aedile: a junior magistrate, elected annually. Originally the office was religious and was held by a plebeian who was charged with oversight of the temple of Ceres.
Apollo: a god, originally Greek, son of Zeus and Leto (Roman Latona).
as: the as was a low-value Roman coin, originally a unit of weight; one as was the equivalent of a pound of bronze.
augur: a state official or priest who was a specialist in divination. An augur held office for life and was a member of the augural college.
augury: a form of divination used by augurs to ascertain whether a proposed course of state action had divine approval; also applied to a sign considered to have been sent by the gods, indicating their approval of a proposed course of action.
auspices: Latin auspicia, literally “the observation of birds,” but also more widely applied to other types of divination. The gods were thought to signify their wishes and give advice by means of auspices. Auspices were taken by a magistrate before any civil or military action was initiated. Originally only patricians held the right to take state or public auspices, a factor that was critical in the struggle of the orders.
Aventine: one of the seven hills of Rome.
ax: part of the insignia of the kings, consuls, and dictator, symbolizing their power to execute wrongdoers. An ax surmounted the bundle of rods (fasces) that a lictor carried before these magistrates. Consuls had to remove the ax from the fasces when they were in the city, symbolizing the citizens’ right of appeal against the decision of a magistrate. This was not the case with the dictator, against whom there was no right of appeal.
board of two: see duumvirs.
censors: two elected officials, first appointed in 443 BCE, to conduct the census. They reviewed the citizen rolls to ensure that the ranks or classes were correctly assessed according to people’s wealth, and removed or demoted anyone deemed guilty of reprehensible conduct. Such people, whose names were “marked,” were disqualified from voting, though they still had to pay taxes. The censors let out state contracts for the building or repair of temples and for the collection of taxes. In 434 BCE, a term limit of eighteen months was imposed on the censorship.
census: the official list of Roman citizens (not the entire population), used for voting, taxation, and recruitment of troops. After 443 BCE, the census was held every five years; previously it was held at irregular intervals.
centuries: originally a century was a military unit consisting, theoretically, of exactly one hundred men. In practice, however, the size of the centuries varied. The Roman citizen body was divided into 193 centuries that served as voting units in the Comitia Centuriata. The vote of each century carried equal weight, but the centuries were organized into five classes in such a way that the first two classes constituted a majority of the votes.
centurion: a low-ranking army officer responsible for the day-to-day functioning of a Roman legion.
Ceres: ancient Italic goddess of crops, usually identified with Greek Demeter.
client: a free man who entrusted himself to a patron, an individual of higher standing and means. In return the clients received the protection of that patron. Clients were expected to support their patron, in both the patron’s political and private life. Clientship was a hereditary social status that was recognized but not defined or enforced by law.
cognomen: the third and last component of the typical Roman name, a surname or nickname. A cognomen could be acquired (like Capitolinus) or inherited (like Caesar or Cicero).
Comitia Centuriata: the Centuriate Assembly consisting of all Roman male citizens registered in the census. Originally formed as a military organization that was attributed to King Servius Tullius, it was also used for voting purposes. It was organized on a basis of wealth, with the 193 voting units, or centuries, grouped into five classes. This assembly enacted laws, elected consuls (and later praetors and censors), and ratified motions for war and peace.
Comitia Curiata: the Curiate Assembly, the oldest of the Roman assemblies, consisting of thirty curiae (wards). Its functions were gradually taken over by the Comitia Centuriata, but a curiate law remained necessary to ratify the appointment of magistrates elected by the Comitia Centuriata. The Comitia Curiata retained certain religious functions and was probably presided over by the pontifex maximus.
Comitium: originally a rectangular enclosure north of the forum, at the foot of the Capitoline hill, oriented to the four points of the compass, with the senate house to the north. It was a consecrated, inaugurated area where the people assembled when summoned by officials. The plural comitia can denote the citizen assembly itself or the actual election.
concilium: assembly or council, especially the Concilium Plebis, the Council of the Plebs.
consuls: the two chief magistrates of Rome during the republic. Consuls were elected annually to hold civic and military power (imperium).
conubium: marriage, the right to enter into a marriage recognized by Roman law.
curule chair: a chair inlaid with ivory, granted only to curule magistrates—censors, consuls, praetors, and curule aediles.
decemvir: literally “a member of a board of ten.” In 451 BCE, decemvirs with consular power to write laws (decemviri consulari imperio legibus scribundis) were appointed. They were followed by a second board, the Second Decemvirate. The term is also used later of the board of ten in charge of sacred rites (decemviri sacris faciundis); see duumvirs.
denarius: a Roman coin made of silver.
Diana: Italic goddess, often identified with Artemis, the sister of Apollo.
dictator: a magistrate who was appointed by the consuls, on the advice of the senate, at a time of emergency to hold office for a maximum of six months, or earlier if the problem was resolved, after which he was expected to resign from office. The power of a dictator overrode that of the consuls, and there was no right of appeal against his decisions. He appointed a second in command, the master of the horse.
divination: the search for signs or messages, both good and bad, believed to have been sent by the gods. These signs—auguries, auspices, portents, prodigies, dreams, and prophecies—were interpreted by augurs, seers, soothsayers (haruspices), or quindecimvirs.
duumvirs: a board of two men who were in charge of the performance of sacred rites. They also had sole charge of the Sibylline books of prophecies, but they could only access the books when the senate ordered them to do so. The board was later increased to ten (decemvirs), then to fifteen (quindecimvirs), and finally sixteen.
