2010 Classical Literacy Exam All Levelsabqlatin.com/files/2010_cle_all_levels.pdf · 2010 Classical Literacy Level I Exam 1. What was the name of the temple dedicated to all gods

2010 Classical Literacy Introductory Exam

1. What was the name of the temple dedicated to all gods in ancient Rome?

2. What is the Latin abbreviation that means “for the sake of an example”?

3. What Latin phrase means “my fault”?

4. What was the name of the bull-headed man (at right) that Theseus killed?

5. What is the Roman numeral for 500?

6. What is the Roman term for the male head of the household?

7. Who was the greatest Trojan warrior, whom Achilles killed in single combat?

8. On what hill in ancient Athens did the Parthenon stand?

9. Who is punished in the Underworld with unending thirst and hunger?

10. What Latin phrase means “Seize the day”?

11. Whom did Orpheus try to bring back from the Underworld?

12. What Roman dictator was assassinated on the Ides of March?

13. What was the name of the ferryman who transported the souls of the dead across the

Styx?

14. What is the Roman name for Hestia, goddess of the hearth?

15. To what oracle on Mt. Parnassus did Greeks travel to hear the prophecies of Apollo?

16. What is the Latin word for “end”?

17. Where did the souls of heroes and the virtuous go after they died?

18. Against what city in Africa did the Romans wage the Punic Wars?

19. What was the Roman name for the god of messengers who carried the

staff called the caduceus (at right)?

20. What Latin phrase means an exchange or “what for what”?

21. What 3-word Latin phrase did Caesar famously say after a very easy victory?

22. Who is the author of The Iliad and The Odyssey?

23. What is the Latin for the abbreviation M.D.?

24. What is the Roman name for the goddess of weddings?

25. What is the Greek name for the bride of Hades?

26. What is the title given to the person who gives the farewell address at graduation?

2010 Classical Literacy Introductory Exam Continued

27. What is the Latin first person, singular, personal pronoun?

28. Venus is to Cupid as Aphrodite is to _____________?

29. What is the name for a painting made on fresh, moist plaster?

30. In what arena did the Romans hold chariot races?

31. The eruption of what volcano destroyed Pompeii?

32. What Latin saying means “to the point of disgust”?

33. Who was the leader of the Argonauts in their quest for the Golden Fleece?

34. What was the name of the three-headed dog (at right) that guarded the

entrance to the Underworld?

35. What was the name for the group of deities who inspired the sciences and the arts?

36. What Latin phrase means “with the highest praise”?

37. Who was Greek god of volcanoes, earthquakes, and the sea?

38. What abbreviation means “before noon”?

39. What is the name for the Greek equivalent of the Roman forum?

40. What Latin phrase means “always prepared”?

41. Over what woman was the Trojan War fought?

42. Whose curiosity resulted in evils being released into the world?

43. What Latin phrase means “after death”?

44. What was the Roman name for the reception room of a house?

45. What boy ignored the warning of his father not to fly too close to the sun?

46. What Titan is said to have brought fire from heaven to mankind?

47. What Latin phrase means “I forbid"?

48. What maiden was turned into a spider after she boasted of beating Athena in a weaving

contest?

49. What Latin phrase means “one out of many”?

50. According to Shakespeare, what were Caesar’s final words?

2010 Classical Literacy Level I Exam

1. What was the name of the temple dedicated to all gods in ancient Rome?

2. What was the name of the bull-headed man (at right) that Theseus killed?

3. What is the Roman numeral for 500?

4. What is the Roman term for the male head of the household?

5. Who is punished in the Underworld with unending thirst and hunger?

6. Whom did Orpheus try to bring back from the Underworld?

7. What was the name of the ferryman who transported the souls of the dead across the

Styx?

8. What is the Roman name for Hestia, goddess of the hearth?

9. Where did the souls of heroes and the virtuous go after they died?

10. Against what city in Africa did the Romans wage the Punic Wars?

11. What Latin phrase did Caesar famously say after a very easy victory?

12. What is the Latin for the abbreviation M.D.?

13. What is the Greek name for the bride of Hades?

14. What is the name given to the person who gives the farewell address at graduation?

15. What is the Latin first person, singular, personal pronoun?

16. On what hill in ancient Athens did the Parthenon (at right) stand?

17. Venus is to Cupid as Aphrodite is to _____________?

18. What is the name for a painting made on fresh, moist plaster?

19. What Latin phrase is used to identify an author’s masterpiece?

20. What was the name for the group of deities who inspired the sciences and the arts?

21. What Latin phrase means “with the highest praise”?

22. What boy ignored the warning of his father not to fly too close to the sun?

23. What Titan is said to have brought fire to mankind from the heavens?

24. What Latin phrase means “I forbid"?

25. What maiden was turned into a spider after she boasted of beating Athena in a weaving

contest?

