| A | B |
|---|
| amanuensis | Secretaries used by wealthy Romans. |
| amici principis | Friends of the Emperor, would gather and advise the Emperor |
| Baiae | Baiae (fashionable resort on Bay of Naples) |
| bibliopolae | the booksellers |
| cena nuptialis | the wedding feast |
| censor | removed unworthy members from the Senate, enrolled new ones; position filled by ex-consuls |
| charta | a sheet of Egyptian papyrus |
| confarreatio | a traditional marriage ceremony with far (grain cake) |
| consul | the highest position in the cursus honorum, presided at meetings of the senate, only two at a time |
| cum manu | a marriage in which the woman passed completely into the control of the husband |
| cursus honorum | senatorial class path of honor, to move up a level in the political sense, ladder of promotion |
| curule aedile | in charge of public works |
| dictator | In times of chaos the leader would be given the title of dictator, which gave him unlimited power for a period of six months. |
| dignitas | Prestige and honor. An author, unlike other clients, could offer his patron a chance of gaining prestige and honor (dignitas). |
| dos | a dowry given by the brides family to the family of the husband |
| far | a grain used to make the traditional wedding cake for the Romans |
| fasces | The bundle of sticks with an axe in the middle which was the symbol of imperium |
| flammeum | flame-colored bridal veil |
| Horace | Epicurcean poet, carpe diem, Roman lyric poet, wrote about triumph of Rome and moderation |
| imperium | In ancient Rome imperium could be used as a term indicating a characteristic of people, the measure of formal power they had. |
| iunctio dextrarum | Symbolic joining of the hands in Marriage |
| librarii | Educated slaves that hand copied books to be distributed, wrote correspondence from dictation or copying |
| lictor | these officials carried the fasces and accompanied the consul & praetor as a symbol of their imperium |
| Maecenas | Augustus's friend, patron of Horace and Vergil |
| magister equituum | second in command to the dictator |
| Martial | Roman poet noted for epigrams |
| matrona univirae | Women who had only been married to one man. |
| negotium | the business of life ne-otium (not leisure) |
| otium | leisure which was often spent reading, studying and writing letters of correspondence |
| paterfamilias | the head of a Roman household who held absolute authority over the family and presided over weddings |
| patronus | he would often help his clients, at times to become literary figures at Rome, supports a writer |
| plebeians | The poorer majority of Rome, working class |
| plebian aedile | An appointed official who was responsible for the upkeep of public buildings, baths, sewers, and roads. |
| Pliny the Younger | attached great importance to public readings, he wrote about his disgust towards people who mocked them, wrote letters, vacationed at his villa |
| praefatio | the short introduction of a recitatio |
| praetor | an annually elected magistrate of the ancient Roman Republic, they were second to the consuls; were primarily judicial officials |
| proconsul | Governor of one of the senatorial provinces |
| propraetor | An individual who, after serving as a praetor, was sent to govern a lesser province with praetorial authority. |
| quaestor | managed sums of public money |
| Quintilian | the famed author of "The Education of an Orator," and the tutor of Pliny the Younger |
| recitatio | the public reading of a writer's work |
| rhetor | the teacher of oratory who presided over the third stage of education |
| S.P.Q.R. | Senatus Populusque Romanus (The Senate and the People of Rome), motto of Roman Republic |
| senatores | senatorial class in Rome, men went through the ranks of the cursus honorum |
| sine manu | a marriage where the woman remained a possession of her own paterfamilias |
| sponsalia | the engagement ceremony where the two family would agree to the wedding contract and celebrate |
| suo anno | 'in one's year,' to gain a position in suo anno meant at the earliest age. |
| The Education of an Orator | a famous book on rhetoric and public speaking by Quintilian |
| Tibur | a town twenty miles east of Rome (Tibur is the ancient name); popular resort spot |
| tribunus militum | after a year of being a vigintivir, each young man would travel abroad on military service as an officer in a legion. |
| tribunus plebes | These six junior officials served in each legion. One of the six was of the senatorial class |
| ubi tu Gaius, ego Gaia | Where you are Gaius, I am Gaia, phrase said by wife to husband, a traditional vow taken at a wedding and symbolic of the bond between husband and wife |
| veto | this was granted to the tribunes of the plebs and consuls to ensure that no legislation detrimental to the people could be passed |
| virgintivir | 20 junior officials who served in a clerical and municipal capacity at Rome; first step of cursus honorum during Empire |
| volumen | scroll |
| legatus Augusti | title for a governor of an imperial province; picked by emperor; served about 3 years |
| imperial province | one of the provinces directly under the emperor's control; usually most dangerous frontier provinces |
| praefecti | governors of imperial provinces chosen from equestrian class; Egypt & Judaea famous examples; no senator allowed to enter without emperor's permission |
| eques | a member of the equestrian class |
| senatorial province | less important provinces that the senate controlled; governor appointed by senate (proconsul) |
| mandata | specific instructions given by the emperor to a governor; Pliny the Younger's were to ban political clubs |
| publicanus | tax collector; often took exorbitant cut for themselves |
| Comitia Tributa | Tribal Assembly based on geographical location; elected lower offices (curule aediles, quaestors) |
| Concilium Plebis | Plebian Assembly within Comitia Tributa; elected Plebeian Aedile & Tribune |
| Comitia Centuriata | Voting assembly based on class; elected most important magistrates (consul, propraetor & censor); could grant 'imperium' |
| bulla | charm worn by children; a girl dedicated hers to lares the night before her wedding |
| tuas res tibi habeto | 'Take your things and go'; phrase uttered to symbolize a couple's divorce |
| quaestiones | courts that tried criminal offenses |
| centumviri | courts that heard inheritance and property claims |
| iudex | individual judge that heard civil cases or a member of a jury |
| novus homo | a man who was the first in his family to be elected to office |
| studia | pursuit of interests; for Pliny the Younger these would be writing and studying |
| Twelve Tables | Roman law codified in 5th cent. B.C. by a committee of ten men; displayed in the forum on 12 bronze tablets |
| Corpus Iuris Civilis | Roman law codified by Justinian in 6th cent. A.D. ; basis for much of later European law |
| Justinian | 6th century emperor who codified Roman law; also reconquered part of western empire |
