End of Year Review · Latin I

Escape from Pompeii

Seven locks. Seven kinds of Latin. One way out — before Vesuvius decides for you.

AD 79  ·  Pompeii

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© The Classical Couple.

Mission Briefing

The Ground Is Shaking

The forum at Pompeii, with Mount Vesuvius visible in the distance

The year is AD 79. You are a guest in the house of Caecilius, a wealthy banker in Pompeii.

It is an ordinary afternoon — until the ground begins to shake. Mount Vesuvius is erupting.

The household's doors have sealed shut behind seven ancient locks, each guarded by a different kind of puzzle.

Crack a crossword. Untangle an anagram. Break a cipher. Match your vocabulary. Translate a warning. Read the omen in the numbers.

Solve all seven, and the way out is yours.

How to Escape

Seven Locks Stand Between You and the Door

1

Work through all seven locks. Each one is a different kind of Latin puzzle.

2

Type your answer and press Check. Get it right and the next lock opens — get it wrong and you can try again.

3

Watch the dots at the top of the page fill in gold as you solve each lock.

4

Solve all seven, and the villa doors finally give way.

1

Crossword

Verba Reticulāta

Fill in every cell in the grid using the clues below, then press Check. There's no shortcut — the whole grid has to be right to open the lock.

Across

2. Caecilius's ___ in Pompeii (5)
5. he cooks the family's dinner (6)
6. the mountain that is erupting (4)
7. she ___ in the garden — sits (5)
9. she is the mother of the household (5)

Down

1. it barks in the courtyard (5)
3. a young Roman boy (4)
4. the master of the house (7)
5. ash — what is falling from the sky (5)
8. he/she/it ___ — gives (3)
2

Anagrams

Verba Mixta

Unscramble all five words. Every one describes what's happening around you right now.

S U E R U I O C P S L
dangerous (11 letters)
U U E I R M S S T
half-collapsed (9 letters)
M U F S U
smoke (5 letters)
E B S I U L R T
a freedman — a former slave, now free (8 letters)
O A L C R M
a shout, uproar (6 letters)
3

Caesar Cipher

Cōdex Caesaris

Julius Caesar himself used this trick to send secret messages: shift every letter three places earlier in the alphabet to decode. The message is a question — decode it, then answer it.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C
PDJQXV VXP LQJHQV VXP LQFHQGLXP LQ PH HVW FLQLV HA PH YHQLW TXLG VXP

Each letter in the message shifts BACK three places. Decode the whole thing before you'll know what's being asked — then type your answer below.

4

Matching

Verba Iūncta

All nine forms below come from just two verb stems — sedeō (to sit) and labōrō (to work). Drag each English meaning onto the Latin form it matches; the ending tells you the person, number, and tense.

5

Picture Count

Numerī

The picture below has been scattered into 24 pieces — click two to swap them. Each piece locks in place once it's correct. When the whole picture is assembled, six counting questions will appear — in Latin, they ask quot ("how many") of each thing you can find.

A Roman street in Pompeii with Vesuvius erupting behind the forum

Click two pieces to swap them. Correct pieces lock in place — keep going until the whole picture is assembled.

6

Odd One Out

Verbum Dīversum

Piles of word-tiles litter the floor — three fit together, one doesn't. Drag out the odd tile. Find all 15 to learn what's happening in the villa.

The Cave Canem (Beware of the Dog) mosaic from Pompeii
_____ _____. _____ _____ _____; _____ _____. _____ _____. _____ _____ _____ _____. _____ _____!

Now that the story is whole, answer these in Latin:

7

Final Rebus

Verbum Ultimum

One last word stands between you and the door. Each clue below points back to a different lock you already solved. Work out the Latin word each one describes and type it in.

1
Back in the crossword, what's the Latin word for "mountain"?
2
One of your anagrams named a freed slave who still serves the household — who was he?
3
In the cipher's riddle, what Latin word means "comes"?
4
In the matching puzzle, which Latin form means "he works"?
5
Your picture-count puzzle asked how many of these huge stone stadiums you could see — what are they called?
6
In the story you pieced together tile by tile, what blazed as the mountain shook?

You're almost there! Arrange these letters to make a word.

All Seven Locks Solved

You Escaped Pompeii

The door swings open just as the ash begins to fall. Well done, Roman.

1mōns
2familia
3vir
4sedeō
5canēs
6vīlla
7clāmā!