Glossary

ager publicus – State-owned land that had been seized from conquered enemies.

censor – Roman magistrate, originally tasked with carrying out the census of citizens and their property. The responsibilities of the censor would eventually be expanded to include the maintenance of the senatorial rolls and supervision of public morality.

clientes (‘clients’) – Free individuals who were tied to a customary relationship of dependence to a patronus, or ‘patron’, usually someone of a higher status. In return for protection and favours, clients would be expected to perform services for their patrons.

coloni – Tenant farmers of the Late Roman Empire who paid a share of their produce to a landlord.

comitia centuriata (‘Centuriate Assembly’) – Assembly of all citizens, excluding women and slaves, organised by property class into voting units of one hundred each called ‘centuries’. The Centuriate Assembly had the power to pass laws, elect consuls and other officials, including censors, and to declare war.

comitia curiata (‘Curiate Assembly’) – Early assembly of the Roman people, assembled into thirty voting units, called curiae. This assembly elected the early kings and was eventually superseded by the comitia centuriata.

comitia tributa (‘Tribal Assembly’) – Assembly of all Roman citizens, divided into tribes based on geographical districts. This assembly had the power to pass laws, elect civil officials and acted as the highest court to decide on serious public offences.

concilium plebis (‘Plebeian Council’) – Assembly of the common people of Rome, the plebs, which excluded patricians. This assembly elected the tribunes and passed laws (plebiscita) which initially only applied to the plebs. A series of laws in the third century BC made laws passed by the Plebeian Assembly binding on all citizens and on the Senate.

consul – Highest elected office of the Roman Republic. Two consuls were elected every year, each with the power of veto over the other. Inside the city they formed the head of the government, presiding over the Senate, the Centuriate Assembly and the Tribal Assembly. The consuls were given the responsibility for executing the laws passed by the voting assemblies, with the power to arrest and punish citizens, short of having them executed for capital offences. Outside of the city of Rome, the consuls served as the commanders-in-chief of the Roman legions with unlimited powers during a military campaign.

contiones – Informal popular assemblies, often attended by poorer citizens, in which magistrates would report directly to the people. These assemblies had no legislative power and did not vote.

curia (plural, curiae) – Subdivisions of the original three tribes that made up the Populus Romanus (‘Roman People’). Each tribe was divided into ten curiae, which contained all of the original gentes or ‘clans’ of Rome.

decemviri (‘Decemvirate’) – A ten-man commission appointed with consular powers to draft a code of laws for the Roman Republic.

denarius (plural, denarii) – Small silver coin introduced in the late third century BC.

dictator – Individual given extraordinary powers by the Senate to resolve a specific issue for a prescribed period of time. During the period of his dictatorship, all other officials, including consuls, would be subject to his authority, but he could not act outside the bounds of his assigned task without permission from the Senate.

equites (‘knights’) – Originally those citizens who could afford to maintain horses and therefore served in the cavalry. Later, the equites became the second highest property class in the Republic, below the senatorial order.

fasces – Symbol of official authority in the Roman Republic, thought to have been inherited from the Etruscan civilisation. It was made up of a bundle of wooden rods, to which an axehead was added outside the city.

gens (plural, gentes) – Group of families sharing a name and common male ancestors, often translated as ‘clan’.

imperator – Originally a title for a military commander, in the Late Republic it became an honorific title conferred upon a victorious general by his troops, which then entitled him to a triumph. It became an imperial title under Augustus, from which our word, ‘emperor’ is derived.

imperium – Military command, which could be over a legion, an army, a province, or a region.

latifundia – Large rural estates, usually producing agricultural products for exchange using slave labour.

lumpenproletariat – A term coined by Karl Marx to denote the layer of the population who own no property but, unlike the modern proletariat, or working class, do not sell their labour power and are not a productive class, such as the unemployed, homeless, criminal gangs etc.

nexus – A free man who becomes a slave in order to pay off his debts.

nobiles (‘well known’) – The class of wealthy citizens, both patrician and plebeian, whose families had held high office, from which our word ‘noble’ is derived.

optimates (‘the best’) – Supporters of the authority and interests of the Senate and the Roman nobility, in opposition to the populares.

paterfamilias – Male head of the family.

patrician – A member of the original Roman ruling class, made up of the descendants of the first hundred senators who, according to legend, were appointed by Romulus.

patroni (‘patrons’) – See entry for clientes.

plebeians (singular collective noun, plebs) – The majority of free Romans, who did not belong to the ancient patrician families of Rome. Some plebeians became wealthy and won entry into all of the important offices of state and the Senate. Under the Late Republic the plebs did not therefore constitute a single homogeneous class, but was itself divided between wealthy equites and nobiles, poor peasants who owned property, and the propertyless urban masses (proletarians).

plebiscitum (plural, plebiscita) – Law passed by the concilium plebis, from which our word ‘plebiscite’ is derived.

pontifex maximus – Chief high priest of Rome.

populares (‘supporters of the people’) – Supporters of the popular assemblies, such as the concilium plebis, and the interests of the common people, as opposed to the optimates.

praetor – Elected official with both civil and military powers, usually instructed to perform certain tasks by the Senate.

Praetorian Guard – An elite unit of the Roman army, which served as an escort for high-ranking officials under the Republic, and as the emperor’s personal bodyguard from the reign of Augustus up to Constantine I, who dissolved it.

princeps civitatis (‘First Citizen’) – Official title for the Roman emperor, created by Augustus, from which our word ‘prince’ is derived.

proconsul – Roman official acting with consular powers outside the city of Rome, in order to carry out a military campaign, for example.

proletarians (‘proletarii’) – The poorest class of free Romans who owned no property.

publicani – Public contractors, usually tax farmers who would bid for contracts to collect taxes from particular regions.

quaestor – Elected official who would carry out administrative functions, such as managing the public treasury.

rex (‘king’) – Military, religious and judicial head of the early Romans. The office of rex was more like that of a tribal chieftain than later monarchs, as he was elected and had little power over the lives and property of the people.

Senate – Derived from senex, meaning ‘old man’, the Senate was originally formed as a council of elders, made up of the heads (patres) of the leading clans. Although legally the Senate was an advisory body, in practice it was the leading authority under the Republic. It issued ‘advice’ (senatus consultum) by majority vote to magistrates on both civil and military matters, which in practice were usually carried out as instructions. The Senate also had the power to appoint a dictator. Originally only patricians could become senators, but wealthy plebeians eventually won the right to be appointed to the Senate, if they had held political office previously and owned enough property. The Senatorial class, composed of those eligible for the Senate, was made up of the biggest landowners in the Republic.

socii (‘allies’) – Italian tribes and city-states that were bound to Rome as dependents, paying tribute and contributing soldiers to Rome. Most socii did not have Roman citizenship until the Social War (91-87 BC), after which all free inhabitants of Italy south of the Rubicon River became Roman citizens.

Tribune of the Plebs (tribunus plebis) – Official elected by the Plebeian Council, with the power to convene both the Plebeian Council and the Senate, to propose legislation, and to veto the acts of consuls. Ten tribunes were elected every year, each with the power of veto over the others.

triumph – A public celebration of a military victory, featuring a procession through the city of Rome, honouring the victorious commander.