MATSEC IM Classical Studies case studies
MATSEC IM Classical Studies · Put your knowledge to work in context.
MATSEC Intermediate Matriculation (IM) Classical Studies is one of the subject syllabi published by the MATSEC Examinations Board at the University of Malta. MATSEC publishes syllabi at four levels - SEC, SEAC, IM and AM - and states that a syllabus's year is the year in which the final assessment is scheduled, so candidates should always work from the document for their own examination year rather than an older or newer edition. The MATSEC IM Classical Studies case studies are 5 cases and about 3,347 words.
1Labelling Building B: storage, processing or naval depot?
The excavation of a Roman coastal complex at San Pawl il-Baħar has reached publication stage. Building B is a rectangular room, 24 m by 9 m, with a beaten-earth floor into which seven dolia defossa - sunken storage jars about 1.6 m deep - were set in a single row.
651 words, about 3 min2Choosing between two student translations of a messenger speech
You are co-editing the sixth-form classics journal. For the “Translation Workshop” page you have two unpublished renderings, sent by students, of the same messenger speech from a Greek tragedy: a queen has been killed offstage and the messenger reports it to the chorus.
644 words, about 3 min3The cave deposit: nymphs, hero or rubbish?
A limestone cave 2 km from a small town has produced a deposit excavated in the 1970s and never fully published: 214 objects, comprising 128 female terracotta figurines, 30 bronze finger rings, 12 lamps, and 4 bronze coins dated between about 345 and 300 BC. Animal bone totals 1,900 fragments; 70% is sheep/goat, and about 40% of the identifiable sheep/goat bones are neonatal.
631 words, about 3 min4Reconstructing a pediment from 23 fragments
A museum in Valletta holds 23 fragments of Parian marble said to come from a temple pediment. All were recovered from a late-antique wall and have no surviving stratigraphy.
655 words, about 3 min5Pericles in a ministerial speech: reception or misappropriation?
A government minister, arguing for a overseas deployment, quotes in a parliamentary speech: “The whole earth is the tomb of famous men.” He attributes the line to Pericles and adds that “Thucydides tells us” the Athenians chose to die rather than surrender their freedom. A newspaper columnist replies that the quotation is a misuse, because the speech is Thucydides’ literary invention and because Athens lost the war, so “Thucydides would be turning in his grave”.
766 words, about 4 min