Chapter 6: Rome and Early Christianity Study Guide

Name: ______Date: ______

1. At first, Roman aristocrats called ______controlled every aspect of society and the ______, or common people, challenged them for power. 2. Eventually the common people were given the right to elect ______, who were whose job was to protect them from unfair treatment by Patricians. 3. The Carthaginian general, ______, launched a land attack against the Romans, beginning the Second Punic War. 4. The ______were murdered after planning to distribute public land to unemployed veterans. 5. When General ______became consul, he eliminated the property restriction for the army and raised his own army. 6. After a series of civil wars, ______, Gnaeus Pompey, and Licinius Crassus established a government that the called the First Triumvirate. 7. ______defeated Antony and Queen Cleopatra of Egypt at the battle of Actium and changed his name to Augustus. 8. Augustus ushered in an era of the Roman Empire known as the ______or Roman Peace. 9. Rich citizens usually had both a city home and a country home, or ______. 10. Roman families were headed by a ______. 11. Highly respected priests known as ______specialized in interpreting signs from the gods. 12. The physician ______was regarded as the greatest authority on medicine for centuries. 13. The astronomer ______said that the earth was the center of the universe. 14. Roman author of the Aeneid was ______. 15. ______had its roots in the teachings of Judaism. 16. Jews believed that a spiritual leader called a ______would come to restore the Kingdom of Israel and bring peace to the world. 17. ______was a ceremony of the early Christians that was held in memory of Jesus’ last supper with the disciples. 18. The Apostle ______helped to attract non-Jews to Christianity by dispensing with some Jewish customs. 19. Disciples that were killed were seen as ______, people who suffer death for their faith’s sake and thus inspire others to believe. 20. When ______converted to Christianity he made it legal throughout the empire. 21. Law which made Christianity legal in the Roman Empire was ______. 22. ______turned the empire into an absolute monarchy and divided the empire in two. 23. To avoid the Huns, the Visigoths moved into roman lands. In 410 the Visigoth King ______captured and sacked Rome. 24. In the mid-400s, ______led a series of attacks by the Huns that left the Western Roman Empire in shambles. 25. Finally, Ostrogoth commander ______defeated the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire. With this, the Western Roman Empire ended.

Short Answer

1. What role did the Plebeians play in shaping the Roman Republic?

2. What were the parts of Rome’s republican government?

3. What was the cause for each of the three Punic Wars?

4. What challenges faced Rome in the late republic?

5. Why did a group of senators murder Julius Caesar?

6. Why wealthy Romans did dominated politics during the Pax Romana?

7. How did Roman emperors attempt to stave off rebellions by poor people?

8. Why did Octavian adopt the title “first citizen”?

9. What were the positive and negative consequences of Rome becoming an empire?

10. What factors led to the expansion of Christianity throughout the Roman world?

11. What types of officials developed in the early Christian Church?

12. How did the bishops of Rome claim to have authority over all other bishops?

13. Why did Constantine build a new capital? 14. What reforms did Diocletian establish to restore order in the Empire?

15. What economic and military weakness contributed to the decline of the Roman Empire?