26. According to Shakespeare, what were Caesar’s final words?

2010 Classical Literacy Level I Exam Continued

27. What Latin word is used in English to mean “word for word”?

28. What was the title of the chief priest in ancient Rome?

29. What Latin phrase is used in English to mean “secretly”?

30. What city state was Athens’ main adversary in the Peloponnesian Wars?

31. What Latin phrase means “a slip of the tongue”?

32. What sea is directly east of the Italian peninsula?

33. What Latin word means “Higher” (used as the motto for the state of New York)?

34. What English derivative from Latin means “all-knowing”?

35. What English derivative from Latin means “pertaining to the common people”?

36. What name of a letter in the Greek alphabet means in English “a little bit of something”?

37. What is the Latin taxonomical (i.e., scientific) designation of man?

38. What English derivative, describing a person as courageously noble, etymologically

means “great-souled”?

39. What daughter of Aeëtes helped Jason win the Golden Fleece?

40. What mythological character (at right) must forever roll a boulder up a hill

in the Underworld?

41. What Latin phrase means something that is indispensable, literally meaning “without

which not”?

42. On what mountain is the Delphic Oracle?

43. What Latin saying means “Thus passes the glory of the world”?

44. What mountains run down the length of Italy?

45. What abbreviation on a prescription means to take the medication orally?

46. Which one of the Gorgons did Perseus slay?

47. What Latin phrase means “Peace be with you”?

48. In what sea east of Athens did Aegeus drown?

49. What Latin word is used in English to refer to the customs and values of a society?

50. What Latin saying means “thus always to tyrants”?

2010 Classical Literacy Level II Exam

1. Whom did Orpheus try to bring back from the Underworld?

2. What is the Latin for the abbreviation M.D.?

3. What was the title of the chief priest in ancient Rome?

4. What English derivative from Latin means “pertaining to the common people”?

5. What English derivative, describing a person as courageously noble, etymologically means

“great-souled”?

6. What mythological character must forever roll a boulder up a hill in the Underworld?

7. On what mountain in Greece is the Delphic Oracle?

8. What mountains run down the length of Italy?

9. What Latin word is used in English to refer to the customs and values of a society?

10. What Latin saying means “thus always to tyrants”?

11. What Latin phrase did Descartes use to mean “I think, therefore I am”?

12. What infamous fiddler (at right) was the last of the Julio-Claudian emperors?

13. What Latin abbreviation means “in the same place”?

14. Odysseus on his voyage home was caught between Scylla and ____________?

15. Odysseus is to Penelope as Hector is to ____________?

16. Souls that were to be reborn drank from what river of forgetfulness?

17. What Latin saying means “a healthy mind in a healthy body”?

18. What is a victory called that cost the victors almost as much as a defeat?

19. What is the Latin for “knowledge itself is power”?

20. Who was the mother of Romulus and Remus?

21. What is the name of the two-faced Roman god of beginnings and doorways?

22. Give the full Latin for the abbreviation Q.E.D.

23. What English derivative from Greek means literally a “city of the dead”?

24. What hunter was attacked by his own dogs after Diana changed him into a stag?

25. What is the name of the mother of the muses and goddess of memory?

26. What Roman earned his nomen ex virtute after defeating Hannibal at the

the battle of Zama in 202 B.C.?

27. What is the term for a prophecy determined by the flight of birds?

2010 Classical Literacy Level II Exam Continued

28. What word means “hate” both in English and in Latin?

29. What Latin phrase identifies the logical fallacy of thinking that A caused B simply because B

followed A?

30. What was Alexander the Great’s homeland?

31. In what city, founded by Ascanius, were Romulus and Remus born?

32. What genitive plural form of the Latin relative pronoun means the minimum number of

members necessary to conduct official business?

33. What Latin phrase means “the burden of proof”?

34. What Latin abbreviation means “about” or “approximately”?

35. What Roman deity carried as his staff the caduceus (at right)?

36. What is the Latin phrase which means “justice for all”?

37. What political alliance did Caesar, Crassus and Pompey form?

38. What is the Latin word for a courthouse, whose design was used later

for the building of churches?

39. What English derivative from a Latin verb meaning “let it be done” refers to an arbitrary order

or command?

