Ancient Rome - Introductory

Grab your toga, fire up your chariot, and get ready to learn these words related to ancient Rome. Review the republic and the empire, architectural structures like aqueducts and amphitheaters, gladiators, and much more. Once you've mastered this list, you too can recite the famous words of Julius Caesar: Veni, vidi, vici ("I came, I saw, I conquered").
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. Agrippina
    granddaughter of Augustus and mother of Caligula and Agrippina the Younger (14 BC - AD 33)
  2. amphitheater
    an oval large stadium with tiers of seats
  3. Appian Way
    an ancient Roman road in Italy extending south from Rome to Brindisi; begun in 312 BC
  4. aqueduct
    a conduit that carries water over a valley
  5. arch
    a curved masonry construction for spanning an opening
  6. assassinate
    murder; especially of socially prominent persons
  7. Augustus
    Roman statesman who established the Roman Empire and became emperor in 27 BC; defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra in 31 BC at Actium (63 BC - AD 14)
  8. banquet
    a ceremonial dinner party for many people
  9. barbarian
    a member of an uncivilized people
  10. basilica
    a Roman building used for public administration
  11. bas relief
    sculpture that projects only slightly from the background
  12. Caesar
    conqueror of Gaul and master of Italy (100-44 BC)
  13. catacomb
    an underground tunnel with recesses where bodies were buried
  14. catapult
    an engine providing medieval artillery used during sieges
  15. cavalry
    troops trained to fight on horseback
  16. census
    a periodic count of the population
  17. centurion
    leader of soldiers in ancient Rome
  18. chariot
    a two-wheeled, horse-drawn vehicle
  19. circus
    an open-air stadium for chariot races and gladiatorial games
  20. citizen
    a native or naturalized member of a state
  21. civil service
    the government workforce exclusive of military service
  22. civil war
    a war between factions in the same country
  23. cohort
    a band of warriors
  24. colony
    a geographical area controlled by a distant country
  25. Colosseum
    a large amphitheater in Rome whose construction was begun by Vespasian about AD 75 or 80
  26. deity
    a supernatural being worshipped as controlling the world
  27. dictator
    a ruler who is unconstrained by law
  28. dictatorship
    a form of government in which the ruler is unconstrained
  29. dome
    a hemispherical roof
  30. emperor
    the male ruler of an empire
  31. empire
    the domain ruled by a single authoritative sovereign
  32. forum
    a public facility to meet for open discussion
  33. gladiator
    a professional combatant in ancient Rome
  34. infantry
    an army unit consisting of soldiers who fight on foot
  35. inflation
    a general and progressive increase in prices
  36. Julius Caesar
    conqueror of Gaul and master of Italy (100-44 BC)
  37. Latin
    any dialect of the language of ancient Rome
  38. legion
    a large military unit
  39. magistrate
    a lay judge or civil authority who administers the law
  40. mercenary
    a person hired to fight for another country than their own
  41. mosaic
    design made of small pieces of colored stone or glass
  42. Mt. Vesuvius
    a volcano in southwestern Italy on the Mediterranean coast
  43. pantheon
    a temple to all the gods of antiquity
  44. patrician
    a member of the aristocracy
  45. peninsula
    a large mass of land projecting into a body of water
  46. plebeian
    one of the common people
  47. polytheism
    belief in multiple gods
  48. Pompeii
    ancient city to the southeast of Naples that was buried by a volcanic eruption from Vesuvius
  49. province
    the territory in an administrative district of a nation
  50. representative
    related to government in which citizens elect officials
  51. republic
    a form of government whose head of state is not a monarch
  52. senate
    assembly possessing high legislative powers
  53. senator
    a member of a legislative assembly
  54. shrine
    a place of worship associated with something sacred
  55. slavery
    the practice or system of owning people as property
  56. stadium
    a large structure for sports or entertainments
  57. temple
    a place of worship
  58. Tiber
    a river of central Italy
  59. toga
    a one-piece cloak worn by men in ancient Rome
  60. tribune
    an ancient Roman official elected by the plebeians
  61. triumvirate
    a group of three people responsible for civil authority
  62. veto
    a vote that blocks a decision
  63. villa
    a country house in ancient Rome
Created on Tue Jan 31 11:06:50 EST 2017 (updated Fri Mar 31 11:25:16 EDT 2017)

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