Classical History
Review/Preview
1. When used in a time reference,
the initials “BC” designate
________.
A. “British Columbia”
B. “Before Christ”
C. “Before Common”
D. “Between Creation”
2. When used in a time reference,
the initials “AD” designate
________.
A. “Anti-Dilluvian”
B. “After Death”
C. “Anno Domini”
D. “Anna Dominoes”
3. What does the phrase “Anno
Domini” actually signify?
A. “after death”
B. “actual designation”
C. “in the year of our Lord”
D. “before birth”
4. Why might the phrase “Anno Domini”
be offensive to some people?
A. The phrase is specifically Jewish.
B. The phrase is specifically Buddhist.
C. The phrase is specifically atheistic.
D. The phrase is specifically Christian.
5. What designation have some
textbooks adopted as a way of
remaining religiously neutral?
A. the Chinese designation of time
B. the use of BCE/CE
C. the lack of any designation whatsoever
D. the use of EST/CT
6. The play we’ve just completed
studying, Antigone, was written during
the golden age of which civilization?
A. Ancient Greece
B. Ancient Rome
C. the Middle Ages
D. the Renaissance
7. Ancient Greece actually extended
from ca. 1200 BC to 200 BC. For
which of the following words is “ca.”
an abbreviation?
A. circumstance
B. circumference
C. circa
D. circle
8. What does the term “circa” actually
mean?
A. during
B. before
C. without
D. around
9.
Ancient Greece actually extended
from ca. 1200 BC to 200 BC. During
which century did the golden age of
Greece occur?
A. 4th BC
B. 5th BC
C. 4th AD
D. 5th AD
10. Which of the following civilizations is
responsible for the ultimate
conquering of Greece’s stronghold on
the world?
A. Ancient Rome
B. Persia
C. Carthage
D. Egypt
11. What does the sculpture shown above portray?
A. the legendary founders of Rome
B. Remus and Romulus
C. Mowgli, the main character from The Jungle Book
D. All of the above
E. A and B only
12. The Roman philosopher Horace
noted that “Captive Greece took her
conqueror captive.”
What is the meaning behind his
statement?
A. Greece actually revolted against
Rome and eventually defeated them.
B. Greece escaped being defeated
by the Romans.
C. Greece’s influence on Rome was
magnificent.
D. None of the above
13. In the year 509 BC, a man named Brutus helped
overthrow the Tarquin monarchy in Rome. After
that, the Romans decided they would never again
be ruled by a monarchy, but that their government
would be __________.
A. totalitarian
B. communist
C. anarchic
D. republic
14. A republic allows which
of the following?
A. a ruler appointed by
God
B. a ruler appointed by
the people
C. a ruler who was born
into power
D. no ruler at all
15. Julius Caesar was born in the
year 100 BC. He was
assassinated in the year 44
BC. Why was he
assassinated?
A. He was threatening the
republic.
B. He was threatening the
monarchy.
C. He was executed for
having Pompey killed.
D. He was executed for
murdering pirates.
Today’s Discussion:
The
Renaissance
What does the
word
“renaissance”
actually mean?
“Renaissance”
means
“rebirth.”
If, then, the time period known as
the Renaissance signifies a “rebirth,”
what exactly is being reborn?
Classicism, which is the way of
thought of Ancient Greece and
Ancient Rome, is reborn during
the Renaissance.
Basic Principles of Classical Thought:
• Logic
• Order
• Reason
• Moderation
What happened to classical thought
that it had to be “reborn” in 1400 AD?
Fall of Rome:
400 AD
?
Renaissance: 1400 AD-1550 AD
The Middle Ages are called “the
Middle Ages” because they
encompass the thousand years
between the fall of Ancient Rome
(ca. 400 AD) and the beginning of the
Renaissance (ca. 1400 AD).
410 AD
Fall of Rome
Middle Ages
1400 AD
Renaissance
During the early part of that thousand
year period, many of the advances
the Greeks and Romans made in
civilization were lost during the
barbarian invasions and the time
known as the Dark Ages.
However, the
Renaissance saw a
massive rebirth of
things classical-particularly in the
area of literature.
So, when
Shakespeare was
born in the year
1564, it would
make perfect sense
that he would have
studied the things
of Ancient Rome
during his few
years of education.
Shakespeare lived during the
Elizabethan Age.
What does this mean?
The Elizabethan Age was
the time of Queen
Elizabeth I’s reign over
England (1558-1603).
Queen Elizabeth I
•was the daughter of Henry
VIII (thus part of the Tudor
reign--actually the last Tudor
monarch)
•oversaw the defeat of the
Spanish Armada
•is sometimes referred to as
“the Virgin Queen”
• was a writer and poet who
fully supported drama
During the medieval period,
drama had changed
drastically since the drama of
classical Greece and Rome.
The Christian church had been born,
and it used drama as one of its ways
to reach poor, illiterate peasants with
the stories of the Bible.
Here, we see a pageant wagon-a traveling stage on which the
actors would perform.
During Shakespeare’s life,
however, drama was in the process of
massive change.
Shakespeare
in Love