Classics key terms

A writing material on which texts could be written in ink and arranged in columns on a scroll.

Plutarch’s collection of biographies pairing notable Greeks with Romans so that their characters and achievements could be compared.

A Roman festival honouring deceased family members and ancestors, held from 13 to 21 February; its name means ‘Ancestral Days’.

The killing of a parent. Plutarch uses this accusation when considering Theseus’ responsibility for Aegeus’ death.

The male head of a Roman family, who held authority within the household.

An approach which presents an authority figure as a caring father, while retaining unequal power over those receiving care.

The quality in a description or story that arouses pity or sorrow for a character’s suffering.

‘Paternal power’: the legal authority of a Roman paterfamilias over descendants subject to his control.

A member of Rome’s hereditary aristocratic social order.

Love of and loyalty to one’s homeland or community, which can motivate service, defence and personal sacrifice.

A person who provides money, gifts or support; in the lives of courtesans, often a man with whom a woman had an ongoing relationship.

An unequal but reciprocal relationship in which a patron supplied assistance and a client supplied loyalty and support.

A god or goddess believed to offer particular protection to a city or community.

The favourable relationship between the Roman community and its gods, maintained through proper religious observance; literally ‘peace of the gods’.

‘Roman peace’: the peace and stability associated with Roman rule, which Augustus promoted as an achievement of his leadership.

Money or assets an owner allowed an enslaved person to manage, which remained legally under the owner’s control.

The triangular architectural feature above a temple’s columned entrance.

A lightly armed infantry soldier equipped with javelins and a lighter shield, able to attack and withdraw more readily than a hoplite.

A subdivision of a Spartan army company, commanded by a penteconter.

An Amazon warrior who supported the Trojans towards the end of the Trojan War and was killed by Achilles.

A garment woven and presented to Athena as part of the Panathenaic celebration, decorated with the battle between the gods and Giants.

An enclosure containing family graves and funerary monuments in ancient Greece. The plural is periboloi.

Free inhabitants of communities under Spartan control who lacked Spartan citizenship and political rights but contributed labour and military service.

A naval manoeuvre in which ships move around the end of an enemy line to attack from the side or rear.

A courtyard or garden surrounded by a colonnaded walkway.

A deliberately fashioned identity or public image presented through writing or behaviour.

The presentation of an abstract idea or non-human thing as a person, as when Ovid makes Rumour a figure who spreads distorted stories.