HUM / REL 293 - Beginning Latin
Course Notes - Week 10
The photo on page 161 is of a statue of the Greek philosopher Chrysippus, who lived ca. 280-207 BC. He was a follower of the Stoic school of philosophers, who were a great influence in Roman education.
The drawing on page 162 shows the process of surveying for a Roman road for a public building. The surveyor uses a grōma and poles. The stake of the grōma would be planted firmly into the ground, using a plumb-line to make sure that it was vertical, and then the surveyor could look along the arms to mark out a straight line or a right angle.
The Greek statue which is being copied is the "Doryphoros" (The Spear-bearer), by the 5th century BC Greek sculptor Polykleitos.
The technique used for painting murals was to coat the wall with three coats of polished plaster, and then paint on the last coat while it was still wet, so that the colors would be absorbed into the plaster. The paints were made of powdered mineral mixed with honey or egg.
The public toilet shown is typical of many which have been excavated - they were very "public" - people evidently sat next to each other, with no partitions or privacy.
The photo on page 167 shows the Roman bridge at Alcantara, built ca. AD 106. The stones are fitted together without mortar; the arches rise nearly 55 yards above the River Tagus, and are designed to withstand the violent flooding of the river.
The marble portrait of Euripides (ca. 485-406 BC), shown on page 169 may look rather out of proportion - a portrait head of Euripides has been attached to a proportionately larger statue of another actor.
The bronze ring, shown on page 173, shows the heads of two Egyptian gods - Isis and Serapis. At the time of the Cambridge stories, only senators and equitēs were allowed to wear gold rings, so most people wore bronze.
The picture on page 175 is of a stone relief dating to the third century AD, from Neumagen in Germany. It shows a school class with a teacher with a beard, typical of the Greeks of the time.
The first photo on page 177 shows a wax tablet dating to the 2nd century AD, now in the British Library. It was used by a schoolboy to write out a line by Menander : "Accept advice from a wise man. Let no-one trust in his friends rashly.". Lines had been ruled in the wax to help him write along a line.
The other photo shows a mosaic, now in the Bardo Museum in Tunis, N. Africa. It depicts Virgil composing the Aeneid. To the left stands Clio, Muse of History, and to the right is Melpomene, the Muse of Tragedy.
The photo on page 180 is of part of a wall-painting from Pompeii, showing writing materials. A title label hangs from the roll of papyrus. A wax tablet lies open, showing a dot in the middle of the page - this represented a raised stud which would prevent the pages rubbing together when the tablet was closed.
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