Livy's engaging style of history

In case anyone is interested, here is a sample extended response answer I wrote for the Livy extended response from my trial HSC paper this year. I welcome all comments, corrections or criticisms!

Sed dique et homines prohibuere redemptos vivere Romanos. Nam forte quadam priusquam infanda merces perficeretur, per altercationem nondum omni auro adpenso, dictator intervenit, auferrique aurum de medio et Gallos submoveri iubet. cum illi renitentes pactos dicerent sese, negat eam pactionem ratam esse quae postquam ipse dictator creatus esset iniussu suo ab inferioris iuris magistratu facta esset, denuntiatque Gallis ut se ad proelium expediant. Suos in acervum conicere sarcinas et arma aptare ferroque non auro reciperare patriam iubet, in conspectu habentes fana deum et coniuges et liberos et solum patriae deforme belli malis et omnia quae defendi repetique et ulcisci fas sit. Instruit deinde aciem, ut loci natura patiebatur, in semirutae solo urbis et natura inaequali, et omnia quae arte belli secunda suis eligi praepararive poterant providit. Galli nova re trepidi arma capiunt iraque magis quam consilio in Romanos incurrunt. Iam verterat fortuna, iam deorum opes humanaque consilia rem Romanam adiuvabant. Igitur primo concursu haud maiore momento fusi Galli sunt quam ad Alliam vicerant. Iustiore altero deinde proelio ad octavum lapidem Gabina via, quo se ex fuga contulerant, eiusdem ductu auspicioque Camilli vincuntur.


Analyse the ways in which this extract is typical of Livy’s engaging style of history.

HSC 1937 style

While going through some papers the other day I cam across the Leaving Certificate (the equivalent of the HSC) Latin Exam from 1937. It's interesting to see what has and hasn't changed. Back then there was some Livy to translate and comment upon, some Horace as well for the 'Higher Standard' (i.e. extension), and a longish translation from English into Latin for everyone.

Horace is still set as an extension text (Lyric Poetry last year, Satire this year), and Livy will be next year's year 12 prose text as well. And hardly anyone does prose composition any more (it is an option in the Extension exam - most years it is attempted by at most one or two candidates out of a hundred or so).

The most remarkable thing is, I think, that a three hour paper can fit on three A5 pages!

Birthplaces of Roman Authors

Strangely, most of the Latin authors we read today were not actually born in the city of Rome, but moved there from the provinces. This is true of Virgil, Cicero, Livy, Catullus, Ovid, Horace and many more.

This map shows the birthplaces of some of the most famous Roman writers:



View Birthplaces of Roman Authors in a larger map

Related Posts

• Your favourite author

Congratulations

Congratulations to my (former) year 12 class (pictured) who sat their Latin Continuers exam the other day. It was (in my opinion) not a bad exam- there were a couple of questions slightly out of left field, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. If you're well prepared and able to think on your feet it gives you a chance to stand out from the other candidates. The unseens were alright too, and the exam committee was very generous with the amount of vocab they supplied.

Here are a couple of the questions, in case anyone is interested:

Ibi oratio habita nequaquam eius pectoris ingeniique quod simulatum ad eam diem fuerat, de vi ac libidine Sex. Tarquini, de stupro infando Lucretiae et miserabili caede, de orbitate Tricipitini cui morte filiae causa mortis indignior ac miserabilior esset. Addita superbia ipsius regis miseriaeque et labores plebis in fossas cloacasque exhauriendas demersae; Romanos homines, victores omnium circa populorum, opifices ac lapicidas pro bellatoribus factos. Indigna Ser. Tulli regis memorata caedes et inuecta corpori patris nefando vehiculo filia, invocatique ultores parentum di.

