and empire expanded.
praetorian prefect The main bodyguard of the emperors were the praetorian cohorts and their commanders were equestrian prefects. From as early as the reign of Tiberius they came not only to control security in the City (and around the emperor when he was away from it) but also to act as the chief equestrian advisors to the emperor, and effectively as viziers or chief ministers of the imperial court. From the early fourth century AD the empire was divided in praetorian prefectures within which each prefect headed the imperial bureaucracy.
princeps Literally the first (most senior) senator, the title was adopted by Augustus and his successors as a more neutral alternative to rex (king), dictator or perpetual consul.
promagistrate Originally Roman armies were commanded by consuls and praetors but after imperial expansion made this impractical, the senate began to ask former magistrates to take on commands. By the late Republic magistracies seem often to have been regarded as a necessary preliminary to winning a major command, and consuls drew lots for the commands prepared for them. Under the principate the most senior governors (for example of Africa, Asia and Achaea) were Proconsuls, and less senior posts went to propraetors, the emperors reserving for themselves one vast province which they governed through legates (legati Augusti pro praetore).
provincia Originally the task assigned along with imperium to a magistrate or pro-magistrate (e.g. the war with Antiochus, the command of Sicily), the term eventually acquired the sense of a territorial unit within the empire, hence the modern term “province”.
publicanus A Roman citizen who had contracted with the state to carry out work, for example provisioning an army, building or repairing a temple or basilica or road, or collecting taxes. The most notorious publicans were the tax-farmers, whose brutality and greed in the later Republic became proverbial.
senate The council of the Roman state, composed mostly of ex-magistrates but topped up every five-years by the censors from those with the appropriate census qualification.
spolia opima An exceptional honour granted to generals who had killed their counterparts in single combat. Augustus claimed they had to fight under their own auspices to qualify.
tetrarchy In the aftermath of the military crisis of the third century AD, the empire was for a while ruled by colleges of emperors, originally comprising a pair of senior emperors (termed Augusti) and a pair of junior ones (Caesares) who were also their designated heirs. The term “tetrarchy” refers both to this short-lived institution and to the period, while “tetrach” refers to one member of the college. Both joint rule and the distinction between Augusti and Caesares had earlier precedents, but before Diocletian power was always shared between relatives rather than political allies. That was the case once again by the late fourth century AD.
tribune of the People (tribunus plebis) An annually elected position created during the Republic to protect the rights of the plebeians against the patricians. Tribunes’ persons were sacrosanct and they had the right to call assemblies and to veto legislation and the acts of magistrates if they thought them against the interests of the plebeians. During the last century of the Republic the post was used first by the Gracchi and other popularis politicians as a means of passing legislation the senate might not agree to and later by generals in order to have a veto to protect their interests. The emperors appropriated the sacrosanctity of tribunes as one of their powers, and dated their regnal year by the number of annual grants of tribunical power they had received.
triumph This ritual which included a great procession into the city might be awarded to a general who had won a significant victory. The procession was often accompanied by games, banqueting, and extended public holidays. Under the principate only emperors and their relatives celebrated triumphs.
Photographic Acknowledgements
© The Art Archive/Alamy: 23; © Erin Babnik/Alamy: 9; © charistooneimages/Alamy: 19; © Peter Horree/Alamy: 7; © Independent Picture Service/Alamy: 16; © Mastercraft/Alamy: 13; © Alex Segre/Alamy: 22; © Skyscan Photolibrary/Alamy: 17; computer visualisation created by Martin Blazeby, King’s College London: 11; The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford (MS Canon Misc. 378 f.164v): 20; © Alinari/Bridgeman Art Library: 18; © The Trustees of the British Museum. All rights reserved: 14; © Sandro Vannini/Corbis: 10; © Charles Crowther and Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents, Oxford: 15; © DEA/A. Dagli Orti/Getty Images: 3; © Sebastià Giralt: 6; © Bildarchiv Foto Marburg: 4; © 2011 Scala, Florence: 5; © 2011 The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Art Resource/Scala, Florence: 8, 12; © age fotostock/SuperStock: 1, 21, 24
We apologize for any errors or omissions in the above list. If contacted we shall be pleased to rectify these at the earliest opportunity.
