Page:Latin for beginners (1911).djvu/228

P. CORNELIUS LENTULUS: THE STORY OF A ROMAN BOY^[1]

LXI. PUBLIUS IS BORN NEAR POMPE′II

P. Cornēlius Lentulus,^[2] adulēscēns Rōmānus, amplissimā familiā^[3] nātus est; nam pater eius, Mārcus, erat dux perītissimus, cuius virtūte^[4] et cōnsiliō multae victōriae reportātae erant; atque māter eius, Iūlia, ā clārissimīs maiōribus orta est. Nōn vērō in urbe sed rūrī^[5] Pūblius 5 natus est, et cum mātre habitābat in villā quae in maris lītore et sub rādīcibus magnī montis sita erat. Mōns autem erat Vesuvius et parva

PUERI ROMANI

urbs Pompēiī octo milia^[6] passuum^[7] aberat. In Italiā antīquā erant plūrimae quidem villae et pulchrae, sed inter hās omnīs nūlla erat pul chrior quam villa Mārcī Iūliaeque. Frōns villae mūrō ā maris fluctibus mūniēbātur. Hinc mare et litora et insulae longē lātēque cōnspicī^[8] ac saepe nāvēs longae et onerāriae poterant. Ā tergō et ab utrōque latere agrī ferācissimi patēbant. Undique erat magna variōrum flōrum cōpia et multa ingentium arborum genera quae aestāte^[9] umbram

1. This story is fiction with certain historical facts in Cæsar's career as a setting. However, the events chronicled might have happened, and no doubt did happen to many a Roman youth.
2. A Roman had three names, as, Pūblius (given name), Cornēlius (name of the gēns or clan), Lentulus (family name).
3. Abl. of source, which is akin to the abl. of separation (§ 501. 32).
4. virtūte, § 501. 24.
5. rūrī, § 501. 36. 1.
6. mīlia, § 501. 21.
7. passuum, § 501. 11.
8. cōnspicī, infin. with poterant, § 215. Consult the map of Italy for the approximate location of the villa.
9. aestāte, § 501. 35.