Name_____________________
I. 3 pts. each. Identify each of the following, and explain its significance to Roman life and culture.
1. Romulus: First king and founder of Rome. Son of Mars and a raped
Vestal Virgin;set adrift on the Tiber with twin, Remus; landed at the base
of the Palatine. Killed his brother for jumping over his walls, thus
committing the "original sin" of fratricide.
2. pomerium: Furrow plowed by a team of oxen (one male one female);
the area around the city walls that formed the city's sacred boundary. An
army could not cross it unless in triumph, and burials were held outside
it.
3. Palatine: Once of the "seven hills" of Rome; Romulus and Remus
found by a wolf at its base. Here Romulus took the auspices and founded
his city. During the late republic it was the location of rich men's
houses (e.g. Cicero's).
4. Tarquin the Proud: Seventh and last king of Rome; seized power
through murder of Servius Tullius; his tyrannical rule and son's rape of
Lucretia brought about the end of the monarchy.
5. Cannae: Site of Rome's defeat at the hands of Hannibal in 216
B.C.E. Hannibal completely encircled and annihilated two consular armies.
He failed to press his advantage, and the Romans did not give in, refusing
to ransom prisoners of war.
6. numen: Divine power that is the essence of Roman religion.
Superhuman, has consciousness and will: can help or harm a person. Must be
propitiated through sacrifice and prayer. Examples include numen of
doorways (Janus), and numen of the hearths (Vesta).
7. manus: A feature of some forms of Roman marriage. A marriage
with manus means that the wife enters into her husband's patria potestas;
it has financial implications: if they divorce, he keeps the dowry. For
this reason marriages with manus fell out of favor.
8. Second Punic War: Fought against Hannibal and the Carthaginians
219-201B.C.E. Threatened Rome's very existence. Hannibal brought an army
(with elephants!) over the Alps, and kept it together in hostile territory
for sixteen years. Ended after Hannibal's defeat at Zama at the hands of
P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus.
9. Theatre of Pompey: First permanent stone theater in Rome. Built
on the Campus Martius (outside the original pomerium). The Romans had
torn down a previous stone theatre because they felt that the permanent
theater contributed to moral decay. Pompey got around this reluctance by
placing a temple to Venus at the top of the cavea, thus representing the
seats as temple steps.
10. Cato the Elder: Conservative Roman statesman and moralist. Wrote
works on agriculture as well as the first Roman history (the Origines) in
Latin. Was concerned with his son's education and, it was said, wrote his
history in large block letters so that his son would be able to read it;
also
taught him to ride, swim, box, throw a javelin.