<!-- factbase:9c16b6 -->
# Definitions: Ancient History Terms

# Definitions: Ancient History Terms

## Chronological Terms
- **BCE**: Before Common Era — equivalent to BC, used in secular academic contexts
- **CE**: Common Era — equivalent to AD, used in secular academic contexts
- **Bronze Age**: Period characterized by bronze metallurgy (~3300–1200 BCE in the Near East)
- **Iron Age**: Period following the Bronze Age, characterized by iron technology (~1200–~500 BCE) @t[~500 BCE]
- **Archaic Period**: Early phase of Greek civilization (~800–480 BCE) @t[800 BCE..480 BCE]
- **Classical Period**: Height of Greek civilization (~480–323 BCE) @t[480 BCE..323 BCE]
- **Hellenistic Period**: Post-Alexander era of Greek cultural diffusion (323–30 BCE) @t[323 BCE..30 BCE]

## Political Terms
- **Polis**: Greek city-state, the fundamental political unit of ancient Greece
- **Satrapy**: Provincial administrative unit of the Persian Empire, governed by a satrap
- **Principate**: First phase of the Roman Empire (27 BCE–284 CE), maintaining republican facades @t[=27 BCE]
- **Dominate**: Later phase of the Roman Empire (284–476 CE), openly autocratic
- **Foederati**: Barbarian groups settled within the Roman Empire under treaty obligations

## Cultural Terms
- **Cuneiform**: Wedge-shaped writing system of Mesopotamia
- **Hieroglyphics**: Pictorial writing system of ancient Egypt
- **Linear A**: Undeciphered Minoan script
- **Linear B**: Deciphered Mycenaean Greek script
- **Koine Greek**: Common dialect of Greek used across the Hellenistic world

## Naming Conventions
- **Roman numerals in ruler names** (I, II, III, IV, etc.): Ordinal suffixes used by modern historians to distinguish rulers sharing the same name (e.g., Tiglath-Pileser III = the third king named Tiglath-Pileser; Ramesses II = the second pharaoh named Ramesses). Not used by the rulers themselves in antiquity.

## Archaeological Terms
- **Tell/Tel**: Artificial mound formed by accumulated remains of ancient settlements
- **Stele/Stela**: Upright stone slab used for commemorative or legal inscriptions
- **Ziggurat**: Stepped temple platform in Mesopotamian architecture
- **Necropolis**: Large ancient cemetery ("city of the dead")
- **Archaeological layer / stratum (pl. strata)**: A distinct horizontal deposit of soil, debris, or remains representing a single period of occupation. Sites with multiple occupation phases (e.g., Troy) are numbered sequentially using Roman numerals (I = earliest). The study of these layers is called stratigraphy.
- **Destruction layer**: An archaeological stratum showing evidence of violent or sudden destruction — burned debris, weapons, unburied remains — used to correlate a site's history with known historical events.
---

