Quintus Caecilius Iucundus is the star of the Cambridge Latin Course

Cambridge Latin Course

The Cambridge Latin Course is a series of textbooks published by Cambridge University Press, used to teach Latin to secondary school students. First published in 1970, the series is now in its fifth edition, and has sold over 3.5 million copies...

 series of books, set in the Ancient Roman Empire

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

. He was the son of wealthy banker Lucius Caecilius Iucundus

Lucius Caecilius Iucundus

Lucius Caecilius Iucundus was a banker who lived in the Roman town of Pompeii around 20 - 62 AD. His house still stands and can be seen in the ruins of the city Pompeii. It was partially destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79...

 and his wife Metella, all of whom were real people and who lived in Pompeii before AD79

79

Year 79 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Vespasianus...

.

In Book One, the reader finds Quintus as a mischievous teenager in Pompeii

Pompeii

The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...

 in the year before it is destroyed by the volcano Mount Vesuvius

Mount Vesuvius

Mount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years, although it is not currently erupting...

. As Caecilius is dying, he sends his slave Clemens

Cambridge Latin Course

The Cambridge Latin Course is a series of textbooks published by Cambridge University Press, used to teach Latin to secondary school students. First published in 1970, the series is now in its fifth edition, and has sold over 3.5 million copies...

 to find Quintus, and give him the rights to Caecilius' property and fortune.

In Book Two, the reader finds Quintus in Roman Britain

Roman Britain

Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...

, living with his cousin Salvius

Gaius Salvius Liberalis

Gaius Salvius Liberalis may refer to:* Gaius Salvius Liberalis , Roman religious leader & government administrator* Gaius Salvius Liberalis , fictional character...

, who is also a real historical figure. They enjoy several adventures together and with other inhabitants of Britain. The book then travels back in time to Alexandria

Alexandria

Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...

, in Roman Egypt, where Quintus frees his slave Clemens and befriends Barbillus, a very rich Roman.

In Book Three, Quintus and Salvius become enemies, as Salvius plots to kill a friend of Quintus'. Salvius accuses Quintus of treason, but Quintus follows his moral compass and attempts to foil the murder. The book then goes back in time to Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, where Quintus is not present.

Quintus does not turn up in Book IV, and does not reappear until the last stories of Book V when old friend Salvius goes on trial.

Popular culture

Quintus and his family appeared in "The Fires of Pompeii

The Fires of Pompeii

"The Fires of Pompeii" is the second episode of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 12 April 2008....

", an episode of Doctor Who

Doctor Who

Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...

. They escape the destruction of Pompeii, being transported to safety in the TARDIS

TARDIS

The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...

.

Real people with similar names

• Quintus Caecilius Metellus (died 175 BC)
  Quintus Caecilius Metellus (died 175 BC)
  Quintus Caecilius Metellus was a son of Lucius Caecilius Metellus. He was Pontiff in 216 BC, Aedile of the Plebeians in 209 BC and 208 BC, Consul in 205 BC, Dictator in 203 BC and Ambassador at the Court of Philip V of Macedon in 185 BC.He served as a Legate in the army of Gaius Claudius Nero and...
  
  
• Quintus Caecilius Metellus (III)
  Quintus Caecilius Metellus (III)
  Quintus Caecilius Metellus , was the owner of a palace in Tampillium on the Quirinal Hill, with a beautiful hanging garden in oriental style, with towers and terraces surrounded by a grove of trees, beside of a house and a tomb at the Fifth Mile of the Appian Way, where he was buried, having his...
  
  (born c. 130 BC)