The Lays of Ancient Rome are five ballads written by the Englishman Thomas Babington Macaulay and published in 1842. These ballads (lays) celebrate events and heroes in ancient Roman history, and Horatius at the Bridge is the most famous of Macaulay’s ballads. Ballads are narratives that are composed and sung orally. In more primitive societies, before the development of writing, they were an essential means of remembering and celebrating the past.
 
There are, however, no existing ballads from the ancient Romans. Macaulay thought these ballads must have existed and probably served as a primary source for Roman historians, such as Livy. And so Macaulay wrote The Lays of Ancient Rome, ballads that celebrate famous events in Roman history, written in a style and meter that would be appropriate for the ancient Romans. The Lays carry messages about values, patriotism, courage, and sacrifice that Macaulay considered relevant to his own time. Horatius at the Bridge is the ballad that “might have been,” had it not been lost in time. Macaulay published his Lays in 1842, and considered them a trifle. His trifle was a publishing phenomenon and since its first release, has never been out of print.
 
The text includes the full ballad, Horatius at the Bridge. The Student Guide includes exercises, maps, history background, and comprehension questions. The Teacher Guide includes all answers to the Student Guide. Student exercises include:
Definitions of words used in the poem
Explanations of phrases
Identification of persons in the context of the poem
Location of place names through the use of maps
Reading questions
Summarizations of individual verses that have a common thread
Research of poem references
 
Horatius at the Bridge Sample
Student Guide Sample
Teacher Guide Sample