Writing on the wall: Latin graffiti, from Pompeii's brothel to Herculaneum's tavernas -- Ruling Britannia: Roman Britain, from Londinium's first bankers to freezing legionaries on Hadrian's Wall -- Sex in Rome and the rudest poem in Latin -- True romance: the great Latin love poets -- Latin jokes and insults -- Latin for gardeners -- Bathtime, feasts and la dolce vita -- Bread, circuses and gladiators -- Plebs and patricians: the Roman class system -- Empire and emperors -- The divine family: religion and the gods -- Christian conversion: how Christ went from Roman victim to Roman god -- Vesuvius erupts: Pliny reports -- What did you get for Saturnalia? Martial's funny festival presents -- Horace, the sweetest poet of all -- Cicero on how to grow old gracefully -- Seneca's stoic guide to life -- Your vade mecum: the Latin-English glossary -- Roman numerals

"There are so many Latin phrases in everyday use that often we use them without understanding the background and context within which they were actually used. 'Carpe diem'; 'Stet'; 'Memento mori'; 'Et tu Brute' - examples would fill a book. And often these phrases are also used in English translation: 'The die is cast'; 'crossing the Rubicon'; 'Rome was not built in a day'. Many of these phrases are humorous, but they are also a rich source of wisdom: the wisdom of the ancients. The chapters of this book include: Latin for Gardeners, the Great Latin Love Poets, Cicero on How to Grow Old Gracefully and Seneca's Stoic Guide to Life. Each chapter starts with a quotation and is lightly sprinkled with many more, with accompanying English translations and entertaining cartoons and illustrations dotted throughout. The background to each quotation is explained so that the context is fully understood. Who crossed the Rubicon and why, for example? At a time of great political and social turbulence, more and more people are turning back to ancient wisdom as a guide to life. Here they are in touch with two classical scholars of distinction who have the common touch and can help make Latin accessible to all, not to mention fun!"--

Text in English and Latin