Cambridge Latin Course

Book II
Stage 17
Teacher’s Guide

FOURTH EDITION

The information contained within this guide comprises advice and

guidance for teachers on the use of the Cambridge Latin Course. It does
not represent a definitive or ‘correct’ way of teaching the course, and all
teachers should feel confident in adapting their practice to their own
classrooms and contexts.

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Second edition 1982
Third edition 1999
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STAGE 17 Alexandrīa

Cultural Story line Main language Focus of exercises

background features
Roman Quintus describes what Genitive case. Genitive case.
Alexandria: happened during his Imperfect and
growth of the stay with Barbillus, a perfect tenses:
city, trade, key rich Alexandrian 1st and 2nd
buildings, merchant, including a person singular
racial tensions. riot near the harbour and plural.
and a visit to the temple Present tenses of
of Serapis.

Opening page (p. 75)

Illustration. Alexandrian bronze coin, important evidence for the appearance of the Pharos,
especially the proportions and the three tiers. From this and other coins, and written sources, it is
clear that the tiers were square at the bottom, octagonal in the middle and circular at the top. Statues
of four Tritons stood on the upper corners of the bottom tier, and Zeus the Saviour on the top. Note
windows, and an entrance door at lower left.

Model sentences (pp. 76–7)

Story. Quintus describes to Cogidubnus his first impressions of Alexandria, and his arrival at the
opulent house of Barbillus, a business connection of Caecilius.

New language feature. The genitive case is introduced in prepositional phrases.

New vocabulary. īnsula, pharus, prō templō, fūdī.

First reading. Introduce by oral recapitulation of Quīntus dē sē (p. 67), to reinforce the change of
location which is illustrated in the line drawings. Elicit the fact that Quintus is accompanied by
Clemens, his freedman.

Students usually translate the genitives without difficulty because they are always preceded by
sentences in which both nouns occur, e.g. Alexandrīa magnum portum habet leads naturally to in
portū Alexandrīae. They use the translation of readily and, in sentences 4 and 5, some will suggest
Barbillus’. Accept any correct translation, postponing discussion until ‘About the language’ (p. 80).

Be prepared to give help with the change to the 1st person plural in sentence 3, since the pronouns
are omitted.

Consolidation. Use the drawings and sentences as a source of information, and then take the
cultural background material (p. 84) at this point.
Possible questions:
Drawing 1. What features do you consider distinctively Egyptian?
Drawing 2. How many different kinds of people and activities can you see? Drawing 3. Why are
Quintus and Clemens unshaven? Why do you think Quintus is making an offering?
Drawing 4. What does the atrium suggest about Barbillus?

Illustrations
p.76 Pharos as described above, merchant ships, Cleopatra’s Needles on the s horeline near
the Caesareum (temple of the Imperial Cult), and temple of Serapis on the hill behind.

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 Street scene including man with stubborn donkey, slaves engaged in maintenance work at
the entrance to a temple, toga-clad Roman citizens, other men in tunics, a woman carrying an
amphora, Roman military patrol, an argument in progress.

p.77 Quintus pours a libation on the altar. He and Clemens are unshaven, a sign of travel
weariness.

The atrium of a wealthy man, with elaborate mosaic and wall- paintings, impluvium and
marble table, vista to study and garden with statues. The villa is in the Roman style, but
shows an oriental preference for richly decorated surfaces.

tumultus I (p. 78)

Story. Quintus sets out to visit Clemens’ shop near the harbour. Alarmed by the atmosphere
in the streets, the slave-boy advises him to return, but he carries on.

First reading
in vīllā … maxima erat multitūdō (lines 1–10) presents a familiar street scene and, after your
Latin reading, can be allocated to the students to translate in pairs. Help may be needed with
the 1st person verbs. Remind students that Quintus is telling his story to Cogidubnus.

tandem ad portum … prōcēdere (line 10–end) builds suspense. Translate it with the class as a
whole, in order to sustain momentum. Ask which word in the last line is the most significant,
so that they notice how cautē heightens the suspense.

Consolidation. By listing ominous phrases on the board as they occur (plūrimī Aegyptiī,
nūllōs Graecōs, anxius, viae sunt perīculōsae, Aegyptiī īrātī, Graecī fūgērunt, cautē
prōcēdere), you can help the students to see how the writer builds up the tension. The list
could be used again for vocabulary practice at the start of the next lesson.

tumultus II (pp. 78–9)

Story. Quintus and the slave come across an agitator haranguing the crowd of Egyptians and
take refuge with a Greek craftsman. His house is attacked and in the riot the boy is killed.

First reading. Prepare the students for this comprehension passage by a lively Latin reading,
and some preliminary translation of sentences which you consider may give them difficulty,
e.g.: puer Aegyptius … dūxit (lines 5–6), nam in casā … Graecōs vituperābant (lines 14–15),
nōs Aegyptiīs … paucī (lines 20–1). They might then attempt the questions individually or in
pairs.

