The APA Blog

Proposed Changes to Latin Miss the Mark

"The State College Area School District faces controversial choices about program reductions in next year’s budget. To meet this challenge the district administration recommended phasing out the four-year Latin program at State College Area High School beginning next year. But the vox populi — students, parents, and the community — vigorously defended the importance of Latin to high school education." Read more of Stephen Wheeler's letter here: http://www.centredaily.com/2011/05/05/2691912/proposed-changes-to-latin-miss.html#ixzz1O3aMAaLD.

Posted by Samuel J. Huskey on June 01, 2011 in "News About APA Members" | Permalink

Text and Translation of the Latin Oration Delivered at Princeton

Princeton Classics major Veronica Shi delivered the traditional Latin oration at commencement ceremonies on May 31. Here is the text and translation of her Carmen Salutationis:

Salutatio

Habita in Comitiis Academicis Princetoniae
In Nova Caesarea prid. Kal. Iun.
Anno Salutis MMXI
Anno Academiae CCLXIV

Carmen Salutationis

quibus modis, quîs principiis, amans
Mater, salutem progeniem tuam?
    favete opus, Musae, novis ne
       nunc titubem pedibus rubescens!
nobis aratrix splendida messium
felixque dux, te, praesidium bonum,
    primam saluto, namque florent
       omnia lumine sub tuo; nec
vos nunc silebo, qui sapientia
tuentur Almam semper et omnibus
    Matrem; professoresque laudo
        filia grata scientiamque
eorum cano, quae discipulos alit
virtute, curis et patientia
    benignius: vobis pietas
        magna, amor altus et eruditus.
et vos, parentes: mane scholasticos
nos creditis, quos canticulo meo
   gaudere nunc vidistis: ecce
        spes modo perficimus decoras.

nunc paululo modis minoribus,
sodales, libere vos alloquor;
ignoscite inflatis prioribus
verbis: eram iussa ut modo gravi
cantarem.  nunc autem imprudentias
varias, Musae procaces, pandite (Ha!):
quae lectiones desertae, prius
quae vel licentiae convivia
bacchantis vel longae turpissimi
amoris noctes, et quot et quibus-
cum – quid nunc? vos irascimini mihi?
noli sanctos simulare aut integros;
et cur metuistis? non ullo modo
vestri parentes haec intelligunt.
horum atque si fecisti umquam nihil,
hercle! “Miser!” tantum dicam tibi.
laeti memores este et licentiae
aeque et victoriae, carissimi
(numquam triumphi parca scilicet):
omnia sciens ignoscit omnibus
Mater; non semper vita vera ita est.
nostram vitam tigridis quam splendidam!
sed cuique, sodales, nostrum hic parcius
tempus datum, vae, fatis invidis.

huc redibunt aestiferi dies, sub
limpido caelo foliis vigebit
flammeis Autumnus, et alba mox et
     frigida bruma
vere solvetur vice. nos tamen non
huc redimus; nos, abituri amici,
ex pylis late gerimus, calentes
     cordibus altis,
signa doctrinae: variis alumnis
Mater auget mundum iterum suis. sic
saecula excedunt.  semel, ergo, amici
     progredientes
ac simul cantamus, “Io, Triumphe!”
gestientes, et bis, “Io, Triumphe!”
dicimus caeloque feremus alto
     nobile nomen
Princetoniensis, memores sodalum
atque honesti.  nunc ego “Ave,” beati,
non “Vale” dicam, atque “Fidelitate
     semper amate.”

Salutation

Given in the Academic Assembly of Princeton
In New Jersey on the 31^st of May
In the year 2011
In the 264^th Academic Year

Salutatory Poem

With what measures, what beginnings, loving
Mother, should I greet your progeny?
    Bless this endeavor, Muses, so that I
        don’t stumble blushing over untried feet!
Glorious tiller of harvests for us
and prosperous leader: you, good
    guardian, I first salute, for all things
        flourish under your guiding light; nor
Will I pass by in silence all of you who
wisely protect our kindly mother, always
   and for all.  Our professors too I praise
        as a grateful daughter, and I sing
Of their scholarship, which nurtures their students
with special kindness, excellently, attentively,
    patiently: your devotion to us
        is great, your attachment deep and learned.
And you, our parents: this morning you believe
that we are scholars, since you have seen us
    take pleasure in my little song: behold,
        now we fulfill your honorable hopes.

