How do you revise for Classics?

Classics can often be seen as a very do-it-yourself subject, which can be extremely daunting with the amount of information you have to learn. The best method to revise Classics for me was to use a combination of methods to cement the knowledge into my brain. For example, if you have to revise an Ancient Greek tragedy or comedy, you could write a quick summary of what you know of the plot. Then from that re-read the book and fill in the blanks until you know the plot very well. Pick certain scenes that you feel are the most important for certain characters or themes and then annotate them with analysis. Do character and scene summaries for each play, and then write yourself questions to test yourself every week. If you have to revise Ancient Roman history I would highly recommend the podcast ‘History of Rome’ on Spotify. Test yourself and see how much you know while listening to the podcast. And if not, write down what you don’t know. Draw up a timeline from 1AD – 27BC and stick it on your wall. Write down the events you need to remember on post-it notes and stick them across the timeline to test yourself on dates. If you have to revise Roman Houses or The Forum or any type of architectural structure, you could do something similar. Print out pictures of the floor plans and cut them up into squares, then try to re-arrange them into the correct order and write a summary of each room on the back. If you have to revise Ancient Literature such as the Iliad or the Odyssey, and are using the Penguin versions, I highly recommend reading the sections at the front of the books. They’re extremely helpful summaries which will help to cement what you know and give you more ideas for essays. Be sure to print out a glossary of terms if your exam board has given you one and use flash cards to learn those. Listen to audiobooks of the specific books you need to learn and write down events under the themes/characters you need to know. Work in conjunction to the syllabus given, but make overall make learning and revision fun! It’s more than possible.