(Livy I.59, 8-10)

(i) Explain the connection implied in this extract between the fate of Lucretia and the current condition of the Roman people. (3 marks)

(ii) Explain how Livy uses language in this extract to make the speech moving and persuasive. (5 marks)

Iam res Romana adeo erat ualida ut cuilibet finitimarum civitatum bello par esset; sed penuria mulierum hominis aetatem duratura magnitudo erat, quippe quibus nec domi spes prolis nec cum finitimis conubia essent. Tum ex consilio patrum Romulus legatos circa vicinas gentes misit qui societatem conubiumque novo populo peterent: urbes quoque, ut cetera, ex infimo nasci; dein, quas sua virtus ac di iuvent, magnas opes sibi magnumque nomen facere; satis scire, origini Romanae et deos adfuisse et non defuturam virtutem; proinde ne gravarentur homines cum hominibus sanguinem ac genus miscere. Nusquam benigne legatio audita est:

(Livy I.9, 1-5)

(i) Analyse how Livy presents Romulus as a moral exemplar. Support your answer with specific examples from this extract. (7 marks)

haud procul inde citae Mettum in diversa quadrigae
distulerant (at tu dictis, Albane, maneres!),
raptabatque viri mendacis viscera Tullus
per silvam, et sparsi rorabant sanguine vepres.
nec non Tarquinium eiectum Porsenna iubebat
accipere ingentique urbem obsidione premebat;
Aeneadae in ferrum pro libertate ruebant.
illum indignanti similem similemque minanti
aspiceres, pontem auderet quia vellere Cocles
et fluvium vinclis innaret Cloelia ruptis.
in summo custos Tarpeiae Manlius arcis
stabat pro templo et Capitolia celsa tenebat,
Romuleoque recens horrebat regia culmo.

(Virgil, Aeneid VIII.642-54)

(i) Describe the narrative technique Virgil has used to include the events mentioned in this extract in his story of Aeneas. (2 marks)

(ii) What is Virgil's purpose in including the individuals mentioned in this extract? (7 marks)

What to do when your head's on fire

You might not think it particularly likely that your head will spontaneously catch fire, but it happens more often than you might think- at least in Latin literature. Just look at the following passages:

cum subitum dictuque oritur mirabile monstrum.
namque manus inter maestorumque ora parentum
ecce levis summo de vertice visus Iuli
fundere lumen apex, tactuque innoxia mollis
lambere flamma comas et circum tempora pasci.
nos pavidi trepidare metu crinemque flagrantem
excutere et sanctos restinguere fontibus ignis.


Suddenly there was a great miracle. At the very moment when we were both holding Iulus and he was there between our sorrowing faces, look, a light began to stream from the top of the pointed cap he was wearing and the flame seemed to lick his soft hair and feed round his temples without harming him. We took fright and rushed to beat out his flaming hair and quench the holy fire with water.

Aeneid II.680-686

praeterea, castis adolet dum altaria taedis,

et iuxta genitorem astat Lauinia virgo,

visa (nefas) longis comprendere crinibus ignem

atque omnem ornatum flamma crepitante cremari,

regalisque accensa comas, accensa coronam

insignem gemmis; tum fumida lumine fulvo

involui ac totis Volcanum spargere tectis.

What's more, when Lavinia was standing by her father's side tending the altar with her chaste torches, another fearful sight was seen. Her long hair caught fire and all its adornment was crackling in the flames. The princess's hair was blazing, her crown with all its lovely jewels was blazing, and soon she was wrapped in smoke and yellow glare, and scattering fire all over the palace.

Aeneid VII.71-77

Eo tempore in regia prodigium visu euentuque mirabile fuit. Puero dormienti, cui Servio Tullio fuit nomen, caput arsisse ferunt multorum in conspectu; plurimo igitur clamore inde ad tantae rei miraculum orto excitos reges, et cum quidam familiarium aquam ad restinguendum ferret, ab regina retentum, sedatoque eam tumultu moveri vetuisse puerum donec sua sponte experrectus esset; mox cum somno et flammam abisse.

In the palace about that time there occurred a very odd thing, which was to have remarkable consequences. A little boy named Servius Tullius was lying asleep, when his head burst into flames. Many people saw it happen. The noise and excitement caused by such an extraordinary event came to the ears of the king and queen, and brought them hurrying to the spot. A servant ran for water and was about to throw it on the flames, when the queen stopped him, declaring, as soon as she could make herself heard, that the boy must on no account be disturbed, but allowed to sleep till he awoke of his own accord. A few minutes later he opened his eyes, and the fire went out.