Now, in rather humbler meters
I address you candidly, friends:
forgive me for being highfalutin just now –
I was told to sing in a serious manner.
But now, naughty Muses, reveal far and wide
all the various indiscretions of this class (Ha!):
the lectures we’ve ditched, the parties
of raging, Bacchic licentiousness we’ve thrown,
the long nights of shameful love, and how many
and with whom we spent them –
What now?  Getting annoyed with me?
Don’t pretend you’re a bunch of saints or innocents –
and why fear?  There’s no way at all
your parents can understand what I’m saying.
And if you’ve really never done any of these –
Great Hercules!  I say only this to you: “Miserable wretch!”
Cherish the memory of your foibles
as well as your success, o friends
(not that our Mother was ever grudging with success):
She knows all, but forgives: Real Life isn’t always like that.
What joy it has been to be a young tiger!
But the jealous Fates, friends, have given
each of us, alas, only a short time here.

Here the heat-bearing days will return;
beneath a crisp sky, Autumn will flourish
in its fiery foliage, and then soon hoary,
     freezing Winter
will be dissolved by Spring’s changes.  But we
do not return here; we, friends, will depart
from these gates, bearing far and wide, aflame
     with lofty hearts,
the standards of our learning: with her diverse progeny
our Mother again enriches the world.  So
the generations advance onward.  Marching once
    and only once, then, friends,
and all together, we sing, “Hurrah, Victory!”
exulting, and twice again say, “Hurrah, Victory!”
and will lift to heaven’s lofty arch
     the noble name
of Princeton, keeping each other close to our hearts,
ever forthright.  Blessed friends, I shall say “Hail,” not
“Farewell,” and this too: “With undying loyalty,
     love each other always.”

Posted by Samuel J. Huskey on June 01, 2011 in "Classics in the News" | Permalink

Winter 2011 Newsletter Now Available as PDF

The Winter 2011 Newsletter is now available for downloading as a pdf. It is also available online.

Posted by Samuel J. Huskey on May 25, 2011 in "APA Announcements" | Permalink

Conference: Cinema and Antiquity: 2000-2011

The 1st J.P. Postgate Colloquium, University of Liverpool
12-14 July 2011

The resurgence of cinema’s interest in antiquity that was triggered by the release of Gladiator in 2000 shows no signs of abating. In 2010-11, many more ancient world films have been appearing on our screens (Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief; Clash of the Titans; Agora; Centurion; The Eagle; not to mention the TV series Spartacus: Blood and Sand). The public appetite for films that deal with ancient history and mythology apparently remains strong, and ‘classics and film’ courses have established themselves in universities worldwide, leading the way in the increasing prominence of reception studies within classics and ancient history. The time is ripe for reflection on these developments. This major international conference seeks to explore the directions that have been taken in a decade of moviemaking and scholarship, and to advance the field by concentrating on issues too often overlooked.

All registration and payment details are available online at http://sace.liv.ac.uk/cinemaantiquity/. The deadline for registration is 30 June 2011.

Please contact the conference organisers, Joanna Paul (Joanna.Paul AT @liv.ac.uk) or Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (L.Llewellyn-Jones AT ed.ac.uk) for further information.

Posted by Samuel J. Huskey on May 25, 2011 in "Conferences, Lectures, and Meetings" | Permalink

CFP: The XVIth World Economic History Congress

8-13 July 2012, Stellenbosch, South Africa

Ancient History Session
Panel Title: “Transport infrastructure and economic development in the Roman World (1st c. BC – 6th c. AD)”

We are organising a panel at the XVIth World Economic History Congress (Ancient History session)

According to the analyses of modern scholars, the Roman Empire developed one of the most successful pre-industrial economies. This said, in what ways and to what extent could the Roman economy perform better than previous (and indeed later) economies? Factors of economic development such as the favourable conditions offered by internal peace and the unification of the Mediterranean World in one empire have often been explored. However, much less attention has been paid to understand what impact the Roman network of infrastructures had on economic growth. Doubtless, the establishment of a network of land, river and sea routes greatly fostered communication between the different areas of the Empire. Yet, what was its bearing on the development of the Roman economy?