Esquiline: one of the seven hills of Rome.
expiation: an action intended to make amends or atonement for a perceived offense against the gods (e.g., after a prodigy).
fasces: a bundle of rods, surmounted by an ax, part of the insignia of the king and later the consuls and dictator, symbolizing the right to flog or execute wrongdoers. This bundle was carried in procession by attendants (lictors) before the magistrates as a symbol of their authority. The consuls were obliged to remove the ax when they were in the city, symbolizing the people’s right to appeal the decision of a magistrate.
fasti: a calendar recording the dates of religious festivals and the days on which different kinds of business could be conducted. Also applied to a list of past holders of office, priests, or generals who had celebrated triumphs.
Fasti Consulares Capitolini: more generally known as the Fasti Capitolini, lists of the chief elected magistrates that were inscribed on an arch in the Roman forum in 18/17 BCE. These lists have only partially survived.
Fasti Triumphales: lists, partially preserved, of the men who celebrated military triumphs.
fetials: the fetial priests dealt with the making of treaties and declaration of war.
flamen: the priest of a particular god: Jupiter, Mars, or Quirinus.
freedman: a freed slave. Generally freed slaves became clients of their former owner and also received Roman citizenship.
gens: an extended family or clan linked by a common ancestor.
haruspex (pl. haruspices): see soothsayers.
intercessio: the right of a magistrate to halt or veto the action of an equal or lowerranking magistrate. A plebeian tribune’s power of veto extended to any magistrate and to the business of any session of the senate or an assembly. The power of veto could not be used against a dictator.
interregnum: literally “the time between kings,” in which a new king was chosen; a period of five days in which the state was in the hands of an interrex, who would propose names for the people to ratify. If the names were rejected, the process was repeated by successive interreges until success was achieved. This practice was continued under the republic when both consuls had died or left office without successors.
interrex: originally the official responsible for organizing the election of a new king. Under the republic the interrex was a patrician who was chosen to conduct the election of new consuls during an interregnum.
iugera (sing. iugerum): a unit of land measure; one iugerum equals 0.625 of an acre.
ius: legal right or privilege.
iustitium: a suspension of all public business, declared by the senate at a time of emergency. All state business ceased and the law courts were closed.
Janus: god of doors and gates, openings and beginnings; generally represented as facing in two directions.
Juno: ancient Italic goddess, later identified with Greek goddess Hera.
Jupiter: preeminent Roman god often identified with Greek Zeus. Worshiped on the Capitoline hill as Jupiter Optimus Maximus (Best and Greatest), in a temple shared with Juno and Minerva.
lar: protecting deity or spirit of a household or family.
Laws of the Twelve Tables: a collection of statutes traditionally dated c. 450 BCE that were the foundation of Roman law.
lectisternium: a banquet that was held in honor of the gods, usually at a time of crisis, in order to restore their favor; the gods’ statues were placed on couches in front of their temples.
lex: a statute passed by a citizen assembly, often known by the name(s) of its proposer (e.g., the Valerio-Horatian laws of 449 BCE).
lictors: attendants, first of the kings and then of the consuls and other senior magistrates.
lustrum: a ceremony held at the end of a censorship in which a pig, sheep, and bull were sacrificed.
Mars: originally an Italic god of vegetation, associated with war, and assimilated with Greek war-god Ares. He was the father of Romulus and Remus.
master of the horse: an official appointed by a dictator as his second in command.
Mercury: patron god of trade and commerce.
military tribunes: tribunes of the soldiers (tribuni militares or militum), who were junior military officers; also known as consular tribunes.
military tribunes with consular power: civic officials who were elected in place of two consuls by the Comitia Centuriata in several years during the period from 444 to 367 BCE.
nomen: the middle and second component of the typical three names of a Roman citizen, denoting an individual’s family or clan.
oracle: a divine utterance, or prophecy, made by a god through a priest or priestess’ response to an inquiry. The term is also used of the priest or priestess giving the response, or of the shrine where the oracle was located (e.g., the Delphic oracle). Oracular responses were generally obscure in their meaning.
ovation: a lesser distinction than a triumph, celebrated by a victorious general.
Palatine: one of the seven hills of Rome.