Livy I.39

In fact, having your head catch fire is not so bad (Michael Jackson aside). For Iulus, Lavinia and Servius Tullius it was actually a sign of the gods' favour towards them. Through the sign of fire they confirm Iulus' destiny to grow up to be a great king of Italy, Lavinia's destiny to marry the foreign hero Aeneas and Servius Tullius' destiny to become king of Rome.

superbus

Superbus is an odd Latin word. It’s obviously the root of ‘superb’, but the meaning of the Latin word is quite different to that of its English derivative, which generally has only positive connotations. Superbus has the basic meaning of ‘proud’, but can be used in a positive or a negative sense. For example in Book VIII of the Aeneid (where the word occurs seven times), it can be used to describe Hercules, the heroic slayer of the monster Cacus (and 'type' of Augustus):

nam maximus ultor
tergemini nece Geryonae spoliisque superbus
Alcides aderat…
For our great avenger, the son of Alceus [Hercules] was at hand, exalting in the death and spoils of three-bodied Geryon…

Virgil, Aeneid VIII.201-2

dies romae natalis

[The forum Romanum from the Palatine hill, where Romulus (supposedly) recieved his favourable omen from the gods]

I'm meant to be on holidays, but I couldn't let such an important date go unremarked. Yesterday Rome celebrated its 2761st birthday. There are some great photos of the celebrations at Rome here, here and here.

April 21st, 753 B.C. is the traditional date for the founding of the city by Romulus and Remus; this is how Livy recounts events:

Ita Numitori Albana re permissa Romulum Remumque cupido cepit in iis locis ubi expositi ubique educati erant urbis condendae...

Romulus and Remus, after the control of Alba had passed to Numitor in the way I have described, were suddenly seized by the desire to found a new settlement on the spot where they had been exposed and subsequently brought up...

Intervenit deinde his cogitationibus avitum malum, regni cupido, atque inde foedum certamen coortum a satis miti principio.

Unhappily the brothers' plans for the future were marred by the same source which had divided their grandfather and Amulius- a lust for power. A disgraceful quarrel arose from a matter in itself trivial.

Quoniam gemini essent nec aetatis verecundia discrimen facere posset, ut di quorum tutelae ea loca essent auguriis legerent qui nomen novae urbi daret, qui conditam imperio regeret, Palatium Romulus, Remus Aventinum ad inaugurandum templa capiunt.

Since they were twins and no distinction of age could be made between them, they determined to ask the gods under whose care those places were, to declare by means of augury who should govern the new city, once it had been founded, and give his name to it. Romulus took to the Palatine Hill, Remus to the Aventine, in order to take the auguries.

Priori Remo augurium venisse fertur, sex voltures; iamque nuntiato augurio cum duplex numerus Romulo se ostendisset, utrumque regem sua multitudo consalutauerat: tempore illi praecepto, at hi numero auium regnum trahebant. Inde cum altercatione congressi certamine irarum ad caedem vertuntur; ibi in turba ictus Remus cecidit.

Remus, so the story goes, was the first to receive a sign- six vultures; and no sooner was this announced than double the number of birds appeared to Romulus. The followers of each promptly hailed their own master as king, one side basing its claim upon priority, the other upon number. Angry words ensued, followed by blows, their anger turned to violence, and there, in the crowd, Remus was struck and fell down dead.

Volgatior fama est ludibrio fratris Remum novos transiluisse muros; inde ab irato Romulo, cum verbis quoque increpitans adiecisset, "Sic deinde, quicumque alius transiliet moenia mea," interfectum. Ita solus potitus imperio Romulus; condita urbs conditoris nomine appellata.

There is another, more common story, that Remus, making fun of his brother, jumped over the newly-built walls, whereupon Romulus killed him in a fit of rage, adding the threat, 'So perish whoever else shall overleap my battlements.' In this way Romulus gained sole possession of power; the city, having been founded, was took its name from its founder.

Livy trivia

This post is dedicated to my year 12 class who are studying hard for their Livy exam. Here is some Livy trivia (some Livia, perhaps?) which you may not have known:

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Livy!

1. Olympic badminton rules say that livy must have exactly fourteen feathers!
2. Livy was originally green, and actually contained cocaine.
3. Humans have 46 chromosomes, peas have 14, and livy has 7.
4. Livy cannot burp - there is no gravity to separate liquid from gas in his stomach!
5. The first domain name ever registered was livy.com!
6. Livyolatry is the mindless worship of livy.
7. When livy is swallowed, he will enter the blood stream within twenty minutes.
8. If you lick livy ten times, you will consume one calorie.
9. Marie Antoinette never said 'let them eat cake' - this is a mistranslation of 'let them eat livy'!
10. Livy is the world's tallest woman.

