Authors: John Maddox Roberts
Forum:
An open meeting and market area. The premier forum was the Forum Romanum, located on the low ground surrounded by the Capitoline, Palatine and Caelian hills. It was surrounded by the most important temples and public buildings. Roman citizens spent much of their day there. The courts met outdoors in the Forum when the weather was good. When it was paved and devoted solely to public business, the Forum Romanum's market functions were transferred to the Forum Boarium, the cattle market, near the Circus Maximus. Small shops and stalls remained along the northern and southern peripheries, however.
Freedman:
A manumitted slave. Formal emancipation conferred full rights of citizenship except for the right to hold office. Informal emancipation conferred freedom without voting rights. In the second or at latest third generation, a freedman's descendants became full citizens.
Genius:
The guiding and guardian spirit of a person or place. The genius of a place was called genius loci.
Gens:
A clan, all of whose members were descended from a single ancestor. The nomen of a patrician gens always ended with -ius. Thus, Caius
Julius
Caesar was Caius, of the Caesarian stirps of gens Julia.
Gladiator:
Literally, "swordsman." A slave, prisoner of war, condemned criminal or free volunteer who fought, often to the death, in the munera. All were called swordsmen, even if they fought with other weapons.
Gladius:
The short, broad, double-edged sword borne by Roman soldiers. It was designed primarily for stabbing. A smaller, more antiquated design of gladius was used by gladiators.
Gravitas:
The quality of seriousness.
Haruspex:
A member of a college of Etruscan professionals who examined the entrails of sacrificial animals for omens.
Hospitium:
An arrangement of reciprocal hospitality. When visiting the other's city, each hospes (pl. hospites) was entitled to food and shelter, protection in court, care when ill or injured and honorable burial, should he die during the visit. The obligation was binding on both families and was passed on to descendants.
Ides:
The 15th of March, May, July and October. The 13th of other months.
Imperium:
The ancient power of kings to summon and lead armies, to order and forbid and to inflict corporal and capital punishment. Under the Republic, the imperium was divided among the Consuls and Praetors, but they were subject to appeal and intervention by the tribunes in their civil decisions and were answerable for their acts after leaving office. Only a dictator had unlimited imperium.
Insula:
Literally, "island." A large, multistory tenement block.
Itinera:
Streets wide enough for only foot traffic. The majority of Roman streets were itinera.
Janitor:
A slave-doorkeeper, so called for Janus, god of gateways.
Kalends:
The first of any month.
Latifundium:
A large landed estate or plantation worked by slaves. During the late Republic these expanded tremendously, all but destroying the Italian peasant class.
Legates:
Subordinate commanders chosen by the Senate to accompany generals and governors. Also, ambassadors appointed by the Senate.
Legion:
Basic unit of the Roman army. Paper strength was six thousand, but usually closer to four thousand. All were armed as heavy infantry with a large shield, cuirass, helmet, gladius and light and heavy javelins. Each legion had attached to it an equal number of non-citizen auxiliaries consisting of light and heavy infantry, cavalry, archers, slingers, etc. Auxilia were never organized as legions, only as cohorts.
Lictor:
Attendants, usually freedmen, who accompanied magistrates and the Flamen Dialis, bearing the fasces. They summoned assemblies, attended public sacrifices and carried out sentences of punishment. Twenty-four lictors accompanied a dictator, twelve for a Consul, six for a propraetor, two for a Praetor and one for the Flamen Dialis.
Liquamen:
Also called garum, it was the ubiquitous fermented fish sauce used in Roman cooking.
Ludus:
(pl. ludi) The official public Games, races, theatricals, etc. Also, a training school for gladiators, although the gladiatorial exhibitions were not ludi.
Munera:
Special Games, not part of the official calendar, at which gladiators were exhibited. They were originally funeral Games and were always dedicated to the dead. In munera sine missione, all the defeated were killed and sometimes were made to fight sequentially or all at once until only one was left standing. Munera sine missione were periodically forbidden by law.
Municipia:
Towns originally with varying degrees of Roman citizenship, but by the late Republic with full citizenship. A citizen from a municipium was qualified to hold any public office. An example is Cicero, who was not from Rome but from the municipium of Arpinum.
Nobiles:
Those families, both patrician and plebeian, in which members had held the Consulate. Nomen: The name of the clan or gens; i.e., Caius
Julius
Caesar.
Nomen:
The name of the clan or gens; i.e., Caius
Julius
Caesar.
Nones:
The 7th of March, May, July and October. The 5th of other months.
Novus Homo:
Literally, "new man." A man who is the first of his family to hold the Consulate, giving his family the status of nobiles.
Optimates:
The party of the "best men"; i.e., aristocrats and their supporters.
Patria Potestas:
The absolute authority of the pater familias over the children of his household, who could neither legally own property while their father was alive nor marry without his permission. Technically, he had the right to sell or put to death any of his children, but by Republican times this was a legal fiction.
Patrician:
A descendant of one of the founding fathers of Rome. Once, only patricians could hold offices and priesthoods and sit in the Senate, but these privileges were gradually eroded until only certain priesthoods were strictly patrician. By the late Republic, only about fourteen gens remained.
Patron:
A man with one or more clients whom he was bound to protect, advise and otherwise aid. The relationship was hereditary.
Peculium:
Roman slaves could not own property, but they could earn money outside the household, which was held for them by their masters. This fund was called a peculium, and could be used, eventually, to purchase the slave's freedom.
Peristylium:
An open courtyard surrounded by a collonade.
Pietas:
The quality of dutifulness toward the gods and, especially, toward one's parents.
Plebeian:
All citizens not of patrician status.
Pomerium:
The line of the ancient city wall, attributed to Romulus. Actually, the space of vacant ground just within and without the wall, regarded as holy. Within the pomerium it was forbidden to bear arms or bury the dead.