Index
Abbasid Caliphate 21, 104
Achaean League 70, 67–8, 100
Aemilius Paullus 68, 69, 153, 172
Aeneas 14, 16, 17
agriculture, see economy; taxation
Alamanni 213–5, 247, 275
Alexander the Great
career 19, 26, 36, 64, 126
as a model conqueror 71, 140
allies
Roman relations with 41–2
see also Social War
Ammianus Marcellinus 242
antiquarianism 122–3
see also Varro
Arab conquests 21, 187
army
equipment, organization and tactics 41–2, 74–5, 207–11
political role 132–3, 135
veterans 117, 131, 141, 196, 221–2
Athens 34, 64, 111, 130, 267
Augustine 122, 255–6, 259
Augustus (Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus)
honours after at Actium 84, 116, 125, 166
; imperialism 166–7, 201–5
life and career 14–16, 165–9
religious authority 123–6
reorganization of the military 92, 166–8
reorganization of taxation 196–8
Ausonius 242, 252
autocracy, see emperors
Aztec empire 24, 73, 121, 187
bathing 222–5
Britain, conquest of 82, 202
bureaucracy 11, 187–8, 196, 242–3, 248–51, 275, 282–4
capstone monarchy 176–8, 274
Caracalla’s Edict (Constitutio Antoniniana) 7, 121, 219, 246, 261
Carthage 14, 18, 40–1, 64–5, 70, 194
Cassiodorus 273, 275–6, 281, 289
Catilinarian conspiracy 85, 133, 149
Cato the Elder 18, 69, 71, 86, 87–8, 99
ceremonial 19–21, 26, 117–18, 125, 166–8, 180–1, 236, 245–6, 277, 285
see also triumph
Chinese Empires 26, 37, 73, 104, 175, 183, 186–7, 203, 210–13, 274, 297
Christians
communities of 213, 256
early growth in numbers 258–61
in historiography 234–5, 255–6, 278, 298
persecutions by 10, 235, 266–8
persecutions of 121, 123, 234–5, 246, 260, 262–3, 266, 277
see also heresy; schisms
Cicero (Marcus Tullius Cicero)
philosophical writings 120, 157–9
political career 16, 85, 133–4, 137–8, 140–1, 148–152
Cimbric Wars 105, 135
citizenship 83, 114, 219–222
see also Social War
civil wars
Antony and Octavian versus Brutus and Cassius 141
Antony versus Octavian 141–2
following death of Domitian 172
following death of Nero 169–70
of the fourth century 237–8, 247
of the third century 215–16
Pompey versus Caesar 141
provincial experience of 142–3
Severan 172
civilization, Roman ideas of 56, 82, 146, 159, 220, 225–6, 251–3
climate change 50–2, 192–3, 279
colonization, Roman 42, 65, 130, 141, 152
comparative historical analysis 25–7
conquest state 26, 98, 187, 197, 203, 247, 280
Constantine 27, 206–7, 212, 234–8, 243–6, 252, 263–8
Constantinople 20–21, 174, 183, 237, 267–8, 276–7, 284
cosmopolitanism 227
court 180–3
see also ceremonial; emperors; monarchy
Corinth 34–5, 70–1, 77, 92, 295
Cornelii Scipiones 77–80
see also Scipio Aemilianus; Scipio Africanus
Crassus (Marcus Licinius Crassus) 133–6, 140
Decius 121, 277
dining 225–6
Diocletian 11, 193, 216, 234–9, 241–7
disease
endemic 52–3, 56, 58, 278
epidemic/plague 192, 262, 278–9
dynastic succession 169–73
early Rome
archaeology of 32–7
historical tradition 37–40
institutions 41–2
ecology 48–61
economy
agricultural systems 52–6, 83, 87–91
intensification 57–61, 189, 191
political economy 193–8
role of slaves 86–93
trends 188–93
see also taxation
education 14, 152, 225, 248, 253
Egypt
Ptolemaic Kingdom of 64, 66, 68, 188, 196
under Roman rule 125–6, 188
emperors 163–84
empire
modern definitions of 19–27
reasons for collapse 273–5
Roman ideologies of 13–19, 71–2, 150–2
see also virtue
Ennius (Quintus Ennius) 18, 39, 120, 296–7
environmental history 49–52
see also climate change
Etruscans 33–40
Eusebius of Caesarea 234–7, 246, 260–2, 266, 268
Fabius Pictor 18, 38, 44, 117, 120, 153
family 77–8, 83–4, 172–3
fascism 23–4
Flamininus (Titus Quinctius Flamininus) 67
Florus 201
Franks 11, 20–21, 214–5, 237, 251, 253, 277, 290, 299
Fulvius Nobilior (Marcus Fulvius Nobilior) 18, 68, 296
Gaius Sempronius Gracchus (tribune of 123) 107, 116, 136–7
Gallic Sack of Rome 38–9, 105
Gaul, conquest of 105–6, 135
geology 49–50
Germany, conquest of 167, 202–5
globalization 227–9, 257–8
Goths 214–15, 239–40, 251–3, 275–6, 281–3, 289
Greek colonization 33, 36