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

For more random trivia visit this site (gratias to Byron for the link)

The Cave of Romulus?

According to this article (and this video) in yesterday's smh, archaeologists have discovered "the legendary cave where the she-wolf suckled Romulus and Remus, saving them from death." Or to be more accurate "Experts say they are "reasonably certain" it is the long-lost place of worship sacred to ancient Romans and known as Lupercale, from the Latin word for wolf." That means they think it's the place, that the Romans used to think was the place, where Romulus and Remus were saved by a wolf.

Livy records the story of the she-wolf finding Romulus and Remus, in the following passage:

Tenet fama cum fluitantem alveum, quo expositi erant pueri, tenuis in sicco aqua destituisset, lupam sitientem ex montibus qui circa sunt ad puerilem vagitum cursum flexisse; eam submissas infantibus adeo mitem praebuisse mammas ut lingua lambentem pueros magister regii pecoris invenerit (Faustulo fuisse nomen ferunt). ab eo ad stabula Larentiae uxori educandos datos.

Rumour prevails, that when the shallow water had left the floating basket, in which the boys had been abandoned, on dry ground, a thirsty wolf, down from the mountains which surround that place, bent her course to the boys' wailing. She lowered her teats, and offered them to the children so gently, that the master of the king's found her licking the boys with her tongue (they say his name was Faustulus). He took them home and gave them to his wife Larentia to be brought up.

However it seems Livy is a bit sceptical about the likelihood of this story, and so he tells us another story, which accounts for the development of this myth:

Sunt qui Larentiam volgato corpore lupam inter pastores vocatam putent; inde locum fabulae ac miraculo datum.

There those who say that Larentia was called 'Wolf' by the shepherds, since she was a prostitute; and this is the source of that incredible story.

HSC Latin exam

Well, I've had a look at today's HSC paper, and I'm pretty happy. It was a pretty good paper, in that there weren't really any surprising or tricky questions; everything was clearly related to the prescribed study areas, and the passages chosen were of obvious importance, with lots that could be said about them. Here are a couple of the questions:

Brutus illis luctu occupatis cultrum ex vulnere Lucretiae extractum, manantem cruore prae se tenens, "Per hunc" inquit "castissimum ante regiam iniuriam sanguinem iuro, vosque, di, testes facio me L. Tarquinium Superbum cum scelerata coniuge et omni liberorum stirpe ferro igni quacumque dehinc vi possim exsecuturum, nec illos nec alium quemquam regnare Romae passurum." Cultrum deinde Collatino tradit, inde Lucretio ac Valerio, stupentibus miraculo rei, unde novum in Bruti pectore ingenium. Ut praeceptum erat iurant; totique ab luctu versi in iram, Brutum iam inde ad expugnandum regnum vocantem sequuntur ducem.

(AUC I.59.1-2)

Analyse the dramatic presentation of Brutus in this extract, with reference to Livy's aims. (8 marks)

The questions worth the most marks have tended to be double barrelled ones in the last few years, which gives you plenty to write about. In terms of drama in this passage, there's the direct speech Livy gives to Brutus with its formal tone and rhetorical devices. Livy also describes Brutus' actions in quite a dramatic way, emphasising the dagger throughout as Brutus first pulls it out of Lucretia's wound, then holds it up for all to see, then passes it to his companions to swear upon. It's all a bit melodramatic.

The drama of the passage allows you to talk about Livy's aims in two ways; firstly he is holding Brutus up as a moral exemplar, someone whose example in standing up to tyranny he wants his readers to follow. Livy intended above all his history to be one which provided a moral message. But Livy also aimed to entertain his readers, and we see that in his dramatic portrayal of Brutus- he presents the story with a certain creativity, which perhaps detracts from the accuracy of his narrative, but adds to its power to engage and entertain.


hinc procul addit
Tartareas etiam sedes, alta ostia Ditis,
et scelerum poenas, et te, Catilina, minaci
pendentem scopulo Furiarumque ora trementem,
secretosque pios, his dantem iura Catonem.

hinc Augustus agens Italos in proelia Caesar
cum patribus populoque, penatibus et magnis dis,
stans celsa in puppi, geminas cui tempora flammas
laeta vomunt patriumque aperitur vertice sidus.
parte alia ventis et dis Agrippa secundis
arduus agmen agens, cui, belli insigne superbum,
tempora navali fulgent rostrata corona.
hinc ope barbarica variisque Antonius armis,
victor ab Aurorae populis et litore rubro,
Aegyptum virisque Orientis et ultima secum
Bactra vehit, sequiturque (nefas) Aegyptia coniunx.

