| A | B |
|---|
| mercenary | a soldier who is hired to fight for a foreign government |
| Diocletian | a Roman emperor who took poower in AD 284 and introduced reforms in Rome's administration, army, and economy |
| absolute ruler | ruler who holds complete power in a government |
| barbarian | a person belonging to a group seen as primitive and uncivilized; especially, aperson living outside the ancient Roman Empire |
| nomad | a member of a group of people who move from place to place and have no set home |
| plunder | to take possessions by force |
| Byzantine Empire | the Eastern Roman Empire, which was ruled from Constantinope and lasted for about 1,000 years after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire |
| Justinian | the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) from AD 527 to 565, who ruled with his wife, Theodora, and reconquered lost territories for the empire |
| Justinian Code | a revised code of Roman law - including laws dealing with marriage, slavery, property ownership, women's rights, and criminal justice - created at the order of Justinian |
| Roman Catholic Church | the Christian church based in Rome that is under the authority of the pope |
| Eastern Orthodox Church | the Christian church that developed in the Byzantine Empire and is notunder the authority of the pope |
| mosaic | a picture made from tiny pieces of colored stone or other material |
| bas-relief | a type of sculpture in which slightly raised figures stand out against a flat background |
| epic | a long poem that tells a story of heroes |
| oratory | the art of public speaking |
| vault | an arch that forms a ceiling or roof |
| aqueduct | a pipe or channel that carries water from a distant source to a city |