In the wake of the main theme of the congress, "Exploring the Roots of Development", this panel aims to demonstrate how the infrastructure built by the Romans helped the economy and especially trade to develop. More significantly, this session will attempt to reconstruct the official policy conceived by Roman rulers and administrators in order to create and constantly improve this network. By combining theoretical and case-study papers with a specific focus on the Eastern part of the Empire, this panel will explore the possibility that an integrated transport system existed in the Roman World and that its establishment and improvement represented major factors of economic development and growth.

We welcome papers that meet either of the following criteria:

a) Theoretical studies. These papers should investigate how public initiative (whether driven by imperial action or promoted by local administrators) aimed to develop a coherent and Empire-wide system of communication and transport which triggered economic growth.

b) Regional studies. Ideally, papers that qualify for this criterion will concentrate on a region within the Eastern part of the Roman Empire. Such papers should aim to bring out the economic effects that the development of a network of infrastructures had on the region studied and show how the newly established links contributed to connecting this and other areas thus creating a global economy, albeit in an embryonic stage.

Please send abstracts of no more than 500 words to Dario Nappo dario.nappo AT classics.ox.ac.uk or to Andrea Zerbini andrea.zerbini.2008 AT rhul.ac.uk by 31 May 2011.

Posted by Samuel J. Huskey on May 25, 2011 in "Calls for Papers" | Permalink

CFP: Annual Meeting of the Classical Association (UK)

In 2012 the annual meeting of the Classical Associa­tion will be hosted by the Department of Classics & Ancient His­tory at the University of Exeter. The dates for the conference are 11th-14th April 2012. The plenary lectures and panels will be held on campus in the Peter Chalk Centre. Accom­modation and meals will also be pro­vided on campus in Holland Hall and Mardon Hall, with the possibility for those who should wish it of individual bookings in nearby hotels. Excursions will be arranged to places of interest in Exeter and in the surrounding area.

We welcome proposals for papers (20 minutes long followed by discussion) and coordinated panels (comprising either 3 or 4 papers) from graduate students, school teachers, academic staff, and others interested in the ancient world on the topics suggested below, or on any other aspect of the clas­sical world. We are keen to encourage papers from a broad range of perspectives.

Suggested topics: Hellenistic and Roman culture; globalisation and cosmopolitanism; impact of Greek culture; use of language in antiquity; the Black Sea;Galen and ancient medicine; the ancient book/material text; reading in antiquity;modern receptions of ancient erotica and sex; concepts of authenticity and the fake; ancient ideas and their reception; sport, spectacle and festival; gift-giving; food, culture and the environment; politics, religion and ideology.

We also warmly encourage submissions for non-research presentations such as dramatic performances of ancient texts, introductory workshops on technical disciplines such as papyrology and palaeography, spoken Latin conversation sessions, oral reading workshops, etc.

Please send your title, abstract (no more than 300 words), and any enquiries (preferably by e-mail) not later than 31 August 2011, to: cah-ca2012 AT ex.ac.uk

Posted by Samuel J. Huskey on May 25, 2011 in "Calls for Papers" | Permalink

CFP: Penn-Leiden Colloquia on Ancient Values VII

The Penn-Leiden Colloquia on Ancient Values were established as a biennial venue in which scholars could investigate the diverse aspects of Greek and Roman values. Each colloquium focuses on a single theme, which participants explore from a diversity of perspectives and disciplines. A collection of papers from the first colloquium, held at Leiden in 2000, was published in 2003 under the title ‘Andreia’— Manliness and Courage in Classical Antiquity, edd. Ralph M. Rosen and Ineke Sluiter. This was followed by Free Speech in Classical Antiquity, (2005), City, Countryside, and the Spatial Organization of Value in Classical Antiquity (2006), KAKOS: Badness and Anti-Values in Classical Antiquity (2008), Valuing Others in Classical Antiquity (2010), and Aesthetic Value in Classical Antiquity (in preparation).

The topic of the seventh colloquium, to be held at the University of Leiden, the Netherlands, June 15-16, 2012, will be:

Valuing Antiquity in Antiquity

The ‘classical tradition’ is no invention of modernity. Already in ancient Greece and Rome, the privileging of the ancient over the present and future played an integral role in social and cultural discourses of every period. In this colloquium we want to examine this temporal organization of value and the mechanisms by which it was produced and sustained—in other words, ancient valuations of antiquity as expressions of lived value-systems. How did specific Greek and Roman communities use notions of antiquity to define themselves or others? What models from the past proved most acceptable or desirable (or not) for political practice or for self-fashioning? What groups were the main agents, or audiences, of such discourses on the value of antiquity, and what were their priorities and their motivations? What were the differences between Roman and Greek approaches, or between antiquarianism, genealogy, classicism, nostalgia, canonization and their opposites? How did temporal systems for ascribing value intersect with the organization of space, the production of narrative, or the espousal and application of aesthetic criteria?