Pontifex:
A member of the highest priestly college of Rome. They had superintendence over all sacred observances, state and private, and over the calendar. There were fifteen in the late Republic: seven patrician and eight plebeian. Their chief was the pontifex maximus, a title now held by the Pope.
Popular Assemblies:
There were three: the centuriate assembly (comitia centuriata) and the two tribal assemblies: comitia tributa and consilium plebis, q.v.
Populares:
The party of the common people.
Praenomen:
The given name of a freeman, as Marcus, Sextus, Caius, etc.; i.e.,
Caius
Julius Caesar: Caius of the stirps Caesar of gens Julia. Women used a feminine form of their father's nomen, i.e., the daughter of Caius Julius Caesar would be named Julia.
Praetor:
Judge and magistrate elected yearly along with the Consuls. In the late Republic there were eight Praetors. Senior was the Praetor Urbanus, who heard civil cases between citizens. The Praetor Peregrinus heard cases involving foreigners. The others presided over criminal courts. Insignia were the toga praetexta and the sella curulis, and Praetors were accompanied by two lictors. The office carried the imperium. After leaving office, the ex-Praetors became propraetors and went to govern propraetorian provinces with full imperium.
Praetorium:
A general's headquarters, usually a tent in camp. In the provinces, the official residence of the governor.
Proscription:
List of names of public enemies published by Sulla. Anyone could kill a proscribed person and claim a reward, usually a part of the dead man's estate.
Publicans:
Those who bid on public contracts, most notably builders and tax farmers. The contracts were usually let by the Censors and therefore had a period of five years.
Pugio:
The straight, double-edged dagger of the Roman soldiers.
Quaestor:
Lowest of the elected officials, they had charge of the treasury and financial matters such as payments for public works. They also acted as assistants and paymasters to higher magistrates, generals and provincial governors. They were elected yearly by the comitia tributa.
Quirinus:
The deified Romulus, patron deity of the city.
Rostra:
A monument in the Forum commemorating the sea battle of Antium in 338 B.C., decorated with the rams, "rostra" of enemy ships (sing. rostrum). Its base was used as an orator's platform.
Salii:
"Dancers." Two colleges of priests dedicated to Mars and Quirinus who held their rites in March and October, respectively. Each college consisted of twelve young patricians whose parents were still living. On their festivals, they dressed in embroidered tunics, a crested bronze helmet and breastplate and each bore one of the twelve sacred shields ("ancilia") and a staff. They processed to the most important altars of Rome and before each performed a war dance. The ritual was so ancient that, by the first century B.C., their songs and prayers were unintelligible.
Saturnalia:
Feast of Saturn, December 17-23, a raucous and jubilant occasion when gifts were exchanged, debts were settled and masters waited on their slaves.
Sella Curulis:
A folding camp-chair. It was part of the insignia of the curule magistrates and the Flamen Dialis.
Senate:
Rome's chief deliberative body. It consisted of three hundred to six hundred men, all of whom had won elective office at least once. Once the supreme ruling body, by the late Republic the Senate's former legislative and judicial functions had devolved upon the courts and the popular assemblies and its chief authority lay in foreign policy and the nomination of generals. Senators were privileged to wear the tunica laticlava.
Servile War:
The slave rebellion led by the Thracian gladiator Spartacus in 73-71 B.C. The rebellion was crushed by Crassus and Pompey.
Sica:
A single-edged dagger or short sword of varying size. It was favored by thugs and used by the Thracian gladiators in the arena. It was classified as an infamous rather than an honorable weapon.
Solarium:
A rooftop garden and patio.
Spatha:
The Roman cavalry sword, longer and narrower than the gladius.
SPQR:
"Senatus populusque Romanus." The Senate and People of Rome. The formula embodying the sovereignty of Rome. It was used on official correspondence, documents and public works.
Stirps:
A sub-family of a gens. The cognomen gave the name of the stirps, i.e., Caius Julius
Caesar
. Caius of the stirps Caesar of gens Julia.
Strophium:
A cloth band worn by women beneath or over the clothing to support the breasts.
Subligaculum:
A loincloth, worn by men and women.
Subura:
A neighborhood on the lower slopes of the Viminal and Esquiline, famed for its slums, noisy shops and raucous inhabitants.
Tarpeian Rock:
A cliff beneath the Capitol from which traitors were hurled. It was named for the Roman maiden Tarpeia who, according to legend, betrayed the Capitol to the Sabines.
Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus:
The most important temple of the state religion. Triumphal processions ended with a sacrifice at this temple.
Temple of Saturn:
The state treasury was located in a crypt beneath this temple. It was also the repository for military standards.
Temple of Vesta:
Site of the sacred fire tended by the vestal virgins and dedicated to the goddess of the hearth. Documents, especially wills, were deposited there for safekeeping.
Toga:
The outer robe of the Roman citizen. It was white for the upper class, darker for the poor and for people in mourning. The toga praetexta, bordered with a purple stripe, was worn by curule magistrates, by state priests when performing their functions and by boys prior to manhood. The toga picta, purple and embroidered with golden stars, was worn by a general when celebrating a triumph, also by a magistrate when giving public Games. Tonsores: A slave trained as a barber and hairdresser.
Tonsores:
A slave trained as a barber and hairdresser.
Trans-Tiber:
A newer district on the right or western bank of
the Tiber. It lay beyond the old city walls.
Tribal Assemblies:
There were two: the comitia tributa, an
assembly of all citizens by tribes, which elected the lower magistrates--curule
aediles, and quaestors, also the military tribunes--and the concilium plebis,
consisting only of plebeians, elected the tribunes of the plebs and the plebeian
aediles.