School comparison

School in early Pompeian times had many similarities and differences compared to the educational system of today. During early times, a student would have a slave follow him to school and stay with him, encouraging good behavior as participation in class, even though the student would technically be the slave's master. The curriculum itself, however, was quite similar to ours in terms of what the student would learn based on his age. You would typically begin school learning to read, write, and doing basic arithmetic. Eventually you would learn of public speaking as well as advanced reading and writing, or perhaps even learning another language. Typically speaking most students wouldn't go far beyond this, as they would either find a trade or join the military. Only the wealthiest of families could afford their student to continue their education into later years of their life. Of course, students would be expected to write, take notes, and practice their reading skills in ways similar to ours, but on materials somewhat different. Paper and pens were not common back then, as they would either use scrolls and the hollow bone or feather of a bird, or a wax tablet and a stylus. Math and science were rare commodities back then, but the children would at least learn how to count, add, subtract, etc for any business trade they may encounter, only students who were pursuing a higher education would learn any sort of advanced math, chemistry or biology.

verb characters quiz

1.      Give the English pronouns used for translating the following persons from a Latin verb.

a.       3^rd person – He/she/it

b.      1^st person – I

c.       2^nd person – You

2.      Give the six tenses in Latin and write after each either cont. or comp. to show whether each is a continuing sense verb or a completed sense verb.

a.        imperfect

b.       pluperfect

c.        present

d.       Present completed

e.        Future continuing

f.         Future completed

3.      Write one English sentence showing active voice, and one sentence showing passive voice.

a.       (active) I threw the ball.

b.      (passive)The ball was thrown by me.

4.      Below are three sentences showing the three moods.  Write the name of the mood after the sentence.

a.       If I were a billionaire, I would buy an island. Subjunctive

b.      Do well on your quiz! Imperative

c.       You are doing well on your quiz.

5.      Definition: a conjugation is a verb family.

6.      Fill in the missing blanks for the verbs below:

a.       amo , amare , amavi, amatum

b.      ambulo,ambulare , ambulavi , ambulatum

c.       (irregular) do , dare , dedi , datum

Word Study

 A.
1. Ostensible . . . seeming; apparent
2. emission . . . a giving off or sending out
3. reiterate . . . to repeat
4. civilization . . . human society
5. homicide . . . murder
6. exercise . . . to engage in vigorous physical activity
7. hospital . . . building used to house and treat sick persons

B.
1. Having a bad day you might feel . . . dismal
2. Customs handed down from one generation to the next are the primary source of . . . traditions
3. Bring together both sides to discuss their issues; hold a . . . conference
4. A person who is showy and pretentious is . . .  ostentatious
5. He does not deny God, he does not believe in God, but he also does not recognize God since he is . . . agnostic
6. To drive more quickly, depress the . . . accelerator

in palestra

1. Why did Caecilius give Quintus a discus? It was Quintus's birthday.
2. Where did Caecilius take Quintus? To the palaestra to throw his new disc.
3. Who was in the crowd? Many iuvenes (Juveniles) athletas (athletes) and pugiles (boxers) as well as statues and the athlete "Milo."
4. Why were there statues in the palaestra? Pompeiani put up the statues of famous athletes in the palaestra.
5. What were the slaves doing in the palaestra? The slaves were offering wine to the spectators.
6. Write down two Latin words used in the lines 12-15 to describe the athlete Milo. What do they tell us about him? ingens; notissimus. They show us that he is a very popular and very good athlete.
7. athleta palaestram circumspectavit.  Why do you think Milo did this before throwing the discus?  The only reasons that come to mind are either he was "showboating" or he was doing it to aid in this throw.
8.  How did the spectators react in line 20? They praised Milo (by cheering I assume)
9. discus non est meus. What had just happened to make Milo say this? Quintus had let Milo borrow the disc.
10. In lines 26-28, what happened when Quintus threw the discus? He hit a statue and broke off the nose.
11. How was Milo's reaction different from that of the Pompeians? Do you think he was right to behave as he did? Why? While the Pomeians were laughing about it, Milo got upset and started insulting Quintus. I don't think he should have acted the way he did, he only got upset because the statue was of himself.

Biography of Marcus Aquila

For the first ten years of his life, Marcus Aquila grew up with his mother on a farm, a custom known to be fairly common among Roman life. Marcus never knew his father intimately, for he was a soldier in the Roman army, and was often sent on long treks and voyages in service of the Roman Empire. Tragically, his father was a soldier during a rebellion that ultimately led to his disappearance, leaving behind his family and essentially his life. No one had known what happened to him or his legion, The Ninth Hispania. Following this tragic events, more devastation, along with melancholy, had followed Marcus almost as a cloud above his head, just out of reach and always looming above him, for that his mother had soon died not too long from the disappearance of his father, forcing him to leave his farm and live with his aunt and uncle, the latter of which he hated with a furious passion, which inevitably would help push Marcus to sign up for a centurion commission at the age of 18, almost immediately after his birthday.

Marcus had wished to be sent to the British commission, so that if any news of his father and his legion had arose, Marcus would be one of the first to hear about it. This was not his only reason for deciding on a military career, for it was actually his childhood dream to eventually earn the rank of "First Cohort," just like his father, but his ambitions didn't end there, as he even dreamed of going further to eventually become a Legion Commander, the equivalent to our nation's head of military defense. Of course, such a high ranking position would ensure your wealth, which Marcus intended to use to buy back his family's farm and live there once more to live out the life that was sorrowfully robbed from him. The work he had done on the farm from the little time he lived there taught him many things and ensured he would be a more than capable commander when he did become in charge of his own first command, dealing with the typical troubles and attitudes of soldiers. Surely the skills that he obtained from his parents would lock his future in place, as he was a fully capable man with a wide variety of abilities that would help more than he could have expected in his future.