Stage summary
| Storyline |
Reaching Aquae Sulis, Togidubnus is waiting to visit the sacred spring. Meanwhile, Belimicus' boasting about threats to the Togidubnus' life alert the people of Aquae Sulis to a plot. Aventina, a friend of Dumnorix, her niece Vilbia, Dumnorix and Quintus consider their next steps.
|
|---|---|
| Main language features |
perfect active participle genitive: partitive (genitive of quantity) genitive: descriptive (genitive of description) |
| Sentences patterns |
accusative/prepositional phrase + participle increasingly varied position of dative |
| Building words |
Adverbs ending in -ter formed from 3rd declension adjectives.
|
| Practising the language |
pallium et pugiō
In the town of Aquae Sulis, two Roman soldiers attempt to capture a thief.
|
| Cultural context |
Magic, curses, and superstitions.
|
| Enquiry question |
The UNESCO Memory of the World programme records remarkable and important pieces of cultural heritage from all over the world. In 2014 the curse tablets found at Bath (Aquae Sulis) became the only items from Roman Britain to be added to the UK Memory of the World Register. Why might the Bath curse tablets have been recognised in this way?
|
Model sentences
Story
Belimicus, watching from his hiding place behind a pillar, witnesses Dumnorix casting a curse tablet into the spring and asking the godess to bring death to the enemies of Togidubnus.
New language feature
Perfect active participles
This term is used rather than “perfect deponent participle” to ensure that students concentrate on the distinction between active and passive participles. Deponent verbs are introduced in Book IV, and use of the term “deponent” should be postponed until then.
About the language 1
New language feature
Perfect active participles
Discussion
Read through paragraph 1 reasonably quickly and ensure that students are comfortable with the meaning of perfect passive participles. Then concentrate initially on the perfect active participle (paragraphs 2–4).
prīnceps īnfēlīx - scaena prīma
Play
The action now moves forward to after the conversation between Aventina, Quintus and Dumnorix in the play in vīllā Aventīnae. Dumnorix has acted on Aventina's request for him to meet with Belimicus and he is in the inn playing dice with him. When Dumnorix leaves after losing a lot of money, Belimicus boasts about a plot against Togidubnus. Vilbia, realising that Togidubnus is in danger, resolves to warn Dumnorix.
prīnceps īnfēlīx - scaena secunda
Play
Vilbia hurries through the night to find Dumnorix by the spring. She tells him about the danger to Togidubnus and then moves away as we revisit the scene foreshadowed in the model sentences where Dumnorix curses the enemies of Togidubnus. Now the action continues with Belimicus coming out of hiding, berating Dumnorix and threatening to throw him into the spring. Hearing the noise, Vilbia returns and overhears Belimicus accusing her of stealing the brooch that he gave her earlier. She silently approaches and pushes him from behind into the spring. She accepts Dumnorix' advice to return to her father in Chester for safety's sake and they leave while Belimicus hauls himself out of the water.
About the language 2
New language feature
Partitive and descriptive genitives
Note that these technical terms are not used in the explanations given to students.
Discussion
Work through the paragraphs as set out. It may be advisable to take paragraphs 1–3 in one lesson, revisit them in a later lesson, and then move on to paragraphs 4–5.
Building words
New language feature
Formation of adverbs from 3rd declension adjectives (adverbs ending in -ter plus facile and difficile).
Discussion
Read paragraph 1, which consolidates the adverbs formed from 1st and 2nd declension adjectives met in Stage 21, and, after reading paragraph 2, do the exercises in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5. Then look at the two exceptions given in section 6 and help students to notice how they are similar to and different from the examples in paragraph 1.
Practising the language: pallium et pugiō
Story
In an aside from the main plot, a clever thief runs rings around two Roman soldiers in the baths and streets of Aquae Sulis.
Cultural Context
Content
Examples of curse tablets, and how and why they were used. This section is best read and discussed in connection with the model sentences and the play prīnceps īnfēlīx - scaena secunda.
Vocabulary checklist
The checklist includes a number of examples of perfect active participles:
ēgressus, ingressus, locūtus, precātus, prōgressus, regressus
These are presented in the same format as first and second declension adjectives. No explanation of the concept of deponent verbs should be offered at this point.