Lesson 9 - Curse you all, again!!

Noli perire!

Another week with a big language focus so that we could curse and order not just on one person, but many. To do this, we learned the plural imperative. What's more, we learned how to form any imperative, singular or plural, from the infinitive of the verb. The infinitive ('to ...') form of the verb is a handy, handy friend and we'll meet it loads more in the coming weeks.

We then looked at some curse inscriptions recovered from the baths at Bath (Aquae Sulis) - top-notch nastiness. Don't ever steal anyone's girlfriend in Bath.

After all this intensive cursing, we took a few moments to consider whether curses actually work. Benedict very astutely commented that curses only work if the curser and cursee believe in them - they rely heavily on the power of suggestion and biased thinking (see this site for a more detailed explanation). We watched a scientific investigation into one of the most famous curses of all: the Curse of King Tutankhamun's Tomb, which seemed to be responsible for the deaths of many people (and dogs!) associated with the tomb's excavation. But with a little scientific and rational thinking, it turned out that the 'curse' could be explained away.

We've had a few intensive language weeks, and we've got another one next week, but don't forget that Saturnalia is on the horizon. We'll be celebrating the Roman season of fun with our Great Roman Bake-Off on the 5th December, and our British Museum Treasure Hunt on the 12th December.

Valete omnes! (which is a plural imperative, as you know...)