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Classical Literacy

Subject : literacy
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. A mural painted directly onto wet plaster (fresco means 'fresh' in Italian)






2. 'Thus passes the glory of the world.' i.e. 'Worldly things are fleeting.'






3. A bundle of wooden sticks and an axe blade that the attendants of Roman magistrates carried; symbolized the magistrates' power to inflict capital punishment






4. Religion in Which many gods are worshipped (from Greek poly 'many' and theoi 'gods')






5. The technical biological term for the human species

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6. Speaker's platform in the forum & which was decorated with the prows of ships the Romans captured in war (rostrum means 'beak & prow of a ship')






7. Icarus was the son of Daedalus who flew too close to the sun with the wings his father made him from wax and feathers & and fell to his death






8. 'And the rest' usually seen at the end of a list of things & instead of listing everything






9. 'This for that &' a fair trade






10. The 200 year period of peace which began under the rule of Augustus






11. 'I refuse &' used by the president of the US to stop any bill he sees unfit from passing






12. The highest political office in the Roman Republic; 2 were elected every year






13. The city in Northern Africa that the Romans fought and destroyed during the Punic Wars (264-146 BC.)






14. 'in the year of the Lord &' designating the time period after Christ's birth






15. 'boyish &' 'childlike' (from puer- boy)






16. The god of the sky; created the Titans with Gaia & Mother Earth






17. The three-headed dog that guarded the gates of the Underworld






18. 'To infinity &' to continue forever & without limit






19. 'note well' i.e. take note






20. 10






21. Daughter of Demeter; kidnapped by Hades to make her his queen






22. The three goddesses who determine a person's life: when he will be born & how long he will live & and when he will die; one sister spins the thread of life & the second measures out a certain length & and the third cuts it at the end of the person's






23. 'Time flies/flees'






24. Writing after the body of a letter






25. Titan best known for stealing fire from the gods and giving it to humans; He was punished by being chained to a rock and having his liver eaten by a bird everyday






26. A large horse and chariot racing track in Rome






27. 'The things that must be done' - a to-do list






28. 'seize the day'






29. Kingdom in Asia Minor which fought against Greece in Homer's Iliad






30. A polis (city-state) in Greece & center of art and philosophy & named after Athena (its patron goddess); the Acropolis was the hill in Athens where many temples (including the Parthenon & the temple to Athena) were located






31. 'unknown land'






32. Home of the Greek gods






33. Goddess of love






34. God of metallurgy (metal working); married to Aphrodite






35. 'To the point of sickness' - doing/saying something over and over until everyone is sick and tired of it






36. The people in control of the Italian peninsula before Rome began to spread






37. Winged horse which flew from the neck of Medusa the Gorgon after Perseus cut off her head






38. 500






39. 'Thus always & to tyrants.' Allegedly said by Brutus during the assassination of Caesar. John Wilkes Booth also shouted it after shooting President Lincoln. It is now the motto of Virginia.






40. Goddess of wisdom






41. After midday/noon






42. Mother Earth; the wife of Uranus & the sky; she gave birth to the Titans & the Cyclopes & and the Hundred-Handed Ones






43. Goddess of the hearth






44. A member of one of the original aristocratic families of Rome; 'aristocratic'






45. Religion in Which many gods are worshipped (from Greek poly 'many' and theoi 'gods')






46. A mural painted directly onto wet plaster (fresco means 'fresh' in Italian)






47. 'in memory of'






48. Speaker's platform in the forum & which was decorated with the prows of ships the Romans captured in war (rostrum means 'beak & prow of a ship')






49. In early mythology & the resting place of heroes; the later mythology & where good people went in the afterlife






50. 1