Hidden Voices of Greece and Rome · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Voices Left Out of the Story

History · Ancient Greece & Rome · ages 11-13
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. In Rome, enslaved people farmed huge estates. What were those estates called?

    • Latifundia
    • Papyrus
    • Laurion

  2. Enslaved people in Athens worked in homes, on farms, and in one place with brutal conditions. Which place was that?

    • In people's homes
    • On the farms
    • Laurion mines

  3. Who made up most of the people in the ancient Greek and Roman world?

    • Enslaved, women, conquered
    • Wealthy men who could write
    • Emperors and generals

  4. In Sparta, women could receive physical training and own property. In Athens, women's lives were mostly...

    • Very similar to women in Sparta
    • Focused on athletic competitions
    • Confined to the home

  5. Rome's armies conquered many peoples. What does the lesson say about those conquered peoples?

    • They all became wealthy senators
    • Their writings fill most history books
    • Majority with few surviving words

  6. Very few words written by a Greek or Roman woman have survived. What does the lesson say is the reason?

    • Women hid everything they wrote on purpose
    • Male writers described women
    • Women had no thoughts worth recording

  7. A girl in ancient Greece spends her mornings wrestling and running, and she owns land in her own name. Which city-state does she most likely live in?

    • Sparta
    • Athens
    • Rome

  8. A woman spends most days inside, manages her household, and is not allowed to own land in her own name. Where does she most likely live?

    • Athens
    • Rome
    • Sparta

  9. Almost everything we know about Spartan women comes from male writers describing them. What problem does this create for historians?

    • No problem, the picture is complete
    • It proves Spartan women did not really exist
    • Second-hand, so possibly one-sided

  10. A student says, 'Enslaved Romans must have had empty lives, because they left no writing behind.' What is the best reply?

    • Agree, no writing means nothing happened in their lives
    • Laws and tombs still show their lives
    • Disagree, because enslaved people actually wrote many books
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Voices Left Out of the Story W1-mt_c-F__Qe23X-s1

  1. Latifundia · The lesson calls Rome's huge farming estates latifundia. Laurion is where Athens had its silver mines, and papyrus is a writing material.
  2. Laurion mines · The lesson says conditions in the silver mines at Laurion were brutal, much harsher than work in homes or on farms.
  3. Enslaved, women, conquered · Most people were not wealthy men. Enslaved people, women, and conquered peoples made up the majority.
  4. Confined to the home · Spartan women trained and owned property, but Athenian women mostly stayed inside the home and had far fewer rights.
  5. Majority with few surviving words · The lesson names conquered peoples as one of the big groups whose own words rarely made it into the record.
  6. Male writers described women · The lesson says nearly all we know about these women comes from male writers describing them, not from the women themselves.
  7. Sparta · Physical training and land ownership were normal for Spartan women, not for women in Athens.
  8. Athens · Staying inside the home and not owning land matches the lesson's picture of women in Athens, the opposite of Sparta.
  9. Second-hand, so possibly one-sided · When only male writers describe the women, we hear about them second-hand, and the picture may be slanted or incomplete.
  10. Laws and tombs still show their lives · Missing writing does not mean an empty life. Historians learn about enslaved people from laws, tomb inscriptions, and comments others made.
Worksheet · LightMySky