Discussion
1 The population of Alexandria. Syrians, Jews and Egyptians competed vigorously with
the Greeks for a share of trade, particularly in the mercantile area round the harbours. The
Roman governor relied on military force to maintain public order (see line drawing 2 in
model sentences, the last paragraph on p. 89 and p. 90).
2 Motivation. Why did Quintus ignore the slave-boy’s advice? Who was responsible for
the death of the slave-boy? Encourage the students to put forward a range of possible
answers, supporting them with evidence from the text.
3 Racial conflict. Teachers will need to consider carefully how to manage discussion on
slavery, race and violence, including clear classroom ground rules. Individual schools will, in
addition, have their own guidelines and strategies.

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About the language: genitive case (p. 80)
New language feature. The genitive case is explained by means of examples already met in
the stories.

Discussion will confirm observations made by the students, with your help, during the study
of the model sentences. If students are unsure, ask them to translate one or two of the model
sentences again. Encourage them to use the appropriate English for the context, in deciding
between of and the apostrophe. This exercise will also revise students’ knowledge of the use
of the apostrophe in English.

In examining the forms of the genitive, take cīvium as it comes without entering into the rule
about increasing genitive plurals.

Consolidation. After studying paragraphs 1 and 2, ask students to find and translate phrases
incorporating the genitive in the stories on pp. 78–9, before tackling the new examples in
paragraph 3. Further practice is provided in Worksheet Masters 17.1 and 17.2.

**ad templum (pp. 81–2)

Story. A bore called Plancus attaches himself to Quintus and Barbillus as they walk to the
temple of Serapis. He pesters them with information about the city monuments until
silenced by the start of the sacrifice.

First reading. Set the students to prepare in groups a translation suitable for acting to the
class. This will take some time and provide an opportunity for you to visit the groups,
helping with difficulties and ensuring that they have a correct version. After acting their
scenes in English, some students may volunteer a performance in Latin.

Discussion will be a part of this process, focusing on what the students need in order to
present the scene in a lively and realistic manner. Topics may include:
1 Serapis was the guardian deity of Alexandria, in conjunction with Isis (see note below on
illustration on p. 82). His temple on the hilltop (see drawing 1, p. 76) overlooked the city. The
altar was in front of the steps outside the temple where the people could watch the
ceremony, and his statue was kept in the inner sanctuary, visible only to the priests except
when it was carried in festival processions.
2 Barbillus’ feelings. Ask the students to find all the ways in which the writer shows what
Barbillus is feeling.

Consolidation. Practise any features which were giving difficulty to the groups as you
moved around. The story provides useful examples for revising the pluperfect tense and the
relative clause (see ‘Language information: revision’, p. 48 of this Guide), and different forms
of questions.

Illustrations
p. 81 from left to right:
Mummy portrait of Artemidorus, AD 100–120, from Hawara (British Museum). He
wears a white tunic and a wreath applied in gold leaf. Mummies in the Roman
period often incorporated a wooden panel with a painted portrait of the dead
person. This example combines a Roman style of painting and a Greek inscription
with the Egyptian embalming ritual.

Man of Roman appearance in his 50s or 60s, AD 100–120, from Hawara

(British Museum).

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 Sculptured head from Alexandria, 1st century BC (British Museum). Sensitively
carved in hard green schist, it shows Greek idealism and the stylised simplicity
characteristic of Egyptian work.
p. 82 from left to right:
Basanite head of Serapis, 2nd century AD (British Museum). An amalgam of Zeus,
Hades, Asclepius and Osiris, Serapis was created by the Greek rulers, the Ptolemies,
to make Egyptian religion acceptable to the Greeks. He was worshipped with Isis as
god of the dead, of healing and of corn. His popularity, like that of Isis (see Stage 19),
became widespread. There was a temple of Serapis in York (the inscription from it is
in the Yorkshire Museum), and a similar head to this one was found in the Walbrook,
London. If the story ad templum is omitted, add the relevant information from the
discussion section of the story.

Mummy portrait, AD 140–160, from Hawara (British Museum). Probably a priest of

Serapis because of the three locks of hair on his forehead, and the seven-pointed gold
star on a silver band.

Statue of sphinx with granite column 30m high, nicknamed Pompey’s pillar. The
latter was set up in AD 291 beside the temple of Serapis in honour of Diocletian,
whose statue stood on top. It is the only monument from ancient Alexandria which
has remained standing ever since.

Practising the language (p. 83)

Exercise 1. Complete the sentences with noun in genitive, singular or plural.
Exercise 2. Complete the sentences with perfect or imperfect tense, 1st and 2nd persons,
singular or plural.
Exercise 3. Complete the sentences with the appropriate person of the present tense of volō or
possum; a testing exercise because the pronouns are omitted, and the switch back to the
present tense requires thought.

