Students love Steven Saylor's Murder on the Appian Way when we encounter Cicero's Pro Milone and Asconius'  account of Milo's trial in the Ecce Romani 3 series.

Although this book didn't make the Top Five on Pop Classics' Murder Mysteries, other Saylor novels did.  If you are interested in reading more Roman historical fiction, check out this list:

Both men are trying to save their respective cities from wild animals.  I wonder if Alan Parris is named after Paris of Troy?

I never liked adverbs  in 8th grade, and now I see students struggling with them.  Here is a fun way to help you remember some from LATIN HUMOR:


AT FIRST I did not know PRIMO
and ALMOST despaired of PAENE;
BUT I knew SED;
and WHILE I was studying DUM,
I SUDDENLY recognized SUBITO
and IMMEDIATELY STATIM became familiar.
AT THAT TIME TUM seemed hard
and I wrestled IN VAIN with FRUSTRA,
but I ALREADY knew IAM
and EVEN ETIAM;
and I SOON acquired MOX.
I NEVER recognize NUMQUAM
and FORMERLY I found QUONDAM difficult
while FOR A LONG TIME DIU puzzled me,
and I studied NEQUIQUAM TO NO PURPOSE,
but I have ALWAYS known SEMPER
and NOW I am sure of NUNC;
I can, THEREFORE, conquer IGITUR.
I am NOT YET familiar with NONDUM;
I know TAMEN, HOWEVER;
MOREOVER AUTEM is an old friend,
while TAM is SO simple
THAT UT will be easy.
I hope to learn SIMUL at THE SAME TIME
FOR I do know NAM
and have OFTEN met SAEPE.
THUS I was learning SIC
and had SCARCELY made sure of VIX,
when ONCE UPON A TIME I found I knew OLIM;
THEN I learned INDE,
THEN DEINDE,
and FINALLY I shall master DENIQUE.
MEANWHILE I am struggling with INTEREA,
and AS SOON AS I learn SIMUL ATQUE
I shall AT LENGTH know TANDEM,
and PERHAPS FORSITAN.
AFTERWARDS I mean to learn POSTEA,
and when I have met ITERUM a SECOND TIME
I hope to know QUOQUE ALSO.

From Totallylookslike.com:

I have had this 1995 cover of actor Keanu Reeves up because his favorite class in high school was LATIN.  Now, I finally can add another pic (16 years later).  Mindy Kaling of NBC's The Office was a Latin whiz in high school and entered Dartmouth as a Classics major.  She graduated with a playwright degree instead.

We have been talking a lot about chariot racing in Latin class and watching the famous circus scene from Ben Hur.  Now, like all good films, it is now a musical.