The Paninis of Pompeii. Andy Stanton

      

      First published in Great Britain MMXIX

      by Egmont UK Limited

      The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN

      Text copyright © MMXIX Andy Stanton

      Illustrations copyright © MMXIX Sholto Walker

      The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted

      First e-book edition 2019

      ISBN 978 1 4052 9385 3

      Ebook ISBN 978 1 40529 486 7

       www.egmont.co.uk

      A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library

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       For Polly, Luke and Sonny; and for Clemmy, the greediest cat in Londinium – AS

       For Louis. Ut tibi auxillo esse ridiculam – SW

       CONTENTS

       Cover

       Title page

       Copyright

       Dedication

CAECILIUS AND HIS FAMILY

LIFE IN POMPEII

CAECILIUS AND BARKUS WOOFERINICUM

       FILIUS AND SLAVIUS

       THE MA-WOL-N-F

       AT THE BATHS

       FILIUS AND THE CURIOUS OBJECT

       THE CHALLENGE IN THE FORUM

       LEARN LATIN WITH CAECILIUS

       Back series promotional page

       CAECILIUS AND HIS FAMILY

      Now, back in Roman Times there lived a fat merchant by the name of Caecilius Maximus Panini. Caecilius was so fat that he looked a bit like a large football with a face on top, and this is what the name ‘Caecilius’ means: large football with a face on top. Caecilius had a lovely wife called Vesuvius, which means ‘Woman married to a guy who looks like a large football with a face on top’. And he had a little son called Filius, which means ‘Filius’. Filius was ten years old, or as the Romans said, he was X years old. The Romans were always using letters instead of numbers and do you know why? It was because they were very stupid people indeed.

      Now, not only was Caecilius a fat merchant – he was a fart merchant too. You see, like many businessmen of that time, Caecilius was in the fart trade. He would buy farts down the market on a Friderificus morning for two buzzle-swuzzles each (buzzle-swuzzles were the names of the coins in those days), and then on Saturanium – yes, the very next day! – he’d return to the market and sell them back to the same people he’d just bought them off – but this time for five buzzle-swuzzles each.

      In this way, Caecilius had grown immensely rich. And he now had over thirty thousand buzzle-swuzzles in the bank. Thirty