| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Roman Republic | Period from 507 to 31 B.C.E., during which Rome was largely governed by the aristocratic Roman Senate. |
| Roman Senate | Council whose members were the heads of wealthy, landowning families. |
| patron/client relationship | Fundamental social relationship in which the patron - a wealthy and powerful individual - provided legal and economic protection and assistance to clients, men of lesser status and means, and in return the clients supported the political careers and economic interests of their patron. |
| Roman Principate | Term used to characterize Roman government in the first three centuries C.E., based on the ambiguous title priceps ("first citizen") adopted by Augustus to conceal his military dictatorship. |
| Augustus | Honorific name of Octavian, founder of the Roman Principate, the military dictatorship that replaced the failing rule of the Roman Senate. |
| equites | Prosperous landowners second in wealth and status to the senatorial aristocracy. |
| pax romana | "Roman peace". Connoted the stability and prosperity that Roman rule brought to the lands of the Roman Empire in the first two centuries C.E. |
| Romanization | Process by which the Latin language and Roman culture became dominant in the western provinces of the Roman Empire. |
| Jesus | A Jew from Galilee in northern Israel who sought to reform Jewish beliefs and practices. Was executed as a revolutionary by the Romans. Central figure in Christianity. |
| Paul | Jew from the Greek city of Tarsus in Anatolia, he initially persecuted the followers of Jesus but, after receiving a revelation on the road to Syrian Damascus, became a Christian. |
| aqueduct | Conduit, either elevated or underground, using gravity to carry water from a source to a location - usually a city - that needed it. |
| Third-Century Crisis | Term for the political, military, and economic turmoil that beset the Roman Empire during much of the third century C.E.: frequent changes of ruler, civil wars, barbarian invasions, decline of urban centers, and near-destruction of long-distance commerce and the monetary economy. |
| Constantine | Roman emperor. After reuniting the Roman Empire, he moved the capital to Constantinople and made Christianity a favored religion. |
| Byzantine Empire | Eastern portion of the Roman Empire from the fourth century onward. |
| Qin | People and state in the Wei Valley of eastern China that conquered rival states and created the first Chinese empire. |
| Shi Huangdi | Founder of the short-lived Qin dynasty and creator of the Chinese Empire. He's remembered for his ruthless conquests of rival states, standardization of practices, and forcible organization of labor for military and engineering tasks. |
| Han | Dynasty of emperors who ruled from 202 B.C.E. to 220 C.E. |
| Chang'an | City in the Wei Valley in eastern China. Became the capital of Qin and early Han Empires. |
| gentry | Class of properous families, next in wealth below the rural aristocrats, from which the emperors drew their administrative personnel. |
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