HUM 493 / REL 493 - Intermediate Latin
Course Notes - Week 1
Cambridge Course
The photograph on page 1 (Aquae Sulis) is of the water flowing from the Sacred Spring into the thermal bath at Bath in England.
The rounded stone archway is of Roman construction.
The water has a high mineral content - the stones are stained with iron from the water. The water is hot (hot springs are rare in England) - note the steam.
The hot spring was considered sacred even before the Romans came to Britain. The original "goddess" of the waters was called Sulis - the Romans identified her with their goddess Minerva.
In Roman times the town was called Aquae Sulis. It is now known as Bath.
Go here for photos and more information about Bath
The map on page 2 gives only the Roman names for places. The modern names are :
Calleva = Silchester ("-chester", "-caster", "-cester" = Roman camp)
Camulodunum = Colchester
Corinium = Cirencester
Corstopitum = Corbridge
Deva = Chester
Eboracum = York. "ebor" commemorates the wild boars of the region. "ebor" has given us the word boar, and also over the years changed sounds to become "York". The coat-of-arms for York is a wild boar, and Richard III (of York) was known as "Richard the Hog"
Glevum = Gloucester (pronounced gloh-ster)
Isca = Caerleon (pronounced cer-LEE-un) - the Welsh version of "Castra Legionis"
Lindum = Lincoln
Londinium = London
Luguvalium = Carlisle
Mona = Anglesey. This was an island sacred to the druids, which held out for a long time against the Romans
Noviomagus = Chichester
Pinnata Castra = Inchtuthil
Verulamium = St. Albans, named for the first known Christian martyr in Britain
Viroconium = Wroxeter
The photo on page 12 is of the base for a statue which Memor set up by the altar of Sulis. It was found in its original position, in 1965.
The inscription reads :
DEAE SVLI
L MARCUS MEMOR
HARUSP
DD
To the goddess Sulis
Lucius Marcius Memor
Haruspex
Dono Dedit = gave as a gift
Memor was a real person, who probably lived slightly later than the setting of the Cambridge stories. Memor's character as given in the Cambridge course is imaginary
The photo on page 19 is of some of the objects which people dropped or threw into the sacred spring. About 20,000 coins were found, including four large gold ones. There were also many engraved gemstones, jewelry, and ritual pans and a mask which were probably used in religious ceremonies. The earring shown on page 26 was part one of the objects - the stone is a garnet. The Romans did not cut gemstones into facets like modern precious stones, but rounded and polished them.
The "Vilbia curse tablet" (featured on page 27) is toward the right of the photo, about two-thirds the way down.
The baths were lined with lead, and the water pipes were made of lead sheets formed into rolls and joined along the top surface (photo, page 20). Lead and tin were mined nearby. Roman skeletons contain high levels of lead in the bones - they used lead not only for water-pipes but also in alloys for cooking utensils.
For a pictorial tour of the Baths, video, and further details, go to http://www.romanbaths.co.uk
This chapter of the Cambridge Course uses the perfect Passive Participle extensively, eg. laudātus (having been praised)
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Copyright © 1999 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved
