... forced labor were often obliged to serve as gladiators, and were sentenced to three years of combat and two years in the schools. Sometimes penalties were differentiated according to social class, thus for certain crimes which in the case of slaves would involve execution, free men or freedmen were condemned to fight in the arena instead. This did not of course ... were slaves, but in addition there were always some free men who became gladiators because they wanted to. The profession was an alternative to being a social outcast. They were generally derived from the lowest ranking categ...

• Word Count: 3227
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... longer had the strongest position in Latium. After the expulsion of the Etruscans, the monarchy became a republic. At first, the power was in the hands of the patricians, or upper class. "These patricians were normally of hereditary nobility. During this time, Rome began to conquer lands and expanded into the south of Etruria . However, there was conflict between the plebeians, or ... the lower class and the patricians."" (Starr) From the earliest days of the Republic, Rome had been on friendly terms with Carthage, a city-state in northern Africa. Since Rome was largely agricultural, an...

• Word Count: 3623
• Approx Pages: 14
• Grade Level: High School

... legal statutes. The Early Law Prior to the Twelve Tables, the law of Rome was religious in character, and its interpretation rested with priests, who were members of the patrician class. Complaints and agitation by the plebes, the common people, led to the reduction to writing of the existing legal customs and the addition of new principles unknown in the customary ... , he was given the name Augustus, meaning, "consecrated," by the Roman Senate after he avenged Caesar's death and consolidated his power. He later received the title, imperator, from which was derived the word "emperor." (...

• Word Count: 2515
• Approx Pages: 10

... did not return to Jerusalem from Babylon, which was now their home. A new emphasis on Temple rites developed, with a hereditary priesthood tracing its ancestry to Aaron (Fisher, 2002). The priestly class, under the leadership of Ezra, a priest and a scribe, also undertook to revise, or rewrite the stories of the people, editing the Pentateuch to reveal the hand of God. Some scholars ... south (Egypt) and the east (Asia Minor)." It was doing this time that he made a decision that will cause what is known today as the Machabees Revolt. The Machabees's ancestors derived from the Hashmon wh...

• Word Count: 5561
• Approx Pages: 22
• Grade Level: High School