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Rufus is curious about the weather in Dacia. Corinthus tells him the story of
the seasons.
DEMETER AND PERSEPHONE
Demeter, the goddess of crops and of all growing things, bore Zeus a beautiful
daughter called Persephone. One day Persephone was out gathering poppies
when she was spied by Hades, the god of the Underworld. Hades decided to
carry her off to the Underworld to liv e with him. As he abducted her, she
shrieked so loudly that her cries reached her mother. Demeter mourned the loss
of her daughter and so did the whole of nature. Flowers wilted, the fields lay
bare and fruit rotted on the branches.
Zeus was alarmed so he sent Hermes to Hades, asking him to release
Persephone. Hades agreed to let her go but only on condition that she had not
eaten anything. As Persephone had already eaten six pomegranate seeds, she
could only return to earth for six months of the year.
She returned to her mother and immediately all the flowers began to bloom and
the crops to grow. This was the beginning of spring and summer. But when
Persephone returned to the Underworld, all the crops stopped growing and the
leav es fluttered down from the trees. It grew cold and dark
-
autumn and winter
had begun. From then on, Persephone spent six lov ely months on earth and six
dark months in the Underworld and that is why we hav e the changing seasons.
It's the Saturnalia!
quoque recumbunt.
Corinthus et Candid us pille6s gerunt.
Lepidina
cenam
coquit.
WO RDS TO H E L P
Nouns
cibus
(m) food
lectus
(m) couch
pilleus
(m) cap of freedom
Saturnalia
(n pI) Saturnalia
(festival in December)
Pteposi�ion
in
in/ on
Vetb
s
adsunt
(they) are here
detergit
he cleans up
fundit
he pours
gerit
she wears
gustat
he tastes
lacrimat
he cries
profundit
he spills
recumbit
she reclines
Aqiedives
benignus/a/um
kind
pulcher/pulchra/pulchrum
beautiful
Aqve tb
hodie
today
G RAS P TH E G RA M M A R
It's time to practise some
verbs.
.
of a v erb to see who is doing the action.
Remember to look at the
endmg
'f 't ' "he" or "they"
. E lish? Remember to say I l lS
What do the following v erbs mean m ng
.
doing the action.
Look back at the pictu re story if you are
stuck with any of the meanings.
1
lacrimat
2
v Isitant
3
recumbit
4
recumbunt
5
portant
6
lacrimant
7
v Isitat
8
fundit
9
portat
Nouns
change thei r endings too, to show
what job they are doing in the sentence.
Compare these two sentences:
d
-
illeum gerit.
a Pan ora
p
Candidus looks at Pandora.
b
Candidus
Pand6ram
spectat.
.
a that she
Pandora is wearing a cap.
In sentence
a,
Pan ora IS
d
. the person doing the actI on. We s y
is the
subj ect
of the sentence..
h
P ndora is the
object
of this
h
th ctl O n done to er. a
d -
In sentence
b,
she as .e a f the noun
Pand6ra
now becomes
Pan oram.
sentence and so the endmg
0
RO MAN REPORT
The
Saturnalia
The Saturnalia was the most important h O liday in the Roman year. The Latin
poet Catullus describes it as
"optimus dierum",
the best of days. It began on
1 7
December and lasted for up to sev en days. The festiv al was named after
the god Saturnus, whom the Romans thought of as a god of liberation.
Saturnalia was therefore a time of freedom, when a slav e and his master
exchanged their roles; the slav e Wore a
piIleus,
a cap of freedom. This was
the cap that slav es wore if they were granted their freedom in a formal
ceremony. It was also a time for wearing the
synthesis,
a long, loose,
unbelted tunic.
The Saturnalia inv olv ed feasting, music and danC ing, sacrifices and shows.
People also told jokes and gav e each other presents, These might be toys,
books, jeweller y or cosmetics. Candles and small statuettes made from
terracotta, called
sigiIlana,
were also popular presents.
Which of these Roman customs do we still follow when we celebrate
Christmas?
Time for presents!
post eenam Lepidina perIte saltat.
o
t6ta familia ioe6s facit.
Lepidina exit.