Ancient Greece Definitions

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acropolis
citadel, the highest part of a city (plural: acropolis)
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agema
the Macedonian guard
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agoge
the Spartan system of education
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agora
the market square, civic centre of a city-state
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agoranomoi
market magistrates at Athens
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aisymnets
an elected tyrant
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Amphiktyonic Council
representatives of the twelve states responsible for the upkeep and welfare of the sanctuary and games at Delphi
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Amphiktyonic League or amphiktyony
an association of cities responsible for administering a sanctuary
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amphora
a large vase, usually of pottery, used for storing and transporting liquids (plural: amphorai)
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apoikia
a colony or settlement (plural: apoikiai)
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architheoros
the leader of a sacred embassy
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archon
a magistrate; the most important archonship in Athens was the eponymous archonship (the holder gave his name to the year)
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Areiopagos
a hill west of the acropolis; the council of the Areiopagos which was composed of ex-archons met here
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asylia
immunity, protections against rivals
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atimia
loss of citizen rights (adjective atimos, plural: atimoi)
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axon
wooden tablets recording the laws of Dracon and Solon (plural: axones)
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boeotarch
a chief magistrate of the Boeotian League
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boule
the council of a city
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bouleuterion
meeting place of a boule, council chamber
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chiliarch
a Macedonian commander (of 1000 men)
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choregos
a wealthy citizen who financed a dramatic chorus for a festival
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Companions
nobles serving in the cavalry in the Macedonian army
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dekarchy
a government of ten men
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demogogue
a popular leader or speaker (a fourth-century term)
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deme
a village; Kleisthenes divided Attica into 140 units called demes
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demos
the people of a city, the citizens; sometimes the assembly (Spartan: damos)
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dikasterion
a jury-court (plural: dikasteria)
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dokimasia
the scrutiny of a candidate's qualifications for office or citizenship
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ekklesia
the assembly of adult male citizens
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the Eleven
the police-commissioners at Athens
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emporion
a trading station (plural: emporia)
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ephebe
a young man between 18 and 20 years prior to becoming a full citizen (epheboi)
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ephebeia
the military training system for ephebes
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ephor
a Spartan magistrate, five were elected annually
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Epigonoi
the successors of Alexander the Great
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epimetelai
supervisors
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epoptes
the highest grade of initiate at Eleusis (plural: Epoptai)
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erastes
lover (male)
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eromenos
beloved (male)
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eunomia
good order
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eupatridai
nobles, aristocrats
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euthyna
the examination of an official's conduct or accounts at the end of his term (plural: euthynai)
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genos
a clan, group of families (plural: gene)
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gerousia
a council of twenty-eight elders (gerontes) in Sparta plus the two kings)
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gnorimoi
the notables, wealthy
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graphe paranomon
a charge brought against proposer of a supposedly illegal degree
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gymnasiarch
a supervisor responsible for running a gymnasium
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harmost
a governor imposed by Sparta
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hegemon
a leader or commander (as of the League of Corinth)
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hektemoroi
'sixth-partners', poor Athenian farmers who paid one-sixth of their produce to a wealthy landowner prior to Solon
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heliaia
a court (generally of appeal) at Athens
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hellenotamiai
financial officials of the Delian League
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helot
a Spartan serf
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herm
stone surmounted by the head of Hermes with an ithyphallos (plural: hermai)
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hetaria
a courtesan, higher-class prostitute (hetairai)
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hetaireia
a club, association of citizens (plural: hetaireiai)
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heiromnemones
representatives of the Delphic Amphiktyonic Council
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hieron
a sanctuary, temple
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hieropoioi
sacred officials, temples overseers
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hippeis
cavalry, the second of Solon;s four property-classes in Athens; in Sparta a bodyguard of 300 protecting the king in battle
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homoioi
'peers': a term used in SParta for full citizens, the Spartiates
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hoplites
a heavy-armed infantryman
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horos
a boundary-stone (plural horoi)
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hydria
a large pottery vessel for holding water (plural: hydriai)
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hypastistia
Macedonian shield-bearers; a brigade of guards
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isonomia
equality of political rights
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kanephoros
a young unmarried women who carried a ceremonial basket in religious processions (plural: kanephoroi)
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kleros
an allotment of land (plural: kleroi; Spartan: klaros)
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kolakretai
Athenian financial officials
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komos
a band of revellers; a celebratory procession
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krater
a large vase for mixing wine and water
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krypteia
a force of young Spartans which wages war on the helots
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kylix
a drinking-cup, often used at symposia (kylikes)
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Lakedaimon
Sparta; the Spartans were known as Lakedaimonians
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Lakonia
Sparta's immediate countryside; 'Lakonian' often means Spartan
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liturgy
a public duty imposed on wealthy citizens in Athens, such as financing a dramatic chorus or paying for the maintenance of a trireme for a year (the trierarchia)
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medise
to support or collaborate with the Persian
