Politics, posters and paint.
Bribery, corruption, scandal and supporters of rival factions beating each other up in the street - politics Pompeian style. Somehow Grumio finds himself in the middle of things again.
The Stories
Grumio has a cunning plan to make money out of the forthcoming election - meet Lucius Spurius Pomponianus!
You can also listen to it being spoken aloud by a prize-winning team.
Grumio, with Clemens in tow, heads towards the crowd of bakers who are meeting near the amphitheater.
It's showdown in the forum! Amid the political punch-up, there's a surprise waiting for Grumio...
The conclusion of the story. Grumio and Clemens are back in the kitchen and Clemens reveals that he's come off better than Grumio in more ways than one.
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.
Practising the Language exercises are digital versions of exercises in the Cambridge Latin Course textbooks.
Cultural Background
Please note: the Cultural Background weblinks will be removed in early 2024.
CSCP is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Marble statue of this politician & patron of Pompeii that was originally placed at the foot of a commemorative arch at a major road crossroads in the town.
Now in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.
Politics in Pompeii
POLITICS IN POMPEII
Good introduction to the political positions, electioneering and graffiti. (May take a few seconds to load.)
Very good webpage on the political administration of Pompeii.
Brief introduction on the official Pompeii website.
There are around 3000 electoral inscriptions in Pompeii and most of them can be dated to the city's final year of existence, given that it was customary to rub out the old inscriptions to make way for new ones.
Election ad from Pompeii
"Holconium Priscum / IIvir(um) i(ure) d(icundo) d(ignum) r(ei) p(ublicae) o(ro) v(os) f(aciatis)"
- - -
"I ask you to elect Holconius Priscus as duovir. He is worthy of holding office."
More election notices from Pompeii on the Via dell'Abbondanza.
- close-up.
Fast forward to the 6-minute mark to see how they did it!
It is thought that the inhabitants of Pompeii bought their daily bread from bakeries or stalls in town rather than baked it themselves at home, since ovens rarely are found in the houses of the town. In addition, bakeries - identified by the presence of stone mills to grind grain, and large wood-burning ovens - are plentiful; 33 have have so far been excavated in Pompeii.
However, this scene may depict a handout ("dole") of free bread to the needy by someone (a politician?) hoping for some favors in return!
The fresco, now in the Archaeological Museum in Naples originally came from the tablinum of the "House of the Baker" (House VII.3.30) which adjoins the "Bakery of Sotericus". Perhaps the owner of the house was also the baker.
As shown on p.156 of CLC Book I.
It is thought that the inhabitants of Pompeii bought their daily bread from bakeries or stalls in town rather than baked it themselves at home, since ovens rarely are found in the houses of the town. In addition, bakeries - identified by the presence of stone mills to grind grain, and large wood-burning ovens - are plentiful; 33 have have so far been excavated in Pompeii.
However, this scene may depict a handout ("dole") of free bread to the needy by someone (a politician?) hoping for some favors in return!
The fresco, now in the Archaeological Museum in Naples originally came from the tablinum of the "House of the Baker" (House VII.3.30) which adjoins the "Bakery of Sotericus". Perhaps the owner of the house was also the baker.
As shown on p.194 of CLC Unit 4.
Little remains of the lavish decoration that once covered this small but important temple. It was built by the duumvir (one of the two top local officials) Marcus Tullius at his expense in honor of the Emperor Augustus.
Augustus cunningly ensured that rather than demand direct worship to himself, he could encourage indirect worship by adding his name to that of virtuous gods and goddesses - hence the temple is dedicated to the goddess "Augustan" Fortune.
- location: No.16 on the official map.
- reconstruction drawing.
- reconstruction movie.
Roman Politics
...and, check out the links in our "greasy-pole" section on
ROMAN POLITICS
and our large section dedicated to the
SENATE HOUSE in the ROMAN FORUM