Key Terms

• The goddess who is the personification of growing Roman power.

  Dea Roma
• The chief priest of Roman Religion.

  Pontifex Maximus
• The title used by Augustus on coins, meaning ‘the venerable’. 


  Divi Filius
• The divine aspect of a person. 


  Numen
• 'Bread and Circuses'


  Penem et Circensus
• ‘Roman peace’, also called Pax Augusta. It refers to peace in the sense of there being no more civil war while the Empire itself was still expanding its territory through war. 


  Pax Romana
• A great generosity, giving many lavish gifts or money.

  Largesse
• ‘The ladder of offices/ honours’. The Roman political structure of the Republic. 


  Cursus Honorum
• An exclusive council set up by Augustus to prepare the agenda for the Senate. 


  Consilium Principis
• A white toga which was assumed by boys rather than a purple one around age 15 - a symbol of manhood and coming of age. 


  Toga Virilis
• “Prince of the youth of Rome.”


  Princeps Luventutis
• 'Five Golden Years'


  Quinquennium Aureum
• “What an artist the world is losing!” or “What an artist dies in me!”

  Qualis Artifex Pereo
• “Damnation of memory” - the condemnation of disgraced Emperors and erasure of them from official records. In Nero’s case it meant the destruction of many of his statues.


  Damnatio Memoriae
• The love of Greek culture

  Philhellenism
• A savage accident or cruel fortune.

  Atrox Fortuna