40. What is the Latin word for truth, used now as the motto of Harvard?

41. What goddess turned Odysseus’ men into pigs?

42. What adjective, derived from the name of a Greek herald in the Trojan War, describes a shout

as loud as one made by fifty men?

43. What Latin phrase means “to each his own”?

44. Rome is to Latium as Athens is to _____________?

45. What is the plural of the Latin verb “exit”, used in a play script when everyone in a scene exits?

46. With what handsome youth did Echo fall in love?

47. What husband and wife repeopled the earth after Zeus wiped out humanity in a great flood?

48. What words of warning did Laocoon speak concerning the Trojan Horse (at right)?

49. What Latin saying means “Thus passes the glory of the world”?

50. What English derivative from Latin identifies a period of time between the death

of one ruler and the ascension of another?

2010 Classical Literacy Level III Exam

1. Whom did Orpheus try to bring back from the Underworld?

2. What was the title of the chief priest in ancient Rome?

3. What English derivative, describing a person as courageously noble, etymologically means “great-

souled”?

4. What mythological character (at right) must forever roll a boulder up a hill in the Underworld?

5. What mountains run down the length of Italy?

6. What Latin saying means “thus always to tyrants”?

7. What Latin saying means “Thus passes the glory of the world”?

8. What Latin saying means a healthy mind in a healthy body?

9. What is the Latin for “knowledge itself is power”?

10. Give the full Latin for the abbreviation Q.E.D.

11. What is the name of the mother of the muses and goddess of memory?

12. What Latin phrase identifies the logical fallacy of thinking that A caused B simply because B

followed A?

13. What English derivative from a Latin verb meaning “let it be done” refers to an arbitrary order or

command?

14. What adjective, derived from the name of a Greek herald in the Trojan War, describes a shout as

loud as one made by fifty men?

15. What English derivative from Latin identifies a period of time between the death of

one ruler and the ascension of another?

16. Who was the author of the epicurean treatise De Rerum Natura?

17. What saying on the back of a one dollar bill means “a new order of ages”?

18. Who was the leader (at right) of the combined Gallic forces in their war with Caesar?

19. What Roman emperor was an author of a collection of Meditations?

20. With what incendiary phrase did Cato the Elder end all of his speeches, thereby precipitating the

Third Punic War?

21. Plato is to the Academy as Aristotle is to the ___________________?

22. With what scolding phrase did Brennus admonish the vanquished Romans when they complained

about the weight of gold to be paid as tribute?

23. What Latin phrase means “Let arms yield to the toga”?

24. “Not unkind” and “hardly misanthropic” are examples of what figure of speech?

25. Achilles is to Hector as Aeneas is to ____________________?

2010 Classical Literacy Level III Exam Continued

26. What pre-Socratic philosopher said that we never step in the same river twice?

27. In classical rhetoric the introduction is called the exordium and the conclusion the _____________?

28. From whom do we have a firsthand account of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius?

29. What are the first three words of the Vergil’s Aeneid?

30. What Greek saying, meaning “know thyself,” was inscribed on the temple of Apollo?

31. What Latin word refers to a gap or missing section of a text?

32. What mythological character is said to have brought to Greece an alphabet and founded the city of

Thebes?

33. What Latin phrase refers to an incidental remark?

34. The argument that when an even number (2) is added to an odd number (3), their sum (5) is both

odd and even is an example of what specious art?

35. What Latin phrase would be used as the heading for a list of achievements?

36. What Latin saying means “Who will guard the guardians themselves?”

37. What is the Latin motto of the Olympic games?

38. What is the name of the rhetorical ploy by which a speaker mentions certain things while

pretending to pass over them? (e.g., I will not mention what you were doing last night among that

rabble on 5th Street since that has nothing to do with the current affair.)

39. What are the first seven words of Caesar’s commentary on his Gallic campaigns?

40. What Roman historian (at right) wrote an account of the Roman people ab urbe condita (i.e., from

the founding of the city)?

41. What priest warned his fellow Trojans to beware of Greeks bearing gifts?

42. What Latin saying means “it is sweet and honorable to die for one’s country”?

43. What Greek playwright wrote the trilogy called the Oresteia?

44. What was the literary name of the woman who caused Catullus to be racked by love and hate?

45. What Latin abbreviation means “it is permitted to know” or “namely”?

46. What Greek phrase may refer to a word used but once in a language?

47. Cicero complained of the decadence of his times in what famous phrase?

48. What scholarly Julio-Claudian emperor wrote a lost treatise on Etruscan civilization?

49. Who was the literary patron of Vergil, Horace and many other writers during the age of Augustus?

50. What is the Greek word used to designate excellence in skill, study or character?