(Aeneid VIII.666-70, 678-88)

Analyse Virgil's use of characterisation and contrast to reveal heroic attributes in this extract. (7 marks)

Another double-barrelled question! This passage is the climax to Virgil's descrition of Aeneas' shield, and I would have been surprised if it wasn't in the exam. There's lots to talk about in terms of characterisation and contrast. Augustus is shown alongside the senate, the people and the gods of Rome, in fact he is even portrayed as a god himself, with images of light and fire, whereas Antony is foreign- barbaric even- and sacrilegous, and in contrast to Augustus who stands high on the prow of his ship, he slinks along behind a foreign woman!

This strong contrast shows us what Virgil considers true heroism- it involves both courage in leading, and a deep respect and reverence for the gods (pietas). These are the qualities we see in Aeneas throughout book VIII, and these are the qualities Virgil also assigns to Augustus, and shows to be lacking in Antony.

Milky Richness

There’s a famous passage in Quintilian’s Institutio Oratoria where he describes the ‘milky richness’ (lactea ubertas) of Livy’s Histories. It’s a very evocative phrase, which I’ve often thought related to the smoothness of Livy’s prose style, “rich, smooth, free from turbulence” or “flowing… avoiding the abruptness of Thucydides’s Greek and Sallust’s Latin” as it has been variously described.

[by H. J. Rose in A Handbook of Latin Literature (p300), and J. Wight Duff in A Literary History of Rome from the Origins to the Close of the Golden Age (p480) respectively]

However I recently read an article which suggested another possible interpretation of the phrase. The author points out that “Livy is remarkable for the extreme range of styles which he uses in his narrative to achieve variety”, and that it’s therefore a bit of a stretch to characterise his style as smooth and flowing.

A better way of understanding Quintilian’s phrase (so the author argues) is that Livy’s writing is ‘nutritional’ and ‘appropriate for infants’; that is, it is good for students of rhetoric as it provides them with good models to imitate; it helps them to ‘grow up’ as speakers, just as milk helps babies to grow up and mature. The metaphor of milk in the context of education is found elsewhere in Quintilian, in several first century Greek writers, and even in the bible. It also fits with Quintilian’s own methods of education. As he writes in his Insititutio Oratoria (2.5.19)

“For my part I would have them read the best authors from the very beginning and never leave them, choosing those, however, who are simplest and most intelligible. For instance when prescribing [texts] for boys, I should give Livy the preference over Sallust; for although the latter is the greater historian, one requires to be well advanced in one’s studies to appreciate him properly.”

It is good for young boys to read Livy not because he is the best historian, but because his writing will help them to mature in their studies.(Quintilian is silent on what girls should read.)

The article finishes up with this helpful summary:

“I conclude, then, that illa lactea ubertas Livi is an assertion that students at the elementary levels of the oratorical curriculum can obtain from reading Livy the sort of supplementary information and stylistic skills which keep their speeches from being bare bones. They will encounter unusual words, rhythmic prose structures, notable tropes, other ornamental features, and a general fullness of style which are the components of ubertas. And they will encounter them in an author who will prove enjoyable and engaging, and thus suitable to their youth.”

[Lactea Ubertas: What's Milky about Livy? Steve Hays The Classical Journal, Vol. 82, No. 2 (Dec., 1986 - Jan., 1987), pp. 107-116]

desiderium

I’ve come across the Latin word desiderium in a few different contexts recently. If you look it up in a dictionary, you’ll find something like the following:

desiderium, desideri(i) N. desire/longing/want/requirement; desire/grief/regret for dead/absent/loss; favorite, object of desire; pleasure, that desired/needed; petition, request;

You can see from the different definitions it’s a bit of a tricky word to translate. It’s often translated simply as ‘desire’, but I think it’s real sense is hard to get at, because we don’t really have an English equivalent for the feeling this word describes. Here’s the word in a few different contexts so you can see what I mean.

Quis desiderio sit pudor aut modus
tam cari capitis? Praecipe lububris
cantus, Melpomene, cui liquidam pater
vocem cum cithara dedit.

