The Nations of Antiquity (simply described for the young) by A. V. V., Updated for the New Millennium

An A-Z series of limericks about the nations of Europe and the Mediterranean present in antiquity.

In The New York Latin Leaflet vol. 5, no. 111, there exists a series of alphabetized limericks written by the poet A. V. V. that cover the various peoples and civilizations in and around the Mediterranean during the period of antiquity. Didactic poetry can be a great way to introduce subjects to students in ways that will stick in the back of their mind until they are able to explore the topics at greater depth. The age of this poem is a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it’s in the public domain and therefore free to reuse and reprint without objection, making it an easy-to-recommend teaching resource. On the other hand, its age shows through certain expressions about and attitudes towards its subjects. If something like this were to be published for wider use, it’d need a nice coat of varnish first, and I figure that that’s something I can provide.

A’s for the ancient Assyrian
Who, in art that set the criterion,
Filled carvings, in halls,
Of lions, on walls,
With pigments that rivaled the Tyrian.

B’s for the builders of Babylon,
Who made all the roads that they traveled on.
They had all their babies 
Next to the Euphrates,
And knew how to ride with no saddle on.

C’s for the crushed Carthaginian
Who marched through Rome’s own claimed dominion.
At Saguntum’s siege
They said “take what you please,”
Which meant war in Hannibal’s opinion.

D’s for the dastardly Delphian,
Who was turned to ‘fore any rebellion.
Sibylline ingenuity 
Left some ambiguity 
To ruin the lives of some hellions.

E’s for the glyptic Egyptian
Who, through the Rosetta inscription
In languages three
Wrote down a decree
Thus we had a way of decryption.

F’s for the fate-driven Frisian,
Who struggled with Rome’s greater vision.
In disputes on the border
On Civilis’ order
They made war to feign real division.

G’s for the land-grabbing Greek,
Who took on the strong and the meek.
Italian coasts
Were claimed for their hosts
So temples built there were unique.