First-Year Classical Studies – Summer Exam Revision

Minoans

Bronze Age people from Crete, known for palaces, art, and trade.

Main Minoan palace

Knossos

Minoan writing

Linear A (undeciphered)

Minoan religion

Worshipped Mother Goddess and bulls

Minoan collapse

Volcano (Thera) or Mycenaean invasion

Mycenaeans

Greek mainland warriors, rich in gold and weapons

Mycenaean writing

Linear B (early Greek)

Tholos tomb

Beehive-shaped royal tomb

Mycenae

Fortress city, home of Agamemnon

Daedalus

Builder of the Labyrinth

Icarus

Flew too close to the sun; wings melted

Lesson from Daedalus & Icarus

Don't ignore warnings; avoid pride

Minotaur

Half-man, half-bull in the Labyrinth

Theseus

Killed Minotaur with Ariadne's string

Ariadne

Gave Theseus string to escape

Cause of Trojan War (myth)

Paris took Helen after judging Aphrodite as fairest

Helen

Queen of Sparta, wife of Menelaus

Agamemnon

Led Greek army to Troy

Schliemann

Discovered ancient Troy

Troy's location

Northwest Turkey

Real Troy layers

Troy VI or VIIa

Priam's Treasure

Found by Schliemann (possibly fake)

Aeneas

Trojan hero who fled to Italy

Romulus & Remus

Twin founders of Rome, raised by a she-wolf

Rome's founding year

753 BCE

Troy-Rome connection

Romans believed they came from Aeneas of Troy

Atrium

Front hall with rainwater pool (impluvium)

Triclinium

Dining room

Peristylium

Garden with columns

Insulae

Apartment blocks for the poor

Danger of insulae

Fire, overcrowding

Roman baths

Public places to bathe, relax, and socialize

Caldarium

Hot bath room

Frigidarium

Cold bath room

Fullery

Roman laundry using urine to clean clothes

Thermopolium

Roman snack bar with hot food

Food for poor Romans

Bread, porridge, olives, cheese

Lararium

Shrine to household gods

Roman school

Boys learned reading, writing, rhetoric

Roman entertainment

Baths, chariot races, gladiator games