| A | B |
|---|
| Tiber River | a river in Italy |
| Italian Peninsula | an arm of land surrounded by the Mediterranean, Tyrrhenian, and Adriatic seas, location of the country in Italy |
| Mediterranean Sea | a large body of water bordered by Europe, Asia and Africa |
| Rome | a city near the middle of the western coast of Italy |
| Tarquin | Etruscan leader and the last king of ancient Rome |
| Junius Brutus | 6th century BC Ancient Roman leader who, with his supporters, forced the Etruscans out of Rome |
| Carthage | an important Phoenician trading post in North Africa |
| Regulus | Ancient Roman general who was defeated and captured in a war between Rome and Carthage |
| Hannibal | Carthaginian general who launched an invasion on the Romans from Spain by crossing the Alps |
| Scipio | Ancient Roman general who attacked Carthage and forced Hannibal to retreat from Rome |
| Julius Caesar | Ancient Roman general whose murder led to the end of the Roman Republic |
| patrician | a wealthy, powerful citizen of ancient Rome |
| plebeian | a common citizen of ancient Rome |
| republic | a form of government in which citizens have the right to choose their leaders |
| representative | a person elected to represent the people |
| Senate | a governing body in which ancient Roman respresentatives served |
| consul | in ancient Rome, one of two officials who managed the government and the army |
| dictator | a person who has total control over the people |
| tribune | in ancient Rome, men who were appointed to protect the rights of plebeians |
| patriotism | a sense of pride in one's country |
| caesar | an ancient Roman emperor |
| Applan Way | a famous ancient Roman road |
| The Punic Wars | wars between Carthage and Rome that lasted 120 years |
| Colosseum | a famous Roman arena |
| Augustus | Ancient Roman emperor whose rule began a long period of prosperity and peace called the Pax Romana, or "the Roman Peace." for the Roman Empire |
| Caligula | Cruel ancient Roman emperor who was assassinated by members of his bodyguard |
| Claudius | Ancient Roman emperor after Caligula who tried to improve conditions in the Empire |
| Nero | Ancient Roman emperor upon whose death civil war broke out |
| Marcus Aurelius | Ancient Roman philosopher, general, and emperor who was perhaps the greatest of Rome's " Five Good Emperors." |
| Seneca | a Roman writer who was disgusted by the gladiator displays |
| emperor | the ruler of an empire |
| gladiator | in ancient Rome, a professional fighter |
| Pax Romana | "Roman Peace," a time when ancient Rome was prosperous and peaceful |
| Palestine | a Roman province on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea |
| Nazareth | a city in ancient Palestine and the home of Jesus |
| Jesus | A young Jewish man who taught in Palestine and founded Christianity |
| Peter | Disciple of Jesus who helped spread his teachings throughout the Roman Empire |
| Paul | Disciple of Jesus who helped spread his teachings throughout the Roman Empire |
| Constantine | Christian emperor who made Christianity equal to all other religions in Rome and reunited the Roman Empire after Diocletian had divided it into two parts |
| Theodosius | Ancient Roman emperor who made Christianity Rome's official religion in 380 |
| catacomb | an underground room used as a burial site |
| synagogue | a Jewish place of worship |
| disciple | one of a small group of people who followed Jesus |
| persecute | to punish |
| Christianity | the monotheistic religion based on the life, teachings and death of Jesus |
| New Testament | the part of the Christian Bible that contains the Gospels |
| Gospels | in Christianity, the four books of the Bible known as the New Testament |
| Apostle | one of twelve disciples chosen by Jesus to help him preach and spread the Word of God |
| Messiah | in Judaism, a leader sent by God; in Christianity, the savior, Jesus, God in human form |
| Byzantium | an old Greek city, renamed Constantinople, that became the center of the Byzantine Empire; present-day Istanbul |
| Constantinople | the capital of the Byzantine Empire |
| Commodus | Ancient Roman emperor who succeeded his father, Marcus Aurelius, and began the decline of the Roman Empire |
| Diocletian | Ancient Roman emperor who restored order and strengthened the economy of the Roman Empire, dividing it into two parts |
| Romulus Augustulus | Last emperor of the Western Roman Empire in A.D. 476 at age 12 and reigned for only eleven months |
| auction | to sell something to the highest bidder |
| pope | the leader of the Roman Catholic Church |
| pillage | to rob |
| vandal | a person who destroys property |
| Byzantine Empire | an empire of lands formerly part of the Roman Empire with its center at the city of Constantinople |
| Byzantine Orthodox Church | the early Christian church in the Eastern Roman Empire of which the emperor was head |
| Roman Catholic Church | the early Christian church in the Western Roman Empire of which the Pope was head |
