Featured Podcast

This weeks featured podcast is another one by the Open University available free on iTunes U from this link. 

The splendidly evocative ruins of ancient Rome have long been a challenge to historians and archaeologists in reconstructing how it looked and functioned. It became the largest city in the western world during the imperial period, so how was the city constructed, and what were the materials used? How was it defended, supplied with food and water, and how were the people housed and entertained, and above all, how did it function? These video tracks use various famous sites such as the Baths of Caracalla and the Pantheon to answer some of these questions. 

Latin Student Guide

Here is a Latin Student Guide which summarises the skills you can expect to gain, and the expectations placed on you when studying the subject. It is not a definitive guide but I think it is a great overview of the subject at GCSE or intermediate level and gives an idea of what the subject includes.

Latin Student Guide Summary

Tunisian Mosaics

More Tunisian Mosaics

This mosaic is called "the 9 muses"

The explanation/description of the mosaic featured today is found in the photo below.

... and an amphitheatre added on for good measure

Roman Life: iPhone and iPad App

For anyone out there who uses an iPhone or iPad, there is an app that can show you the streets of Roman London.

Roman London where you can ‘excavate’ finds, using your fingers to dig and gradually reveal ancient artefacts where they were originally found. iPhone users can remove dirt by blowing into their microphone.Key Roman London sites, such as the amphitheatre and Temple of Mithras, have been brought to life through augmented reality video (iPhone only) – produced by HISTORY™ – showing scenes of Roman London, overlaid onto the view today. A soundscape to the Roman capital is also included, so you can listen to the hustle and bustle of the forum or the clamour of the Boudican rebellion.

Click here to learn more and download this new app
I think that this would be great for any enthusiast visiting London, or who wants to learn about Roman London in an interactive and exciting way.

 

Roman Mosaics in Tunisia

As promised here are some more photos of the restored Roman Villa and the mosaics there.

Roman Mosaics and Amphitheatre -Tunisia

Alright, So it just occurred to me that I have photos of some of the best preserved Roman mosaics found in El Jem, Tunisia. So over the coming weeks I shall share some of them with you... In addition these I have photos of the Amphitheatre built around 238 and thought to be used for gladiator fights and chariot races. It is also the third larges amphitheatre; only the Colosseum in Rome and that of Capua, Italy are larger.

Especially since the "Arab Uprisings", and Tunisian Resistance. Fewer people will have access to them. They are found away from the main Colosseum, quite a walk away, but if you ever get the chance, this restored Roman house and the mosaics found inside are pretty amazing.

Here are some Taster photos:

Interactive Grammar Tables

Everyone loves grammar, whether its in English, French, German, Italian (you get the gist of this ) etc,and especially Latin, grammar can make our lives hell.

So its always great when someone can come up with interactive grammar tables that can test your knowledge and help you to improve your grammar.

They are self-checking exercises that test your knowledge of all the cases of Latin nouns, adjectives and pronouns. Spend some time with our interactive Grammar tables, and you'll learn your grammar so well that you'll never need to come back

Interactive Grammar Tables