For the seventh Penn-Leiden colloquium, we invite abstracts for papers (30 minutes) that address ‘the past in the past’ along these lines. We hope to bring together researchers in all areas of classical studies, including literature, philosophy, linguistics, history, and visual and material culture, and hope to discover the significant points of intersection and difference between these areas of focus.

Selected papers will be considered for publication by Brill Publishers. Those interested in presenting a paper are requested to submit a 1-page abstract, by email (preferable) or regular mail, by Friday November 18th, 2011.

Contact (please copy both with email correspondence):

Posted by Samuel J. Huskey on May 25, 2011 in "Calls for Papers" | Permalink

CFP: Poetic Language and Religion in Greece and Rome

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, MAY, 31 MAY / 1 JUNE, 2012

We welcome paper proposals for the Conference on «Poetic Language and Religion in Greece and Rome», organized by the Research Group on Classical Philology at the University of Santiago de Compostela. A maximum of 20 proposals will be included in the Conference programme.

Studies on the ‘Indogermanische Dichtersprache’ (‘Indo-European poetic language’) have proved fruitful thanks to the successful combined application of philological and linguistic methods when researching the spiritual background of ancient peoples, especially in Greece and Rome. This Conference intends to benefit from this methodological tradition to incorporate the new approaches to the analysis and exegesis of poetic texts, as privileged bearers of the religious thought of Greece and Rome.

Our aim is to join researchers in the fields of classical studies and linguistics to discuss key issues such as:

• The Indo-European poetic language and its reflection in the Greek and Roman context.
• Phonic, rhythmic and lexical elements in Greek and Latin poetry: its religious character.
• Greek and Latin poetic genres: religious origins and developments.
• The interrelation of literary expression, religion and thought.
• Overlapping of related areas: elements of poetry in the Greco-Roman magic.

Keynote speakers [provisional titles]:

• José Luis García Ramón (University of Cologne): «Religious Onomastics in Greece and Italy and Indoeuropean Poetic Language»
• Manuel Garcia Teijeiro (University of Valladolid): «The Language of the Gods and of the Ghosts»
• Alex Hardie (University of Edinborough): «Eastern Muses»
• Emilio Suárez de la Torre (Universidad Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona): «Poetic Language or Religious Language? On the Interplay of Poetry and Ritual in Ancient Greece»

Communications should not exceed 25-30 min. We welcome abstracts addressing, among other topics:

• Survival of formulas of the Indo-European poetic language
• Poetic language and religious language
• The language of magic and the language of poetry
• Poetic and prophetic language
• Characterization of Greek and Roman cultic poetry
• Greek and Roman poetry on religious antiques
• The possibility of secular poetry in Greece and Rome

Titles and abstracts (about 200 words) should be sent to J. V. García Trabazo [josevirgilio.garcia AT usc.es] or A. Ruiz Pérez [angel.ruiz AT usc.es] before 27 November 2011. Answers on the acceptance of paper proposals before 01.20.2012. The fee will be €40 (€20 for undergraduates)

Postal address and Conference Venue:

Posted by Samuel J. Huskey on May 25, 2011 in "Calls for Papers" | Permalink

Students Visit Ancient Rome Without Leaving Clarks Green Classrooms

"Second-grader Joshua Jayne was decked out as a Roman centurion Tuesday, surrounded by classmates in bedsheets, as they visited ancient Rome in their own school cafeteria. Each year, Abington Christian Academy holds a living history day to give students a chance for hands-on learning, said school administrator Jan Wells." Read more: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/students-visit-ancient-rome-without-leaving-clarks-green-classrooms-1.1152101#ixzz1NNOaWZx4

Posted by Samuel J. Huskey on May 25, 2011 in "Classics in the News" | Permalink

Salutatorian Brings Latin to Life as ‘Something Really Beautiful’

Princeton's web site has a nice story about Veronica Shi, a classics major, who will deliver the traditional Latin oration at commencement ceremonies on May 31. Read it online here.

Posted by Samuel J. Huskey on May 24, 2011 in "Classics in the News" | Permalink