Greek Culture in Rome and Italy 147–8, 152–7, 226, 241
gymnasium 224
Hadrian 7, 172, 183, 202, 208, 226, 242, 263
Hannibal 18, 47, 65
hegemonic power 40–5, 71–5, 98–9, 103–6
heresy 235, 237, 253, 260–1, 266–8, 285–6
Holocene 52–3, 55
Homer 14, 17
Horace 158, 166, 288, 296
Huns 239–40
hybrid vigour 36–7
Ibn Khaldun 104
identity 218–229, 248
imperialism
British 22–3, 82–3
ecological 56–61, 104–5
modern imperialisms 21–2, 227
modern theories of, 24–27
see also Augustus, imperialism; empire; hegemonic power; Roman imperialism
Inka 24–5, 73, 175, 186, 187, 274
itinerant monarchy 7, 182–3, 186, 206–7, 236
Italy, conquest of 37–45, 65
Jews 120–2, 170, 212–13, 221, 228–9, 238, 256–60, 266–8, 290
Jugurtha, Numidian prince 85, 101–2, 105
Julian 238–9, 246, 266
Julius Caesar (Gaius Julius Caesar) 14, 19, 124, 130, 134–6, 155
Justinian 20, 115, 267, 276–81, 285–6
Late Empire 9–12, 241–51
Latial Culture 33–6
Lenin 26, 27
Livy (Titus Livius) 16, 116
Lombards 275–7
Macedon, Antigonid Kingdom of 44, 64, 66–9, 194
Magna Graecia (Greek cities of southern Italy) 33–4, 42–5
maladministration (by provincial governors) 77, 85, 107, 108, 137–8, 150–1
Manichaeans 213, 256–66
Manlius Vulso 68, 100, 106
Marcus Aurelius 8, 172, 206, 214, 242
Marius (Gaius Marius) 102, 106–111, 129–30
Marseilles 33, 40, 64, 100, 105, 157, 282
Mithridates V of Pontus 102
Mithridates VI of Pontus 102, 111, 129–30, 133, 136, 139, 152, 157, 188
mobility 227–8
monarchy 173–9
see also emperors; itinerant monarchy; Regal Period;
Napoleon 21–2
Neolithic Revolution 52–3
notitia dignitatum 249
Osteria dell’Osa 32
Ostia 36
patrimonialism, see family; patronage
patronage
artistic 83, 153–7, 164
political 84–6, 116, 136, 177–8
Paul of Tarsus 221
peer-polity interaction 36
Pergamum, Attalid kingdom of 66, 68, 70, 76, 77, 100–2, 106, 194–5
Persian Empires 9, 26, 36–7, 104, 126, 186–7, 215, 239, 262, 274, 278
philosophy 109, 119–120, 153, 155–8, 238–9, 257, 267, 297
see also Cicero, philosophical writings
Phoenician expansion 33
Phoenician gods 40, 119
Pietrabbondante 39
piracy 92, 107, 138–9
plague see disease
Pliny the Elder 32, 48, 88, 220, 292
Pliny the Younger 18, 224–5, 261
political growth in the Mediterranean World 36–7, 64
Polybius of Megalopolis 38, 40, 44, 63, 68, 69, 71, 75, 97, 113–14, 153, 233
polytheism 118–21
Pompey (Gaius Pompeius) 132, 133–6, 138–9
Theatre of Pompey 146–7
populares 107–10, 130
see also Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus
postcolonialism 227
priesthoods 78, 80, 108, 118
Procopius 115, 276, 278, 281
provincial government 137–9, 142–3, 150–2, 242–3
see also maladministration
provincial revolts 185, 188, 209–10, 212
Principate 5–9, 164
Punic Wars, see Carthage; Hannibal
Pyrrhus, King of Epirus 42–5
receptions of Roman imperialism 19–23
Regal Period 1–2, 37–8
religious responses to empire 72–3, 113–26
religious system (traditional Roman) 113, 117–18, 122–3
see also polytheism; priesthoods
religious trends 119–20, 228–9, 256–8
Rhodes
as a naval power 64, 66, 68, 69–70, 92, 99, 138–9
as an intellectual centre 153, 155–7
Roman imperialism
economics of 75–7, 185–8
explanations of 40–2, 71–5
institutionalization of empire 203
see also tributary empire
periodization 143–5
see also imperialism; empire, Roman ideologies of
Roman Republic 2–5
Rome, city of
demographic growth 32–6, 87–8, 110, 190–1
monuments 14, 17, 75–6, 122, 146–7, 166, 170, 194, 223–4, 294–8
Romulus 16–17
Sallust (Gaius Sallustius) 101–2, 106, 114, 142, 152
Samnite Wars 39
Saturninus (Lucius Appuleius Saturninus) 108–9
schisms 237, 260–2, 265, 268, 285–6
Scipio Aemilianus (Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus) 4, 38, 69, 80, 85, 97, 172
Scipio Africanus (Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus) 4, 65–7, 78–9, 172
senate(s) 3, 75–6, 107–9, 118, 130, 132, 137, 166–7, 173–4, 206–7, 245
Sidonius Apollinaris 252, 284, 298
slavery 82–93, 194, 196, 208, 219
imperial slaves 167–8, 177, 180–2, 209
see also economy, role of slaves