The Last Girls of Pompeii
By Kathryn Lasky
1. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, what is Julia’s disability?
Her left arm is small, limp, and withered (p. 2)
2. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, what is Sura’s relationship to Julia?
Sura is Julia’s slave (p. 2)
3. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, what would Julia’s deformed arm have been referred to
during the time of the Republic?
The Curse of Venus (p. 3)
4. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, what does Julia’s sister Cornelia say would have happened
to Julia if she had been born a hundred years earlier?
She would have been left on a hillside to die because of her deformity (p. 4)
5. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, why were children with deformities like Julia’s sometimes
abandoned?
Because people thought they had special, frightening powers (pp. 4-5)
6. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, why did Julia’s mother go to see augurs?
Because they predicted the future and she was uncertain about Cornelia’s wedding day (pp. 5-6)
7. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, how did Sura become a slave?
She and her brother had been kidnapped from their family when she was a little girl (p. 12)
8. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, what is the hair dye made of that Julia’s mom uses?
Animal fat and ash (p. 17)
9.
In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, what is the ordo and what is Julia’s father’s role in it?
The ordo is the city council and Julia’s father was elected one of the magistrates (p. 18)
10. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, what do people say the Sibyl of Sarnus reads?
Fish eyes (p. 26)
11. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, what happened to Cornelia’s first fiancé?
He left Cornelia for a slave girl (p. 28)
12. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, what does the Sibyl of Sarnus tell Julia when she, her
mother, and her sister visit to ask about Cornelia’s wedding date?
The Sibyl of Sarnus tells Julia that when snow comes in summer, it’s time to leave (p. 32)
13. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, where does Julia’s mom stop at on their way home that
makes Julia very uncomfortable because of her deformed arm?
The women’s baths (p. 36)
14. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, besides being embarrassed about her deformed arm, what
other thing does Julia hate about the women’s baths?
The constant joking about everyone’s private parts (p. 38)
15. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, why did Sura hate going to Stephanus, the fuller, who
laundered clothes?
Because he makes unwanted advances towards Sura and it makes her uncomfortable (p. 43)
16. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, what does the fuller use to soak clothes in to make them
softer and easier to work with?
Urine (p. 45)
17. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, when Sura and Julia visit Stephanus the fuller how does his
hand get hurt?
He tries to touch Sura’s bottom, but gets stuck with Julia’s hairpin instead (p. 47)
18. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, how should you enter the dining room as to not bring bad
luck?
You should enter with your right foot first (p. 49)
19. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, how does Julia’s mom describe her Aunt Livia?
Coarse – in looks and conduct (p. 52)
20. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, what does Cornelia do to Sura at dinner just because she
knows it will annoy Julia?
Cornelia wipes her greasy hands on Sura’s long hair (p. 54)
21. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, why is Julia’s Aunt Livia so interested in the upcoming
games?
Because she’s in love with Gavianus, the gladiator (p. 58)
22. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, what was unusual about the water in the fountains?
Hardly any water was flowing (p. 59)
23. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, what did Julia’s Aunt Livia announce at dinner that upset
Julia and her cousin Marcus?
That Marcus was getting married soon (p. 55)
24. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, how are Julia’s parents getting enough money for a
donation to the temple and an expensive wedding for Cornelia?
They are going to sell Sura to Stephanus the fuller (pp. 63-64)
25. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, what does Sura’s brother tell her that makes her feel
better?
He is saving money so that he can buy their freedom (pp. 72-73)
26. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, what did Julia’s parents plan for her future?
They were planning to send her to a serve at a temple (pp. 104-105)
27. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, what did Sura promise the guard to get in to visit Julia’s
cousin Marcus?
A kiss (p. 108)
28. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, how does Julia’s cousin Marcus plan to blackmail his
mother?
He will threaten to tell his father about her affair with the gladiator and he will threaten to cut
her allowance after his father dies (p. 112)
29. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, what did Sura see on the sign after she left Marcus that
upset her?
The sign said that her brother, a gladiator, was going to be fighting Gavianus, a gladiator who
was undefeated (p. 114)
30. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, what does Marcus suggest to Julia that they do to avoid
her being sent to the temple?
Run away during her sister’s wedding and get married (pp. 129-130)
31. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, what did Sura’s brother do to defeat Gavianus?
He used his shield as a mirror to blind him (p. 138)
32. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, what did Cornelia give Julia on the day of her wedding?
A parrot (p. 152)
33. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, what was the smell Julia and Marcus had smelled at the
fountains?
Sulfur from inside the earth (p. 157)
34. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, why did Marcus leave Julia when they decided to run away
from the volcano?
He went to get a wedding band (p. 159, p. 174)
35. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, who was the Sybil of Sarnus?
Julia’s mother’s sister (p. 167, p. 169)
36. In the book The Last Girls of Pompeii, how was Julia like her aunt?
Her aunt had a withered arm like Julia (p. 167)