What moderation or limit can there be to our regret for the loss
of so dear a life? Direct our mournful
songs, Melpomene, to whom our Father
has given a clear voice along with the lyre.

[Horace, Odes I.24]

Quae ubi omnia foras versa vidit nec in partem aliam ferre, confusus atque incertus animi ex loco infesto agere porro armentum occepit. Inde cum actae boves quaedam ad desiderium, ut fit, relictarum mugissent, reddita inclusarum ex spelunca boum vox Herculem convertit.

When Hercules saw that all the footprints were turned away from the cave, and led to no particular place, confused and uncertain in his mind, he began to drive the herd onward from that hostile place. Then, when some of the cows, being driven away, out of longing for those left behind, as often happens, mooed, the answering call of the imprisoned cows from out of the cave attracted Hercules attention.

[Livy, Ab urbe condita I.7]

nec sibi enim quisquam tum se vitamque requiret,
cum pariter mens et corpus sopita quiescunt;
nam licet aeternum per nos sic esse soporem,
nec desiderium nostri nos adficit ullum…

For no one misses either himself or his life
at the time when the sleepy mind and body rest equally;
indeed, if we could sleep like this forever,
no feeling of loss for ourselves would touch us…

[Lucretius, De rerum natura III. 919ff]

[Interestingly I couldn’t find a citation from Virgil]

From these contexts I would suggest the meaning of the word comes closest to "the feeling you have when you miss someone ", kind of like homesickness for a person. Horace misses his dead friend, Hercules' cattle miss the cows which Cacus has stolen, and Lucretius' point is that (since the soul cannot survive death) you don't miss yourself when you're dead.

The more things change...

Over the holidays I asked my year 12 class to read the whole of Livy book I, of which we will be studying extracts this year. I find it a really interesting book- more mythology than history- as Livy himself acknowledges in his preface:

"Events before Rome was born, or even thought of, have come to us in old tales with more of the charm of poetry than of a sound historical record, and such traditions I propose neither to affirm nor refute. There is no reason, I feel, to object when antiquity draws no hard line between the human and the supernatural: it adds dignity to the past, and, if any nation deserves the privilege of claiming a divine ancestry, that nation is our own..."

This seems a strange way to write history, but it gives us a glimpse into what Livy thought history was meant to be. For Livy, history was not just about communicating what had happened in the past, it was meant to be something that informed how you lived in the present. And so Livy would not hesitate to include a story he doubted the truth of, as long as it fitted in with his overall aim of helping the Roman people to be more moral. Livy elaborates on his aims later in his preface:

"The study of history is the best medicine for a sick mind; for in history you have a record of the infinite variety of human experience plainly set out for all to see; and in that record you can find for yourself and for your country both examples and warnings; fine things to take as models, base things, rotten through and through, to avoid."

Livy (like many Romans I suspect) had a pretty nostalgic view of Rome's past. He saw that wealth and power had brought to Rome greed, corruption and a general moral decline,

and looked back to the great Romans of the past (Brutus, Camillus, Scipio) with sentimental fondness, imagining that their lack of wealth had made them great, indeed had made Rome herself great. This is how he himself puts it:

"I do honestly believe that no country has ever been greater or purer than ours or richer in good citizens and noble deeds; none has been free for so many generations from the vices of avarice and luxury, nowhere have thrift and plain living been for so long held in such esteem. Indeed, poverty, with us, went hand in hand with contentment. Of late years wealth has made us greedy, and self-indulgence has brought us, through every form of sensual excess, to be, if I may so put it, in love with death, both individual and collective."

Livy has some pretty harsh words for his contemporaries- in another place he writes of his own society "we can neither endure our vices nor face the remedies needed to cure them."

The more things change, the more they stay the same...

[ps The sculpture at the top of this post is generally assumed to be of Etruscan origin and to date to some time in the 5th century BC. It's been known for some time that the figures of Romulus and Remus were medieval additions to the original, though an article last year suggested that it may in fact have been made sometime in the middle ages]

Your favourite author

My new poll (thanks to all who voted in the last one) is in honour of my year 11 class, who are doing their exams at the moment. The five authors listed are those which we’ve studied during the course of the year. Feel free to vote- if you’re not sure who some of the authors are, here’s a quick bio of each one.

