Pompeii and Ancient Rome



If you want to know more about the social and cultural background of the Cambridge Latin Course, this page is for you. There are links to websites and videos on the background section of each stage (1 - 10)

This website has basic but useful introductions to the Ancient Greeks and Romans: https://quatr.us/ancient-rome-italy-etruscans-fall-rome
Contents 


3D reconstruction of the House of Caecilius (with audio commentary) 

3D reconstruction of the House of the Vine

3D Reconstriction of the House of the Garden,  an unusual domus; audio commentary in French with English subs. 

Clickable plan of a typical Roman house; clicking on a room takes you to a section with more information on its fumction and design. 

 http://pompeiisites.org/en/pompeii-map/analysis/roman-housing/
The archaeological sites guide to Pompeian houses (excellent photos). 

 2.  Daily life
A creative series of high quality videos which imagines how real Pompeians would have explained their lives and their city to us 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxbKF5Inc4E (the banker; this one is Caecilius himself!)

Food 
Informative video on Roman cooking

And more specifically one on dining in Pompeii, 

Illustrated article on Roman cuisine. 

Article with a focus on eating out in Pompeii.

Informative article on 'garum', perhaps ancient Rome's version of ketchup - but made from rotting fish guts. 

An article on some of the stranger things (some elite) Romans ate

And a set of modern recipes for ancient Roman food. 

Patrons and Clients
Short video on a day in the life of a Roman client. 

Excellent video on how patronage worked and its history. Some vocabulary harder to understand. 

Short article explaining the system of patronage. 

A more complicated (and detailed) explanation. 

And a bonus video on pet dogs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxlci1d2rOg

3. The town of Pompeii 
Walking tour video of Pompeii as it looks now 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaJPcKLyXLQ&list=RDCMUCNzul4dnciIlDg8BAcn5-cQ&start_radio=1&t=12

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mg0j7Uzsg030 minute documentary on life in Pompeii and the discovery of the ancient town. 

 4. The Forum 

 Pompeii 
http://pompeiisites.org/en/archaeological-site/forum/
Brief description of Pompeii's forum and pictures. 

 https://sites.google.com/site/ad79eruption/pompeii/public-buildings/forum
Provides a map of the forum, with clickable links to more information about each of the buildings. 

 https://ermakvagus.com/Europe/Italy/Pompeii/pompeii_forum.html
Excellent description of Pompeii's forum, which takes you through each building and has embedded videos of the major buildngs. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-RIDcb48rg
Excellent video taking you through the forum with illustrations of what it might have looked like too. 

 https://www.romeartlover.it/Pompeii6.html
Relatively easy to understand guide to how the Pompeians made money (a.k.a. the economy). 

Rome 
The most famous forum of all:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD8etIgOE6c
Great sub-60 second introduction. The same channel has longer videos on the history of the Roman forum (go to > Playlists > Places). 

 http://www.vroma.org/~forum/forum.html
Clickable map. 
5. The Theatre 
Short 3D reconstruction of Pompeii's theatre 

A scene from Plautus' comedy, Aulularia, in Latin and with masks. 

Approachable introduction to Roman theatre 

 http://www.didaskalia.net/studyarea/romanstagecraft.html
Similar to the above 

 http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/leisure.html
Scroll down to the theatre section, click links to images relating to Roman theatre, and labelled diagrams of Roman theatres. 

 6. Slaves and freedmen 
https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/ancient-rome/roman-slaves/
Short introduction to Roman slavery 

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/slavery_01.shtml#two
Short webpage exploring how slaves resisted being slaves

 https://listverse.com/2016/06/05/10-interesting-facts-about-slavery-in-ancient-rome/
10 interesting facts about slavery in ancient Rome 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsmWI1TnfDA
Infographic video on the less than nice reality of being a slave in Ancient Rome, including Spartacus and gladiators. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l1NyR6UvxU
Infographic video on Spartacus, the leader of the most famous slave rebellion. 

 7. Life after death
Tombs
The following links take you to a short description and pictures of the main burial areas of Pompeii:
http://pompeiisites.org/en/pompeii-map/analysis/the-necropolis-of-pompeii/
http://pompeiisites.org/en/archaeological-site/necropolis-of-the-herculaneum-gate/
http://pompeiisites.org/en/archaeological-site/necropolis-of-nocera-gate/

 A detailed (but relatively easy to understand) guide to ancient Roman tombs and funerals
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/roman/beginners-guide-rome/a/roman-funeral-rituals-and-social-status-the-amiternum-tomb-and-the-tomb-of-the-haterii

 Mary Beard explores an underground cemetery https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_VcMlQsrzE&feature=relmfu.