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metic
an immigrant, foreign resident
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metoikion
the tax on metics
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metropolis
a mother-city (of a colony)
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mystagogos
someone who introduced others to the Eleusinian Mysteries
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mystes
an initiate, especially at the Eleusinian Mysteries (plural: mystai)
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naurarchos
an admiral
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neodameis
new citizens (in Sparta); enfranchised helots
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nomos
a law
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nomothetes
a legislator
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nothoi
illegitimate children
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oikistes
the founder of a colony (plural: oikistai)
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oikos
a household, consisting of family, salves and property (plural: oikoi)
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oligarchy
the rule of a few ('oligoi') men within a polis
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Olympiad
the four-year period between one Olympic Games and the next
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ostracism
a procedure in the assembly that exiled a selected Athenian for ten years
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paidagogos
a slave responsible for escorting a boy to his school
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paideia
education
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palaistra
a wrestling-court
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parthenos
a young, unmarried girl
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Parthenos
epithet of the virgin goddess Athena
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peltast
a lightly armoured soldier (pelte: a shield)
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penestai
Thessalian serfs
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pentakosiomedimnoi
the 500 bushel-class, the first of Solon's four property classes in Athens
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perioikoi
neighbours; peoples subject to Sparta in the Peloponnese
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pezetairoi
foot-guards in the Macedonian army
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phalanx
a military formation of rows of hopslites
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phoros
tribute contribution (eg, to Athens from members of the Delian League, literally 'burden')
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phratry
a brotherhood with social and religious associations which recognised a common ancestor
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phroura
garrison
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phrourarch
commander of a garrison
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phyle
a tribe; Kleisthenes organised the Athenians into ten tribes (plural: plylai)
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polemarch
a war leader, senior military officer, one of the archons in Athens
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poletai
Athenian financial officials
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polis
a city-state
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politeia
contribution; (by extension) citizenship, political rights (plural: politeiai; 'pastrios politeia': ancestral constitution)
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polites
citizen (plural: politai)
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probouleusis
recommendations made to the assembly to the Council after preliminary discussion
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proedros
president (e.g., of a council)
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proskynesis
prostration, obeisance, performed by the Persians towards their king but reserved by the Greeks as a mark of respect to the gods
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prostates
champion, leader of a political party; patron of metics
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proxenos
a citizen responsible for promoting and protecting the interests of ambassadors and visitors from another city in his state
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prytaneion
town-hall, who the prytaneis dined during their term in office
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prytany
one-tenth of the Athenian administrative year, during which the representatives of one of the ten tribes (the fifty prytaneis) presided in the boule and assembly
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Pythia
the priestess of Delphi
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Relatives
an elite corps of Persians
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rhapsode
a bard, minstral
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rhetra
a constitutional law
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sarcophagus
a stone receptacle for a corpse: the term means 'flesh-eating' (plural: sarcophagi)
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sarissa
the basic Macedonian weapon, a six-metre pike
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satrap
a Persian governor
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seisachteia
the 'shaking-off of burdens', by which Solon resolved the agrarian crisis in Athens
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skolion
a drinking song (plural: skolia)
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skytale
a stick used by Spartans for recording messages while on campaign
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sophist
an intellectual who taught young men how to employ rhetoric
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Spartiate
a full Spartan citizen
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stamnos
a type of pottery used to store liquids (plural stamnoi)
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stasis
civil dissension, factional disturbance, a party or faction
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stele
a slab; an inscription, such as a gravestone or decree (plural: stelai)
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strategia
the command or office of a general
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strategos
a general (plural: strategoi); straegos autokrator: supreme commander
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symposium
a drinking-party
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synoikismos
the union of several towns to form a single state (synoecism)
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syssitia
public messes at Sparta (also pheiditia)
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tagos
the chief magistrate of Thessaly
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theoria
a sacred embassy (singular: theoros)
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theoroi
sacred envoys
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thetes
the lowest of Solon's four property-classes (singular: thes)
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the Thirty
the oligarchs who ruled Athens 404/3
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tholos
the round house; the headquarters of the prytaneis
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tresantes
literally 'tremblers', Spartans accused of cowardice in battle
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trierarch
the commander of a trireme
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trireme
a warship with 170 rowers
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trittys
a regional division of Attica (plural: trittyes)
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tyrant
a ruler with no hereditary right to rule
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tyrannos
a tyrant (plural: tyrannoi)
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zeugitai
the third of Solon's four property-classes
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

the Macedonian guard

Back

agema

Card 3

Front

the Spartan system of education

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

the market square, civic centre of a city-state

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

market magistrates at Athens

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
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