GCSE Latin – a Revision Handbook

Iraklis Lampadariou has produced a revision handbook for GCSE Latin students. He writes:

“A revision handbook  for Year 11 students who wish to have a GCSE qualification in Latin Language can be downloaded  for free at www.saitabooks.eu/2017/02/ebook.213.html

This handbook is aimed at being a simple but efficient synopsis of all the grammar and syntax points that are required for the GCSE in Latin Language. It is designed for students in Year 11, but also for people who want to taste what Latin is all about. It might, however, be suitable as a resource for teachers who wish to teach their students following the way that it helped me to learn this highly inflected language; by using tables, diagrams and notes, all in nice memorable ‘boxes’.

Please be so kind to share your feedback with me. Thank you very much.”

Iraklis Lampadariou

website – problems resolved

ARLT is now back online at its usual address:

www.arlt.co.uk

For details of our March 4th Refresher Day, visit

http://www.arlt.co.uk/refresher.html

 

 

website problems – update

The ARLT website is now located here:

http://www.classicalresourcecentre.com/arlt/index.html

This is likely to be a long-term, temporary home and not all pages and/or files will be immediately available. If you have an interest or need for any specific item, please contact the webmaster

Rouse writes to a former pupil

Amongst the memorabilia celebrating the 400th anniversary of the Perse School is a letter written by WHD Rouse in 1945 to a former pupil, Leslie Missen. The letter begins unpromisingly with the words:

“This is going to be a long letter, and dull.”

But continues confidently with

“But I think you will read it, because I know you.”

Rouse’s affection for his school and his pupils shines through

“You are one of my sons – all the OPs are my sons – and you will listen to pa because you ought. I am now rising 83, and I can’t last long: but I do hope to leave something good behind me. I will tell you later the kindly things. You saw the Perse School from the inside – and I want to show it to you from the inside.”

Read on here:

http://www.perse.org.uk/voicesblog/education-is-happinessif-the-life-is-there/

Classical Latin course in Cambridge

Reading Classical Latin: Plautus and Sallust 12 – 14 June 2015 Madingley Hall, Cambridge   This weekend provides an opportunity to discover how the antics of a party-loving son, an angry father and a haunted house come together, in Plautus’ comedy Mostellaria (line 301 onwards). Or you may prefer to read the concluding part of Sallust’s version of Catiline’s fiery conspiracy against Rome in his Catiline (chapter 21 onwards). As always, translating will be balanced by looking at the sound, the style and the language of the Latin. For full details visit: http://www.ice.cam.ac.uk/component/courses/?view=course&cid=15132&ref=Latin

‘Unique’ Roman tombstone found in Cirencester

From the BBC website:

“A “unique” Roman headstone is the first of its kind unearthed in the UK, experts believe.

The tombstone was found near skeletal remains thought to belong to the person named on its inscription, making the discovery unique.

Archaeologists behind the dig in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, said they believed it marked the grave of a 27-year-old woman called Bodica.

The bodies of three children were also found in the “family burial plot”.

Neil Holbrook, of Cotswold Archaeology, translated the Roman inscription on the tombstone, which reads: “To the spirit of the departed Bodica [or Bodicaca], wife, lived for 27 years.”

Mr Holbrook said: “The unique aspect is that you can put a name to the person who lies beneath the tombstone.””

“What’s weird is that the inscription only fills half of the panel, so there’s a space left below it.

“You can see horizontal marking-out lines, so I guess what they were going to do was come back later when her husband died and add his name to the inscription,” Mr Holbrook added.

Read the full story and watch footage of the moment the headstone was turned over here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-31610266?

Red Seat Numbers Found on Rome’s Colosseum

From Discovery News:

Traces of red painted numbers have been found on the arches of Rome’s Colosseum during the ongoing $33 million restoration work aimed at repairing damage suffered by the 2,000-year-old monument since the Middle Ages.

Similar to today’s stadium seating systems, the numbers — written according to the system used in ancient Rome, using letters of the Latin alphabet such as X, L, V, I — stood on the entrance gate arches, allowing an easier access to the seats.

Traces of red color in the Roman number X (10). Credit: Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma.

First carved in the travertine stones, the numbers were then painted in red, so that people could easily see them from a distance.

There were 76 public numbered entrances, plus four special un-numbered gates. Two were reserved to the emperor, senators, magistrates, wealthy patricians, and the Vestal Virgins, priestesses responsible for maintaining the sacred fire within the Temple of Vesta. A gate was used for the dead — gladiators and wild beasts — while another was used by gladiators parading prior to the beginning of the combats…….

Read the rest of the report and watch the video here:

http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/red-seat-numbers-found-on-romes-colosseum-150123.htm