Palladium: A small statue of armed Athena, the protecting goddess of Troy. This statue is said to have been rescued by Aeneas and brought by him to Lavinium, from where it was eventually taken to Rome. The image was kept in the temple of Vesta, as a pledge of Rome’s fate. When the Gauls attacked Rome, the statue was removed to Caere, along with other sacred objects.
patrician: member of the more privileged group of Roman citizens, as opposed to the plebs or plebeians. Patrician status was hereditary.
patron: see client.
pax deorum: the favor or goodwill of the gods (literally “peace,” as opposed to ira, “anger”), on which Rome’s well-being and success depended.
penates: household gods that protected the store cupboard and inner part of a private house. The penates of the state, said to have been brought from Troy by Aeneas, were kept in the temple of Vesta.
plebs: or plebeians, the less privileged group of Roman citizens, as opposed to the patricians.
pomerium: the sacred boundary of the city. The pomerium was the vital marker of the limit within which political or military authority (imperium) could or could not be exercised. Auspices had to be taken by holders of imperium before they crossed the pomerium.
pontifex maximus: the head of the pontifical college.
pontiff: Latin pontifex, official priest of the state who held office for life; he interpreted ritual matters and was a member of the pontifical college.
portent: a strange or unusual phenomenon or occurrence that was thought to have been sent by the gods as an indication that the favor of the gods (pax deorum) was in jeopardy.
praenomen: the first component of the typical three-part Roman name.
prodigy: a strange or unusual phenomenon that was considered to have been sent by the gods as an indication that the pax deorum had been broken or was about to be broken. As opposed to a portent, the term “prodigy” strictly applies to a phenomenon that had been accepted by the state authorities as a sign of the gods’ anger. Once a prodigy was acknowledged by the authorities, expiatory measures were recommended to restore the gods’ favor.
quaestor: a junior magistrate responsible for financial matters. The quaestorship was usually held at the beginning of a political career and did not carry imperium.
Quirinal: one of the seven hills of Rome.
Quirinus: a deity, probably of Sabine origin, later associated with the deified Romulus.
Quirites: the name by which Roman citizens were addressed when they were not serving in the military.
religio: according to the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1982), a “sense of the presence of supernatural power, religious fear, awe” or “religious feeling.” The word also implies a sense of obligation to the gods and religious respect. Note that the translation will vary according to the context.
sacrosanctity: inviolability, an attribute that made anyone who used violence against a sacrosanct individual (e.g., a tribune of the plebs) accursed (sacer) and subject to instant death, since his action was deemed to have offended the gods. Killing the offender was a sacred duty and did not incur a penalty or blood-guilt.
Salii: priests associated with Mars as god of war and who performed ritual dances.
seers: see soothsayers.
senate: an advisory council, first to Rome’s kings and then to the consuls. In early republican times, the senate consisted of the senior magistrates, who were mostly patricians.
sestertius (pl. sestertii): a Roman coin, originally of silver. One sestertius equals 2.5 bronze (heavy) asses.
Sibylline books: a collection of prophecies that were kept in the temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline and were consulted by the duumvirs on the advice of the senate in times of crisis. These prophecies were advisory but usually obscure in their meaning.
soothsayers: interpreters of signs thought to have been sent by the gods. These interpreters (haruspices) originally came from Etruria and are sometimes referred to as “seers.”
spoils of honor: Latin spolia opima, the armor stripped from the body of the enemy king or general by the individual who killed him.
suffect consul: the replacement elected to fill the remaining term of office of a consul who had died or resigned.
suppliant: see supplicate.
supplicate: to beg or pray for help either to a god or a human being. In the latter case, the suppliant humiliates or abases himself, thus acknowledging the superiority of the person he is supplicating. The suppliant also invokes the gods, thus putting the person being supplicated under a religious obligation to help.
supplication: collective prayers, offered by a group of the population (usually women) to propitiate the gods or to thank them. Originally this ritual was performed in order to secure the favor of the gods after some dire portent, such as plague.
toga: an undyed woolen robe that was the distinctive dress of adult male Roman citizens; it was not to be worn by non-Roman citizens. Decorated togas were worn by men of certain ranks and distinctions; for example, consuls wore a toga with a purple border, the toga praetexta.
Tribal Assembly: this assembly worked on the group-vote system, with the majority of votes within a tribe determining the vote of that tribe.
tribes: Roman citizens belonged to tribes based on their place of residence. Four urban tribes are said to have been established by Servius Tullius (1.43), and seventeen rural tribes had been added by 495 BCE (2.21). By 241 BCE, the total number of tribes was thirty-five, a number that was never exceeded.
tribunes of the plebs: officials who were sacrosanct and had the right to give help to the plebeians in actions against the consuls. They were elected by the Tribal Assembly and acted as the leaders of the plebeian citizen body. No senator was allowed to hold this office.
tribunes of the soldiers: junior military offices; see also military tribunes.
triumph: a victory parade granted by the senate to a general who had won an outstanding victory against a non-Roman enemy.
Venus: goddess of sexual desire and procreation, generally identified with Greek Aphrodite.
Vesta: goddess of the hearth, who was worshiped as a living flame in a circular shrine in the Roman forum. Maintenance of this flame was considered vital to Rome’s survival.
Vestal virgins: the priestesses of Vesta who tended her sacred flame. They lived close to her temple and had to remain chaste for the duration of their service. Vestals convicted of unchastity were buried alive.
votive offering: a gift given to a god in payment of a vow, as a thank-offering for the granting of a request; or a gift given at the same time that a prayer is made to ensure the fulfillment of the request.