Ancient Rome Important Definitions

Today, not in class, we started reading about ancient Rome. Some important definitions from Rome are republic, patrician, plebeian, tribunes, consuls, senate, legion, Punic wars, and Hannibal. Below are the definitions and meanings.

• Republic- form of government in which power rests with the citizens that have the right to vote for their leader.
• Patrician- a wealthy landowner who held most of the power.
• Plebeian- a common farmer, artisan, and/or merchant who makes up the majority of the population.
• Tribunes- representatives from the plebeians' assembly that protected the rights of the plebeians from unfair acts of patrician officials.
• Consuls- 2 officials of Rome who commanded the army and directed the government.
• Senate- the aristocratic branch of Rome's government who had both legislative and administrative functions in the republic.
• Dictator- leader who has absolute power to make laws and command the army.
• Legion- a large, military unit where soldiers were organized into.
• Punic Wars- beginning of the long struggle where Rome and Carthage would fight each other.
• Hannibal- a 29-year old Carthaginian general who wanted to avenge Carthage's earlier defeat.