Fortes fortuna iuvat – {Fortune favours the bold (Pliny)}

He was one of the few undergraduates on the Cambridge classics course to have come from a comprehensive rather than a selective state or independent school – which reflects the fact that relatively few comprehensives offer Latin.

Tom Russell, 20, went to Milton Road Primary, where he recalls especially enjoying his year with former Year-5 teacher, John Adey. Having taken early retirement, John Adey is now in his first year at Wolfson College reading Hebrew Studies.

It was at Chesterton Community College that Tom's love for Latin developed. “Latin was offered as an extra subject taught outside school hours and about 30 of us signed up. Luckily, no-one thought we were odd,” he says.

“We did the Cambridge Latin Course with Gill Mead, who was also the school librarian and had all sorts of clever ploys to keep us interested. She taught us about the perfect passive participle (having been) by using jelly beans, which she called “having beans”. I remember reading Goldilocks and the Three Bears in Latin. Porridge in Latin is puls.”

In 2002 Tom achieved Chesterton's best ever GCSE results, which were one of the best of all those in the city's schools, both state and independent. He says: “I took 12 GCSEs which was a bit unusual.”

From Chesterton, Tom went on to Hills Road Sixth Form College. “At Hills Road we had another excellent teacher, Lynn Gordon.

“There were no more jelly beans but we laughed a lot and I remember getting really fired up about Cicero, which I loved because of his melodramatic diatribes and the rather lascivious nature of the speech we were studying, which revolved around adultery and poisonings.”

Because he had not studied Greek at school, Tom attended the JACT (Joint Association of Classical Teachers) Greek Summer School at Bryanston School – both in the summer after AS levels and again after A levels as a preliminary requirement for the Cambridge Classics course.

“Bryanston was a bit of a shock at first – Greek was quite tough and I didn't know anyone there, but I soon made some friends, some of whom remained good friends at Cambridge. We covered a lot in the two weeks there which was a great foundation for reading actual Greek texts in my first year. Although it was quite challenging the teaching was excellent and you got a lot of support.”

“Like most subjects, the more you study classics, the more interesting it gets. At first, it's satisfying to be working out the endings and meanings, like solving a puzzle. Then you get to read some great entertaining stuff like Petronius' “Satyricon” and Aristophanes' comedies,” he says.

Tom won several prizes during his three years at Cambridge – including the Henry Arthur Thomas Travel Grant which enabled him to visit Rome for the first time. But it hasn't been all plain sailing.

“I walked out of my last first year Latin composition exam which was optional, because I just couldn't face any more exams. It was on the last possible day and everyone I knew had finished and was busy celebrating. In the second year the sheer volume of texts to read was a real challenge. But it's all been worthwhile,” he says.

With a first in classics from Cambridge, Tom is able to choose from a number of career avenues. At the moment, however, he is considering his next move. “I don't really fancy a pressured job in the City, but neither do I want to do something purely academic,” he says.

Hunc locum spectate - or watch this space!