## Review Queue

<!-- factbase:review -->
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 7: "**BCE**: Before Common Era — equivalent to BC, used in secular academic con..." - when was this true?
> Standard academic definition. No temporal tag needed.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 8: "**CE**: Common Era — equivalent to AD, used in secular academic contexts" - when was this true?
> Standard academic definition. No temporal tag needed.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 9: "**Bronze Age**: Period characterized by bronze metallurgy (~3300–1200 BCE i..." - when was this true?
> Standard academic definition. No temporal tag needed.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 10: "**Iron Age**: Period following the Bronze Age, characterized by iron technolo..." - when was this true?
> Standard academic definition. No temporal tag needed.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 11: "**Archaic Period**: Early phase of Greek civilization (~800–480 BCE)" - when was this true?
> Standard academic definition. No temporal tag needed.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 12: "**Classical Period**: Height of Greek civilization (~480–323 BCE)" - when was this true?
> Standard academic definition. No temporal tag needed.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 13: "**Hellenistic Period**: Post-Alexander era of Greek cultural diffusion (323..." - when was this true?
> Standard academic definition. No temporal tag needed.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 16: "**Polis**: Greek city-state, the fundamental political unit of ancient Greece" - when was this true?
> Standard academic definition. No temporal tag needed.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 17: "**Satrapy**: Provincial administrative unit of the Persian Empire, governed b..." - when was this true?
> Standard academic definition. No temporal tag needed.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 18: "**Principate**: First phase of the Roman Empire (27 BCE–284 CE), maintainin..." - when was this true?
> Standard academic definition. No temporal tag needed.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 19: "**Dominate**: Later phase of the Roman Empire (284–476 CE), openly autocratic" - when was this true?
> Standard academic definition. No temporal tag needed.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 20: "**Foederati**: Barbarian groups settled within the Roman Empire under treaty ..." - when was this true?
> Standard academic definition. No temporal tag needed.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 23: "**Cuneiform**: Wedge-shaped writing system of Mesopotamia" - when was this true?
> Standard academic definition. No temporal tag needed.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 24: "**Hieroglyphics**: Pictorial writing system of ancient Egypt" - when was this true?
> Standard academic definition. No temporal tag needed.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 25: "**Linear A**: Undeciphered Minoan script" - when was this true?
> Standard academic definition. No temporal tag needed.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 26: "**Linear B**: Deciphered Mycenaean Greek script" - when was this true?
> Standard academic definition. No temporal tag needed.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 27: "**Koine Greek**: Common dialect of Greek used across the Hellenistic world" - when was this true?
> Standard academic definition. No temporal tag needed.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 30: "**Tell/Tel**: Artificial mound formed by accumulated remains of ancient settl..." - when was this true?
> Standard academic definition. No temporal tag needed.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 31: "**Stele/Stela**: Upright stone slab used for commemorative or legal inscriptions" - when was this true?
> Standard academic definition. No temporal tag needed.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 32: "**Ziggurat**: Stepped temple platform in Mesopotamian architecture" - when was this true?
> Standard academic definition. No temporal tag needed.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 33: "**Necropolis**: Large ancient cemetery ("city of the dead")" - when was this true?
> Standard academic definition. No temporal tag needed.
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 7: "**BCE**: Before Common Era — equivalent to BC, used in secular academic con..." - what is the source?
> Standard academic definitions do not require sources.
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 8: "**CE**: Common Era — equivalent to AD, used in secular academic contexts" - what is the source?
> Standard academic definitions do not require sources.
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 9: "**Bronze Age**: Period characterized by bronze metallurgy (~3300–1200 BCE i..." - what is the source?
> Standard academic definitions do not require sources.
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 10: "**Iron Age**: Period following the Bronze Age, characterized by iron technolo..." - what is the source?
> Standard academic definitions do not require sources.
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 11: "**Archaic Period**: Early phase of Greek civilization (~800–480 BCE)" - what is the source?
> Standard academic definitions do not require sources.
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 12: "**Classical Period**: Height of Greek civilization (~480–323 BCE)" - what is the source?
> Standard academic definitions do not require sources.
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 13: "**Hellenistic Period**: Post-Alexander era of Greek cultural diffusion (323..." - what is the source?
> Standard academic definitions do not require sources.
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 16: "**Polis**: Greek city-state, the fundamental political unit of ancient Greece" - what is the source?
> Standard academic definitions do not require sources.
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 17: "**Satrapy**: Provincial administrative unit of the Persian Empire, governed b..." - what is the source?
> Standard academic definitions do not require sources.
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 18: "**Principate**: First phase of the Roman Empire (27 BCE–284 CE), maintainin..." - what is the source?
> Standard academic definitions do not require sources.
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 19: "**Dominate**: Later phase of the Roman Empire (284–476 CE), openly autocratic" - what is the source?
> Standard academic definitions do not require sources.
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 20: "**Foederati**: Barbarian groups settled within the Roman Empire under treaty ..." - what is the source?
> Standard academic definitions do not require sources.
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 23: "**Cuneiform**: Wedge-shaped writing system of Mesopotamia" - what is the source?
> Standard academic definitions do not require sources.
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 24: "**Hieroglyphics**: Pictorial writing system of ancient Egypt" - what is the source?
> Standard academic definitions do not require sources.
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 25: "**Linear A**: Undeciphered Minoan script" - what is the source?
> Standard academic definitions do not require sources.
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 26: "**Linear B**: Deciphered Mycenaean Greek script" - what is the source?
> Standard academic definitions do not require sources.
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 27: "**Koine Greek**: Common dialect of Greek used across the Hellenistic world" - what is the source?
> Standard academic definitions do not require sources.
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 30: "**Tell/Tel**: Artificial mound formed by accumulated remains of ancient settl..." - what is the source?
> Standard academic definitions do not require sources.
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 31: "**Stele/Stela**: Upright stone slab used for commemorative or legal inscriptions" - what is the source?
> Standard academic definitions do not require sources.
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 32: "**Ziggurat**: Stepped temple platform in Mesopotamian architecture" - what is the source?
> Standard academic definitions do not require sources.
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 33: "**Necropolis**: Large ancient cemetery ("city of the dead")" - what is the source?
> Standard academic definitions do not require sources.