OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation key terms

A festival honouring Demeter and Persephone, concerned with agricultural and human fertility; in Athens, participation was restricted to citizens' wives.

The poorest class of Athenian citizens, who served mainly as rowers and light troops.

A tomb with a circular chamber and a corbelled stone roof, often called a beehive tomb.

A gladiator armed with a short, angled sword and small shield, with long greaves protecting the legs and thighs; also called a Thracian.

A staff associated with Dionysos and his followers, decorated with ivy and often topped with a pine cone.

A staff tipped with a pine cone, associated with Bacchus and his followers.

Honour or standing recognised by others during a person’s life. In Homeric warfare, valuable prizes and captured spoils can make this standing visible.

The circular picture painted inside a cup.

A large, tall shield whose outline resembles a tower, providing extensive bodily coverage.

Drama exploring serious conflict and suffering, often through stories about mythological figures.

The process by which a text reaches later readers through copying, editing and translation.

A Roman official who could propose legislation and oppose measures through a veto.

A Roman magistrate representing the plebeians who could propose legislation and block political action through a veto.

Payments made by allied or subject states to Athens, helping finance its military power.

Using a clever scheme to mislead someone or gain an advantage over them.

A Roman dining room.

The captain commanding an individual Roman warship.

The liturgy in which a wealthy citizen equipped and maintained a trireme and its crew for a year.

An architectural block with three vertical divisions, alternating with metopes in a Doric frieze.

A three-night annual absence which interrupted usus and prevented a wife entering her husband's manus by that route.

An ancient Mediterranean warship propelled by rowers arranged at three levels on each side.

A formal Roman procession celebrating a major military victory and honouring the victorious commander.

A monument marking a military victory. A commemorative trophy was erected on Cynosura after the Battle of Salamis.

An agreement to stop fighting.

A garment covering the torso and extending below the waist, sometimes secured with a belt.

The realm below the earth where the dead dwell, ruled in this passage by a king and queen.

A woman who had been married only once.