Language information: revision

Verb practice (pp. 160–1). Ask the students to cover up the tables of verbs and work through
exercises 1 and 2 (if not previously done) and exercise 3 (p. 161). Refer to the tables only
when the exercises are completed. Make up similar exercises, if required. Discuss the section
‘Persons and endings’ (p. 161) and do exercise 2, supplementing it with further examples if
necessary. The Independent Learning Manual Stage 17 has additional exercises.

For consolidating relative clauses, see ‘Pronouns III’ (p. 159), but postpone discussion of
gender until Stage 18.

Cultural background material (pp. 84–91)

Content. Alexandria, setting for the next four Stages, provides a contrast to Roman Britain.
The magnificence of the city, its history and culture, its strategic position where east meets
west and the trade routes cross, and its importance to the daily life of Rome itself, produced
a ferment of nationalities and a wealth of opportunities.

Discussion
1 The city of Alexandria. Look at the photograph of the coin on p. 75. Why do you think the
Alexandrians chose this image to represent their city? As the son of a banker and
business man, what would Quintus most admire about Alexandria? What would he find
striking about the buildings?
2 Alexandria in the ancient world was unique in size (population of about a million), cultural

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 richness (a Greek city of learning in Egypt, now part of the Roman empire), economic
importance (as a centre of trade, grain collection and glass production), and government
(a traditional bureaucracy now under the emperor’s personal control).
3 Contrasts between life in Pompeii, Britain and Alexandria. Levels of material comfort, cultural
diversity, personal freedom, and the pace of life would vary sharply between these
places, as well as between social groups.

Illustrations
pp. 84–5 View of Alexandria, looking from the sea towards the lake. The Royal Quarter is on the
Great Harbour, left of the causeway linking Pharos island to the mainland. A canal can be
seen linking the Western Harbour, right of the causeway, to the Lake Harbour and the
Canopic mouth (now silted up) of the Nile delta. The city walls, enclosing a grid-pattern of
streets, start near the mouth of this canal. From the western gate nearby, the wide Canopus
Street runs right across the city. The temple of Serapis in the south- western quarter of the
city is slightly raised, and the temple of Isis Pharia is on the eastern end of Pharos island not
far from the short causeway to the lighthouse (Painting Jean-Claude Golvin).

p.86 Posthumous head of Alexander the Great, from Alexandria (British Museum). Alexander was
said by the Romans to be one of the first people to manage his public image. He wanted to
emphasise his youthfulness at the time of his conquests (he died at age 32) and selected artists
capable of conveying this likeness, which became associated with him as a divinity after his
death. This statue shows the attributes described in the literary sources: upward glance,
leonine mane of hair, melting look in the eyes.

For coin, see note on p. 43 of this Guide.

Modern harbour at Alexandria (Photo George Hart).

p.87 Map of Roman empire, end of 1st century AD, showing principal trade routes and strategic
position of Alexandria.

p.88 Reconstruction of the Pharos with cutaway showing the spiral ramp used by animals to carry
fuel for the fire kept permanently alight at the top. Colossal statues of King Ptolemy and his
queen can just be seen to the left of the tower (Painting Jean-Claude Golvin).

Site of Pharos, with 15th century Fort Qaitbay (Photo Stéphane Compoint/Sygma).

p.89 Left: Cleopatra’s Needles, 18th century print from Description de l’Egypte by Cecile, 1798 (British
Museum). The obelisks were erected in Heliopolis by Thotmes III in 1475 BC and moved to the
Caesareum in Alexandria by Augustus. The erect obelisk is now in New York, the other in
London.

Right: Cleopatra’s Needle, obelisk approx. 21m high, on Thames Embankment.

p.90 Head of Medusa from an opulent house in Alexandria, first half of 2nd century AD. The room
is a dining-room because this design is intended to face the doorway; the remaining three sides
have a plainer design, which would have been covered by the dining-couches. The central
medallion, in very small tesserae, was prepared on a terracotta tray and inserted complete.

p.91 The marine archaeological project illustrated in the next three pictures was prompted by
modern harbour works in 1984 and still continues.

p.92 Warships passing in a harbour. Unlike transport vessels, they were powered by rowers for

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 flexibility, speed and accuracy. That on the left, moving towards the observer, has a battering
ram on the front at the level of the water; that on the right has two steering oars projecting on
either side of the stern.

Suggested activities
1 You have now seen something of Roman life in Pompeii, Britain and Alexandria. Where would
you rather have lived and why?
2 A good exercise on Alexandrian trade in Independent Learning Manual
Stage 17 can be used in conjunction with the map on p. 87.
3 Worksheet Master 17.7 has an exercise on the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

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