STUFF ABOUT POMPEII!
Today I went to the forum. It was such a brilliant day! There were so many different shops around this place, it was very exciting to go and see. The thing that was very interesting to go and see was when I went into the basilica/court, I saw Caecilius in there! I was thinking to myself, why would Caecilius be here? Then I saw these other two men that were arguing against Caecilius. I thought this would be very interesting to watch. In the end I realised that the two mean we're guilty of stealing Caecilius's money. The name of this man was Hermogenes. In the end Caecilius won and got his money back. After this, I went to go and meet Celer the painter. He did a fantastic painting of me! As I was walking past the shops, I saw Syphax the slave dealer. He obviously didn't realise that I wasn't a citizen from Pompeii so he started persuading me to buy this beautiful young slave named Melissa. It took me a long time to get away from Syphax but luckily Caecilius came along and bought Melissa instead. Phew!
A great thing about visiting Pompeii was that I got a new pair of shoes! The shoemaker sat me down on the chair and made me a fantastic pair of shoes! A really nice thing about the forum is that there are so many different things to go and see, it is unbelievable! I started to walk around in my new shoes for a little while when I came to an open hall where some voting was happening. It looked very serious and formal. I thought it'd probably be best to stay out of it. Another very interesting thing about this trip was listening to the poet reciting his poetry. I thought it was incredibly well spoken. He got a lot of applause from people. One place I felt happy about not visiting was the barber shop because as I walked past Pantagathus, the barber, had cut an old mans face! Caecilius was also waiting there to get his beard shaved but I could tell that he was very unimpressed and looked pretty worried. I was right. Caecilius immediately exited the barbers and so did I! I don't think Caecilius will be going there again!
Just as I was leaving the forum to go home after a long, but exciting day, I spotted a vegetable market. I couldn't resist going there! I bought some fantastic, fresh vegetables that I ate happily for my dinner! Yum!
I enjoyed visiting the forum thoroughly and I shall definitely come back again! Who knows, maybe this time I shall see Caecilius's wife, Metella! What a grand day out!
Thank you for reading, I hope you realised how enjoyable my day was in Pompeii! Maybe you will go there one day...
By Anoushka Umranikar My Life as a Slave Hello there, my name is Annabella and I am the slave of Master Romeus and Mistress Melissa. I have lived a hard and tragic life, but Master and Mistress have always been there for me. Anyway, this is how I became a slave. It was a long, long time ago and my mother had just given birth to her 32nd child, me. I was born into a very rich and wealthy family, enjoying all the luxuries life had to offer. However, my mother and father never used to pay that much attention to me due to the fact that there were so many of us in the house. I lived such a good and happy life until, my father died. My mother was completely heartbroken and we all knew she wouldn't be able to manage everything all by herself. This is when my life turned up side down.
My mother had to get rid of at least 26 of us. Unfortunately, I was never one of mums favourites so I was left on the doorstep outside our house. I was sitting there for days and days until one evening, someone came and picked me up from the doorstep. I was taken to this horrid place with people shouting and exchanging money, I had no idea want was going on. Suddenly I was being tied up and this ugly old man was shouting; "Anyone want her? She's very cheap!" Not one person raised their hand. "Come on, you know you want her!" At that moment, one man raised his hand. The ropes that were tightly holding me were cut and I was violently pushed away. The two men exchanged money and that was it. Before I knew it, I was walking back with a complete stranger. I was now a slave.
