Night-time in Rome brings pleasure for some, hunger for others, and danger for many. It isn't easy to rest at the best of times - and tonight, the air is shattered by the din of construction workers and their tools, as they rush to complete a special building project.
September, 81 AD. The centre of the Roman Empire - the Roman Forum! A new monumental arch, one of many, splendid monuments in the forum, has just been completed; and the Emperor himself, Domitian, is going to perform the dedication ceremony. Events don't get much bigger than this!
The Stories
nox II Page 4
Carve! Sculpt! Haul! Will the triumphal arch be ready for the dedication ceremony? The building contractor, Haterius, hopes so, as does his patron... a man we last met in Britain in Book III. Guess who?
Masada I Page 6
A Jewish woman, held captive in Rome, tells the story of one of the most notable events in ancient history - the Roman siege, in 72 AD, of Masada, a rocky, flat-topped hill-fortress in Israel occupied by Jewish rebels.
Masada II Page 7
The story continues...The Romans are on the point of breaking through Masada's fortifications. The choice for the Jewish rebels inside is grim: capture and slavery, or death and freedom?
arcus Titi I Page 9
The triumphal arch - the Arch of Titus - has been finished in time! Ordered by the emperor Domitian, it commemorates his brother Titus' victory over the Jewish people some ten years earlier. Join the crowds thronging to see the emperor, the celebratory procession and the arch.
arcus Titi II Page 10
The opening ceremony is dramatically disrupted when one of the Jewish captives, paraded in the procession, breaks free and grabs a knife. Is it death for Domitian?
Practising the Language
Activities for vocabulary revision and language practice:
Test your Vocabulary is against the clock and can be set to all words in this stage, up to this stage, etc.
Word Endings exercises are based on the Practising the Language section in the Books, and follow this format. Click here for more information.
Word Endings activities are based on the Practising the Language section of each Stage, and all follow the same format. The user is given a sentence in English together with the same sentence in Latin, but with one or more endings to be chosen from a drop down list. In most exercises the endings omitted are restricted to one particular part of speech (noun, verb or adjective). For this type of exercise language information is provided. This can be called up by the user at any time by clicking on LANGUAGE INFO. But in some exercises, all noun, verb and adjective endings are omitted. For this more demanding exercise, LANGUAGE INFO provides only reference to the relevant pages of the Cambridge Latin Course.
Sorting Words asks you to sort words by meaning, case, etc.
Please note: the Cultural Background weblinks section has been removed.
