World History in Credo: Ancient Rome

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.

Member of the Italic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages. Latin was first encountered in ancient times as the language of Latium, the region of central Italy in which Rome is located.

Structures produced by the ancient Romans, characterized by rational design and planning, the use of vaulting and concrete masonry, and the use of the classical orders only sporadically for purposes of architectural articulation and decoration. The origins of Roman architecture can be traced to the Etruscans, who migrated from Asia Minor to Italy in the 12th century B.C.E.

The legal system of Rome from the supposed founding of the city in 753 B.C. to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in A.D. 1453; it was later adopted as the basis of modern civil law.

In Greek and Roman mythology, the god of sun, music, poetry, prophecy, agriculture, and pastoral life, and leader of the Muses. He was the twin child (with Artemis) of Zeus and Leto.

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
In Roman mythology, the goddess of corn, representing the fertility of the earth as its producer; patron of the corn trade.

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
In Roman mythology, the goddess of chastity, hunting, and the Moon; daughter of Jupiter and twin of Apollo. Her Greek equivalent is the goddess Artemis.

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
In Roman mythology, the principal goddess, identified with the Greek Hera. The wife of Jupiter and queen of heaven, she was concerned with all aspects of women's lives and also regarded as a patroness of commerce.

From Encyclopedia of Ancient Rome
Supreme god of the Roman pantheon. Jupiter protected Rome and ruled heaven as the father of the gods. His introduction to Rome was traditionally attributed to the Etruscans, who gave the Romans Jupiter Optimus Maximus (the Best and Greatest). Jupiter was originally a sky god who controlled the weather, heaven, agriculture, justice, war, peace, treaties, and light.

From Dictionary of Classical Mythology
The Italian war-god, who in early mythology was also concerned with agriculture. He was second in importance only to the sovereign deity Jupiter.

From Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
The Roman counterpart of the Greek hermes, son of maia and jupiter, to whom he acted as messenger.

From Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
The Roman goddess, possibly of Etruscan origin, of wisdom and the patroness of the arts and trades.

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
In Roman religion, the god of water. Neptune was originally the god of fresh water, but by 399 BC he was identified with the Greek god Poseidon and thus became a deity of the sea.

From Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
The Roman goddess of beauty and sensual love, identified with aphrodite, in some accounts said to have sprung from the foam of the sea, in others to have been the daughter of jupiter and dione, a nymph.

From Encyclopedia of Ancient Rome
Important Roman goddess of the hearth; identified with the Greek deity Hestia. As the goddess of the sacred fire, Vesta was honored in the homes of Rome and also by the state. Every house had its own hearth, where meals were eaten; thus she had a hand in the day-to-day existence of the Roman people.

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Ancient Roman god of fire. He was the counterpart of the Greek Hephaestus.

Also known as the Flavian amphitheatre, the Colosseum in Rome was the largest of the ancient amphitheatres. Elliptical in plan, it measures 188 × 156 m and is 48.5 m in height (620 × 515 × 160 ft).

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

Rome took possession of the island in 238 BC and formed it into a province. Sardinia was one of the chief sources of the Roman Empire's corn supply; it also produced silver and salt.

The largest Mediterranean island and an autonomous region of Italy, divided from the Italian mainland by the Strait of Messina; area 25,708 sq km/9,926 sq mi; population (2001 est) 4,866,200.

The earliest recorded eruption (A.D. 79) was described by Pliny the Younger in two letters to Tacitus; the eruption buried Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae under cinders, ashes, and mud.

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 cent.

From Dictionary of Classical Mythology
Twin brothers, sired by war-god Mars, and the mythical founders of Rome.