Ovid: a poet who found it hard to take much seriously. If Ovid were around today, he’d be the class clown with a brilliant wit, and would delight particularly in making fun of Catullus. All the girls would like him, but he would probably get a reputation as a bit of a player.

Virgil: Virgil wrote what is probably Rome’s greatest work of literature. He writes in a beautifully concise way, and is capable of evoking vivid images and powerful emotions with the shortest of phrases. If he attended St George Girls’ he would be the teacher’s pet and do Extension 2 English.

Livy: Livy wrote history, and lots of it. 142 books in fact. He, when he wrote, with an idea having been begun, in order to express it, long and complicated sentences, which seem to take forever to get to the point, whatever that was, and which make you forget what he was talking about in the first place, would use. Livy is the kind of guy who asks for another writing booklet before you’ve even finished reading the question.

Cicero: In my opinion Cicero is one of the smartest guys ever. Unfortunately he had a bit of an attitude problem. He would be the kind of guy who never stops telling you how good he is, and would probably dob in his friends for smoking at the train station.

Lucretius: A bit of an enigma, Lucretius wrote a philosophical poem about the nature of the universe. He would have been the quiet guy at school, who grows dreadlocks, goes to uni and takes nine years to do an arts degree. He would probably have enjoyed watching What the bleep do we know.

Catullus: if Catullus were around today, he’d wear a lot of black and would probably look something like this. He was an intense kind of guy, who fell hard for another man’s wife, and wrote a bunch of poems about the agony and the ecstasy of love.

[I realise you can't actually vote for Catullus in the poll, but I thought he was worth including anyway]

Trial exams!

The trial exams at my school are well under way (good luck girls!), so I thought I'd put up a couple of HSC style questions for my year 12s to have a go at, in case they've run out of things to do (not likely).

Lucretiam sedentem maestam in cubiculo inveniunt. Adventu suorum lacrimae obortae, quaerentique viro "Satin salve?" "Minime" inquit; "quid enim salvi est mulieri amissa pudicitia? Vestigia viri alieni, Collatine, in lecto sunt tuo; ceterum corpus est tantum violatum, animus insons; mors testis erit. Sed date dexteras fidemque haud impune adultero fore. Sex. est Tarquinius qui hostis pro hospite priore nocte vi armatus mihi sibique, si vos viri estis, pestiferum hinc abstulit gaudium." Dant ordine omnes fidem; consolantur aegram animi avertendo noxam ab coacta in auctorem delicti: mentem peccare, non corpus, et unde consilium afuerit culpam abesse. "Vos" inquit "videritis quid illi debeatur: ego me etsi peccato absolvo, supplicio non libero; nec ulla deinde impudica Lucretiae exemplo vivet." Cultrum, quem sub veste abditum habebat, eum in corde defigit, prolapsaque in volnus moribunda cecidit. Conclamat vir paterque.


How does Livy create a sense of drama in this passage?

How does the character of Lucretia function as a moral exemplar?



in medio ramos annosaque bracchia pandit
ulmus opaca, ingens, quam sedem Somnia vulgo
vana tenere ferunt, foliisque sub omnibus haerent.
multaque praeterea variarum monstra ferarum,
Centauri in foribus stabulant Scyllaeque biformes
et centumgeminus Briareus ac belua Lernae
horrendum stridens, flammisque armata Chimaera,
Gorgones Harpyiaeque et forma tricorporis umbrae.
corripit hic subita trepidus formidine ferrum
Aeneas strictamque aciem venientibus offert,
et ni docta comes tenuis sine corpore vitas
admoneat volitare cava sub imagine formae,
inruat et frustra ferro diverberet umbras.

"siste gradum teque aspectu ne subtrahe nostro.
quem fugis? extremum fato quod te adloquor hoc est."
talibus Aeneas ardentem et torva tuentem
lenibat dictis animum lacrimasque ciebat.
illa solo fixos oculos aversa tenebat
nec magis incepto vultum sermone movetur
quam si dura silex aut stet Marpesia cautes.
tandem corripuit sese atque inimica refugit
in nemus umbriferum, coniunx ubi pristinus illi
respondet curis aequatque Sychaeus amorem.
nec minus Aeneas casu percussus iniquo
prosequitur lacrimis longe et miseratur euntem.


How does Virgil create atmosphere in these lines?

What do these two passages reveal to us about the character of Aeneas?


Post an answer, if you're brave enough.