Classics in Credo: Early Rome and the Republic

Ancient Rome was a civilization based on the city of Rome. It lasted for about 800 years. Originated as a conglomeration of small pastoral communities scattered across seven neighboring hills along the Tiber River of Italy, Rome grew to become the capital of an empire that encompassed all the territories bordering on the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the British Isles to the Arabian Peninsula.

Campaigns in Gaul led by Julius Caesar in his two terms as proconsul of Cisalpine Gaul, Transalpine Gaul, and Illyricum (58 B.C.–51 B.C.).

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Three distinct conflicts between Carthage and Rome.

Ancient designation for the land S and W of the Rhine, W of the Alps, and N of the Pyrenees.

Ancient city of S Italy, a port near Naples and at the foot of Mt. Vesuvius.

Ancient Phoenician port in North Africa founded by colonists from Tyre in the late 9th century BC. A leading trading centre, it was in conflict with Greece from the 6th century BC, and then with Rome, and was destroyed by Roman forces in 146 BC at the end of the Punic Wars.

c.83 B.C.–30 B.C., Roman politican and soldier. Rival of Octavian (later Augustus) and lover of Cleopatra. Also known as: Marcus Antonius, Marc Antony

First Roman emperor. Augustus Caesar was born as Gaius Octavius in 63 BCE. His father had been governor of Macedonia; his mother was Julius Caesar’s niece. The young Gaius became Caesar’s protégé, adopted son and heir, and his eventual successor. Upon adoption, named Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus (Octavian); Augustus was a title of honor granted (27 BCE) by the senate.

Roman general and dictator, considered Rome's most successful military commander. He formed with Pompey the Great and Marcus Licinius Crassus (the Elder) the First Triumvirate in 60 B.C.

Or Cato the Censor, Lat. Cato Major or Cato Censorius, Roman statesman and moralist; his full name was Marcus Porcius Cato. He fought in the Second Punic War and later served as quaestor (204), aedile (199), praetor (198), consul (195), and censor (184).

Ancient Roman family, of the plebeian Licinian gens. It produced men who achieved great note in the 2d cent. and 1st cent. B.C.

Titus Livius; Roman historian. Born in Patavium (Padua), probably to a noble family. He lived most of his life in Rome. Livy's history reflects his admiration for the civilization of early Rome, and his belief that the importance of history was its applicability to contemporary life. Of his history of Rome in 142 books, only 35 survive.

(Publius Ovidius Naso) Latin poet, b. Sulmo (present-day Sulmona), in the Apennines. Although trained for the law, he preferred the company of the literary coterie at Rome.

(Cnaeus Pompeius Magnus), Roman general, the rival of Julius Caesar. Sometimes called Pompey the Great, he was the son of Cnaeus Pompeius Strabo (consul in 89 B.C.), a commander of equivocal reputation.

Or Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro)both: Roman poet, b. Andes dist., near Mantua, in Cisalpine Gaul; the spelling Virgil is not found earlier than the 5th century.