AD 61
Nero is the emperor, the first Christians are in Rome, and a few months earlier that troublesome northern province of Britannia has been rocked by a bloody uprising. Now Boudicca, queen of the rebellious Iceni, lies dead, her army too.
In Rome, people nervously await the outcome of a recent murder: Lucius Pedanius Secundus, the city prefect and former consul, has been killed by his own slave.
The law demands the execution of all 400 slaves in his household, man, woman and child.
Their fate is the talk of Rome … talk that is here preserved in filmed interviews with a senator, slave, gladiator, merchant, poet and other Romans of the time.
With
Robert Bathurst, Marco Bortolami, Olivia Cockburn, Arthur Easton, Edward Gillespie, Tom Morris, Giada Pantano and Steve Wright
This version of AD 61 is also available on DVD, with Latin and/or English scripts and subtitle options.
Contact the Latin Qvarter for details.
How do we know how the Romans spoke their language?
The idiom and sound of speech is not easy to recreate. It is a dark room and to some extent we are fumbling in it. But there is a much that you can pick up from all sorts of sources, including jokes about people’s speech habits, spelling mistakes, graffiti, how words are said in other languages, from the poetry, from prescriptive guides written by the Romans themselves and from the languages that this spoken Latin became – French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian.
Very useful, particularly for those studying Latin at school to be able to appreciate Latin as a spoken, living language. An interesting story and lively characters convey a sense of the everyday and enable a modern audience to engage more effectively.
Professor Mary BeardA slick, scholarly and professional production, which becomes funnier and more insightful each time it is revisited. In two words, buy it.
JACT Review