National Latin Exam

Geography

• Locate Roman provinces and important foreign cities, such as Aegyptus; Alexandria; Athens; Asia Minor; Britannia; Carthage; Gallia; Germania; Graecia; Hispania; Troy; - start with the maps on pp. xiii and xv of Ecce Romani. Here's a list of important places.
• Important features of Italy, such as major cities (Ostia, Pompeii, Brundisium), seas and rivers (Mare Nostrum, Adriatic Sea, Aegean Sea, Black Sea, Rhine), large islands (e.g. Sicilia, Creta), the Appennine mountains, Mt. Vesuvius, and so on.
• If you feel up to a real test, try this geography quiz!

History - basic terms and general information associated with these topics

• Monarchy - know the 7 kings of Rome (Ecce Romani Book I pp. 109-11) and see this early history of Rome and a table of her seven kings. You can consult the timeline at the back of Ecce Romani but there is one misprint: the first king of Rome is Romulus, of course, not Aeneas!
• Heroes of early Rome (Ecce Romani Book I pp. 141-3)
• Prominent historical characters from Roman history: Augustus, Hannibal, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Marc Antony, Spartacus, Horatius, Cincinnatus
• Major events of Roman History: Punic Wars, Caesar's conquest of Gaul
• Republic - 2 co-equal consuls elected annually
• Empire - emperor
• Cursus honorum (Ecce Romani Book I pp. 168-9)
• Important: check out this page of general vocabulary words that Ecce Romani skims over.

Mythology

• Olympians (both Greek and Roman names) as well as associated myths (this material is covered in class), such as Daphne & Apollo (love myth; Daphne turned into a laurel tree), and Arachne & Minerva (spinning/weaving contest with Arachne turned into spider)
• Major heroes and monsters - Creatures and Heroes
• Major figures in the Trojan War, including Achilles, Hector, Ulysses, Helen, Aeneas
• Major figures from the Underworld. Here's a quick reference list.
• Romulus and Remus, twin sons of Rhea Silva and Mars abandoned in Tiber river, nursed by she-wolf, found by Faustulus the shepherd; dispute over the boundary and rulership; Romulus spots more birds than Remus    (Ecce Romani Book I pp. 85-7)

Roman Life

Here's a page of general knowledge to review.

The urbs

• city of Rome (see your map of the city)
• Circus Maximus - chariot races around the spina
• Colosseum - amphitheater for gladiatorial combats
• Forum - market place w/basilicae (law courts), rostra (speaker's platform), curia (senate house), temples and arches.
• Roads: Via Appia, Via Sacra
• Tiber River, Po River, Rubicon River
• Palatine Hill (first settlement of shepherds, the goddess Pales)
• architectural structures and their functions, including
• aqueducts (water supply from mountains)
• baths (public, different types of rooms) thermae
• circus (race courses for charioteers)
• amphitheater (gladiatorial combats)

Housing

• domus - rich persons' home in city
• insulae - apartment dwellings in city
• villa rustica - farmhouse (produce)
• villa urbana - elaborate dwellings closed to cities, etc.
• casa - house, general term
• atrium - reception room w/ opening in the ceiling
• cubiculum - bedroom
• triclinium - dining room, reclined on couches
• peristylium - elaborate garden family area
• culina - kitchen

Meals

• ientâculum - breakfast, chiefly of bread, wine, cheese
• prandium - lunch, cheese, cold cuts, vegetables, nuts
• cena - dinner or main meal

Clothing (Ecce Romani Book I p. 17)

• toga - toga praetexta, toga virilis, toga candida
• tunica
• stola