If you have not read Anne Rice's Pandora, and you have no interest in the Classical world there might not be much in this page for you.

Once warned:


Pandora's page is passing through a major rewrite. I have decided to add the latin resources into a site dedicated to learning latin by yourself, in which I will try to share my ongoing experience with learning the language.

Visit Marius' page for more things Roman.

Learning (about) Pandora's language:

SCRINIUM LATINUM - A resource for those learning latin. Contains a concise, innovative Latin Grammar (which I humbly recommend).

Professor William Harris, Middlebury College. The author of Scrinium Latinum, his whole site is a source for those who are taking the study of the Classics a little bit more seriously. Backgrounds on authors, "The Intelligent Person's Guide to the Latin Language" and a curious essay on the right/wrong reasons to learn Latin ( I believe being an Anne Rice fan classifies as a wrong reason...) Find it at the preface of the Latin Grammar.
Anyhow, a great site which you should look at.


Read about Rome, from the site "Exploring Ancient World Cultures" hosted at the University of Evansville.

Bibliotheca Augustana - A site IN Latin.

Reading from Pandora's books:

After hearing Professor Harris tell us that it can not possibly be the same to read Virgil in English, you can link to these sites for the full text on Virgil's "Aeneid" and Ovid's "Metamorphoses".
Pay attention to their copyright notices so that their texts will keep being available to us for free.

(Almost) Complete Works , by Ovid - In Latin.

Metamorphoses, by Ovid - In English. Also full Latin text, with or without morphological links. From the Perseus Project.

Aeneid, by Virgil. - In English. Also full Latin text, with or without morphological links. From the Perseus Project.

Meditations , by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus - in English. NOT a classical work, but we are a given a quote from on Pandora's book.

Books from Amazon.com:

Read Anne Rice's "Pandora".

To know what life was like for Pandora and her contemporaries read:

"Pandora's Daughters" by Eva Cantarella.
With this most charming title, this book relates to events directly mentioned in the book, such as the worship of Isis in Rome, the razing of her temple by Tiberius, etc

"Women in Roman Law and Society" by Jane Gardner. A must have, well-documented title packed with sources.

"Reading Roman Women" by Suzanne Dixon.

"The Roman Family" by Suzanne Dixon.

...

Buy Virgil and Ovid in English:

The Erotic Poems: The Amores, the Art of Love, Cures for Love, on Facial Treatment for Ladies.
By Ovid, Edited by Peter Green.
Beautifully translated into accessible English (if you happen to like that).

Metamorphoses by Ovid, Mary Annes (Translator)

Aeneid by Virgil, Patric Dickinson (Translator)

More on the latin language. After visiting the sites we have selected, look at the bookstore for more material on Latin & Literature.

For an easy start on Roman History, why not try Robert Grave's autobiography of the emperor Tiberius Claudius?
You cannot pass a history exam relying on it, but, it is surely an enjoyable start!
You will be surprised how many absurdities recounted in the book actually happened.

"I, Claudius : From the Autobiography of Tiberius Claudius, Born 10 B.C., Murdered and Deified A.D. 54 " by Robert Graves.
The first book spans from Augustus' time into the death of Caligula. It corresponds to Marius' and Pandora's mortal lifetimes.

"Claudius the God and His Wife Messalina" by Robert Graves.
The second book recounts Tiberius Claudius reign proper.

Can't get enough? You have got to see it too? No problem!
Both books where made into a miniseries which is superbly acted and reasonably faithful to the text. I must admit I found some scenes disturbing to see (for some reason seeing it is a little worse than reading about it). Anyway, I have bought a copy...

"I Claudius" VHS - NTSC format only!
"I Claudius" DVD - NTSC format only!

A more popular choice, but happening way too late (during Commodus' reign), and loosely inspired in true history, is this year's success "Gladiator", which is unnecessarily violent (does not help to close your eyes, you can hear all the slicing and dicing). I am shameless by nature, and did pass through all the carnage more or less unscathed. Nothing would prevent me from seeing Rome reconstructed (by computer, pretty neat), Roman ladies in beautiful dress, flowing red capes everywhere. Enough. Available in DVD .