I was taken into this massive house and was greeted by a very kind woman. She took me into the atrium and sat me down on these extremely comfy sofas! She told me that she was my mistress and explained the whole story about me becoming a slave. She could tell that I was extremely scared and told me that I should come and meet the other slaves. I was taken into this small, dark sort of room. This is where I would be sleeping, the slave quarters. When I entered the room, all the other slaves were staring at me with utmost disgust. I was left by myself with these slaves and Mistress went away. "Hey! What are you doing here? This is our house, not yours so get lost!" I was completely taken back my this, and was about to leave the room when another slave said, "Guys, don't be so mean to her. You remember what it was like when you first became a slave, don't you? You guys were even more nervous than her, so leave her alone!" After this had been said, not another word came out of the other slaves mouths. "Thanks" I said "Don't worry. Now, do you want me to show you around?" I nodded
This kind slaves name was Flora. She has been working for Romeus and Melissa for 9 years! Longer than any of the slaves in this house put together! She still hasn't been freed though. I felt kind of sorry for her, but she said that she was used to it now, although she would have loved to be freed. Flora said that everyone was kind to her in the house and there was only one thing that made Flora upset. The other slaves. Apparently they were so rude and mean to Flora that she often thought about trying to run away. After Flora showed me around the house, Master called for me. He told me that I would be doing my first ever slave job this evening. He said I would be serving food at a dinner party today. I was very excited at the thought of this, and half an hour before the party Flora gave me some weird clothes to wear. "Here, take this. You will have to wear this tonight." The time had finally come. "Good luck Annabella!"
The evening went so well! All the guests were so impressed with me and Master and Mistress kept smiling at me and giving me the odd nod telling me I was doing well. After the evening was over and all the guests had left, Master and Mistress told me I had done very well and this was going to be my life from now on. As the years went by, slavery became harder and harder and the jobs were becoming more and more laborious. I had to wash the clothes, clean the kitchen, clean the bedrooms, collect food for Julian the cook, and a whole lot of other jobs. Master and Mistress were becoming stricter and stricter with me and the other slaves were becoming more and more horrid, that is all apart from Flora. She stayed as kind as ever and always helped me if I found anything difficult. However, I was one of the luckiest slaves. This was because, my master and mistress gave me breaks sometimes and often let me eat dinner with them. I did feel very loved. As I got older and older, I got more an more bored and tired of being a slave. Flora told me that it doesn't get any better. However, she was wrong.
I was receiving my first ever paying! Master placed three cold coins in my hand and told me to spend it wisely. I couldn't believe it, I was being given money! Master took me into the forum and told me I could go and buy anything that I wanted. I looked around all the shops and I was amazed at all the great things that there were to buy. I was just about to buy something, when I heard a loud cry. I ran out of the shop immediately and went to see what was going on. I couldn't believe my eyes, Master was being attacked and people were stealing his money. I ran as fast as I could and started fighting all the robbers. Within ten minutes I had managed to get all of Masters money back and scared the robbers away. Master was ever so grateful and told me that he had a special treat waiting for me at home. We hurried back to the house and Master quietly told Mistress what had just happened. Then at that moment, Master and Mistress told me I was going to be freed.
Flora had told me all about a slave being freed and she said that it was a very good thing to be freed. However, I had different thoughts on my mind. I thought that there was only one slave in this house who deserved to be freed more than me, Flora. I told Master and Mistress it wasn't me who deserved to be freed. It was Flora. They were both taken aback my this as was Flora. However, in a few days they said if that's what I really wanted, then Flora could be freed. A ceremony was performed for Flora. She had to wear this funny hat and she was tapped on the head with a stick by Master. She was now an ex-slave. I was extremely sad to see Flora go but she came to visit me so many times and was very grateful that I freed her. I often thought that I had made the wrong decision of making Flora free rather than me but it wasn't long until I was free... Master was very ill and was on the edge of dying. Many people tried to cure him but nobody could do it. But I had an idea. When my father died, I saw the doctors make a medicine for him. Unfortunately the doctors didn't make it in time, so father died. I wasn't going to let this happen to Master. No way.
I set to work immediately and within the nick of time I had managed to make the medicine. I gave it to Master to drink, and within days he was better. There was no doubt about Master and Mistress freeing me now. The ceremony was performed on me and I was an exslave now. I said goodbye to Master and Mistress many times, and I told them I would come and visit them soon. After I was freed, I decided to become a doctor. As the years went by, I cured more and more people with Masters medicine and I became one of the best doctors to have lived. Most people think of slavery as a bad thing, but to me, being a slave wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Well, that's with Flora there with me. If I didn't have Flora, I don't know what I would have done!
Masters medicine
My first paying
My first job as a slave
Me and my brothers and sisters