 And here she discusses the lavish tomb of a baker https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSB-kRfyWD4

A more advanced series of short videos discussing tombs by the Open University https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA9A2144FB95B665F

 Tomb inscriptions 
http://www.pyrrha.rtwilson.com/ntombs1.html
A guide to Roman tomb inscriptions, including some straightfoward Latin to translate

 https://latininscriptions.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/featured/theme/?t=5
Images and translations of tomb inscriptions from around the Roman world

 Funerals
https://exhibitions.kelsey.lsa.umich.edu/galleries/Exhibits/Death_on_Display/Cremation_Group/funeral.html
Short guide to Roman funerals

 https://www.ancient.eu/article/96/the-roman-funeral/
Similar to the above, but with illustrations and pictures 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BadpsCmaTR0
Short introduction to Roman beliefs about death (and how they differ from our own)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSqFRYcQCmc
Video guide to Roman tombs and funerals, with a focus on the site of Ostia Antica (a port city not far from Rome)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVq6lZEQCbY
A fun (if slightly inaccurate) Horrible Histories video on the origins of gladiator fights as a tradition at funerals

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6oufVaAyrE
A 20 minute video which teaches you about Roman funerals through the recreation of a funeral at the Ashmolean museum. Quiz sheet on the video here: https://latininscriptions.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/resources/resources/RomanFuneralQuiz.pdf

 8. Gladiators 
https://www.ancient.eu/gladiator/
Detailed (but easy to understand) guide to Roman gladiators and their origins

 http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/arena.html
Even more detail! Includes information on Rome's amphitheatre, the (in)famous Colosseum as well as each type of gladiator (more advanced reading level). 

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/gladiators_01.shtml
Comprehensive explanation of gladiators' lives

 http://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2019/02/04/misconceptions-about-roman-gladiators/
Blogpost clearing up common misconceptions about gladiators (more advanced reading level). 

 https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/gladiators/pompeii.html
Short article on Pompeii's amphitheatre 

 https://www.dkfindout.com/uk/video/history/gladiators-video/
Short video running through the main types of gladiators and their arms and armour. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZoPiUBFleY
Short infographic video. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIWy9Wg7RfY
How gladiators trained 

9. The baths 
http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/baths.html
Detailed introduction to the role of the baths in Roman culture

 https://www.earthlymission.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/what-happened-in-roman-baths-2.jpg
Short illustrated page on how the Romans bathed. 

https://www.earthlymission.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/what-happened-in-roman-baths-3.jpg
Diagram of a standard Roman bathhouse, with notes

 The Pompeii website has pictures and a short explanation text for each of the major bathhouses in the city:
http://pompeiisites.org/en/archaeological-site/central-baths/
http://pompeiisites.org/en/archaeological-site/central-baths/
http://pompeiisites.org/en/archaeological-site/forum-baths/ 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfixCTAKhoE
Short video using modern bathing facilities to explain how the Romans did it differently. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo9MGYDwheo
Hour long documentary on a modern attempt to build a Roman-style bathhouse. 

 http://www.capware.it/project/terme-di-diocleziano/
3D reconstruction video of the Baths of Diocletian in Rome, probably the grandest baths in the entire empire. 

 If you want to know more about how the Romans got water to their bathhouses, read about aqueducts here:
https://www.unrv.com/culture/roman-aqueducts.php

 and/or watch this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5AT0XY2Hi0

 And a bonus link to the related of issue of how and where the Romans went to the loo...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlGCc99ZXjs


10. Roman education 
https://routledgetextbooks.com/textbooks/9781138776685/chapter6.php
Short but detailed introduction to Roman education. 

 http://jaysromanhistory.com/romeweb/social/art3.htm
More information on Roman education, with a specific focus on elite Roman young men. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p37Dk-aLLKQ
Short, informative video on Roman education 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juWYhMoDTN0
Infographic video on life as a teenager in Ancient Rome 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQMgLxVxsrw
Infographic video on the lives of young Roman (elite) women 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w38PL4kg4A
Detailed (and more advanced) video on being a child in Ancient Rome







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