your favourite author

I've added a poll to my blog to let you vote for your favourite Roman author (you have to scroll down a bit to see it). I've only included the authors I've studied this year with my senior classes: Virgil, Cicero, Catullus, Horace and Ovid. If you vote, leave me a comment explaining who you voted for and why.

I had a similar poll set up ages ago, I don't remember what the figures were, but you can read a brief bio of each author as well as some of the comments here.

videmus*

I stumbled across some hilarious youtube videos the other of Eddie Izzard giving some reflections both on learning Latin and on Roman history more generally. I've never really seen much of his stuff before, but as well as being very funny, he seems to be pretty intelligent. He is also very rude (don't watch these videos if you're put off by swearing).

Anyway, you can find them here:

• Pliny
• Hannibal
• more Hannibal (good material, poor quality video)

*videmus is the correct Latin plural of video, right?

mater Euryali et rex Antiochus

Here's a surprising statistic. Latin (with 185 candidates) is the ninth most popular foreign language at the HSC this year. Ninth most popular is not a lot to boast about, but here is a list of courses with fewer candidates than Latin Continuers this year*:

• Vietnamese Continuers (166 candidates)
• Chinese Continuers (131 candidates)
• Modern Greek Continuers (116 candidates)
• Indonesian Continuers (77 candidates)
• Turkish Continuers (56 candidates)

Armenian, Croatian, Dutch, Filipino, Hindi, Hungarian, Macedonian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Serbian, Swedish, Tamil and Ukrainian all had fewer than 50 candidates.

For the record Classical Greek and Classical Hebrew had 11 and 37 candidates respectively. Ancient History was the seventh most popular HSC course over all, with 12 127 candidates. You can find the full list here.

*These figures do not include Background Speakers or Beginners courses, which are in some cases(especially for Chinese) substantial.

Anyway, those 185 Latin Continuers students sat their HSC exam yesterday, and the 11 I spoke to afterwards seemed pretty happy with it. No real surprises, but enough interesting questions to allow them to shine. Here's my translation of the unseen passages, in case anyone is interested:

Aeneid X mind-map

Here's a basic mind-map I've created showing the relationships of the important characters from Aeneid Book X. Have I left anything off?

[Blue is for goodies, purple for baddies]

Silphium

Here is a recipe, taken from the Roman gourmand Apicius:

Oxygarum (which is similar to garum or rather an acid sauce) is digestible and is composed of:

• 1/2 ounce of pepper
• 3 scruples of Gallic silphium
• 6 scruples of cardamom
• 6 of cumin, 1 scruple of leaves
• 6 scruples of dry mint.

These ingredients are broken singly and crushed and made into a paste bound by honey. When this work is done or whenever you desire add broth and vinegar to taste.

O Clementiam

O clementiam populi Romani seu potius patientiam miram ac singularem! Civem Romanum securi esse percussum M. Annius, eques Romanus, dicit, taces: archipiratam negat, fateris. Fit gemitus omnium et clamor, cum tamen a praesenti supplicio tuo continuit populus Romanus se et repressit et salutis suae rationem iudicum severitati reservavit. Quid? sciebas tibi crimini datum iri? quam ob rem sciebas, quam ob rem etiam suspicabare? Inimicum habebas neminem; si haberes, tamen non ita vixeras ut metum iudici propositum habere deberes.

(In Verrem V.74)

Explain the irony present in the final sentence of this extract (Inimicum habebas… habere deberes).

Talia per Latium

Talia per Latium. quae Laomedontius heros
cuncta videns magno curarum fluctuat aestu,
atque animum nunc huc celerem nunc dividit illuc
in partisque rapit varias perque omnia versat,
sicut aquae tremulum labris ubi lumen aenis
sole repercussum aut radiantis imagine lunae
omnia pervolitat late loca, iamque sub auras
erigitur summique ferit laquaria tecti.
nox erat et terras animalia fessa per omnis
alituum pecudumque genus sopor altus habebat,
cum pater in ripa gelidique sub aetheris axe
Aeneas, tristi turbatus pectora bello,
procubuit seramque dedit per membra quietem.

(Aeneid VIII.18-30)

Identify the tone of this extract and explain how Virgil's language has helped to create this tone.

The Man of Doubtless Honour...

Here's another poem from one of my (former) year 12 students - her version of Horace Odes I.22. It's much longer than the original poem, but very well done in my opinion. For a comparison you might like to check out this version, by John Wesley, the 18th century preacher.

The man of doubtless honour,
Ne’er once will he require
Hostile blood-stained spears,
Forged in blood-red fire...

The guiltless man shan’t need
The quiver nor the arrow,
Poisoned though it be,
And sharp to pierce the marrow.

Carol Manners Essays

Each year the CLTA holds an essay competition "for Year 12 students of Latin and Greek who may write an essay from a range of topics related to the HSC and IB Latin and Greek prescribed texts."

The winning essays for 2009 have been published online:

• Vice and Virtue in Cicero’s In Verrem V
• Cicero’s Rhetorical Method in In Verrem V
• Two major differences between the lyric verse of Horace and Catullus

The standard is of course exceptional, and all three essays are well-worth reading. Here is part of the introduction to the second essay, as a brief taste:

Cicero’s rhetorical method in Verrine V fulfils various functions, diverting from structured reasoning (probare), and becoming a “self expression of the orator”. It influences emotionally (flectere), entertains (delectare), and makes Verres a “human object of contempt”. The need to persuade a jury and audience had already been ccomplished in the Actio Prima, where the weight of evidence incriminated Verres. Considering the Actio Secunda was published but never delivered in court, the focus will be particularly on dispositio (arrangement of material), elocutio (style and power of words) and the context of the Verrines in Cicero’s career.

Alas, my friend...

As a bit of fun end of year exercise for my year 12 extension students, I asked them to have a go at translating one of the poems we'd read this year into poetry.

It's a task that's been attempted by many famous writers in the past, including John Dryden, Basil Glidersleeve, Samuel Johnson, Ben Jonson, James Joyce, Alfred Tennyson, John Wesley, William Wordsworth and many others. You can find many of their versions collected at this excellent site.

valete

Year XII Latin, 2009

Turnbullius Caesar

I've been a bit busy lately and haven't had much time to blog, but for the sake of keeping things ticking along I thought I'd post this cartoon from today's SMH.

quo bello?

Trial Examination, Question 3 (a)

Quid dicis? an bello fugitivorum Siciliam virtute tua liberatam? Magna laus et honesta oratio; sed tamen quo bello? Nos enim, post illud bellum quod M'. Aquilius confecit, sic accepimus, nullum in Sicilia fugitivorum bellum fuisse. 'At in Italia fuit.' Fateor, et magnum quidem ac vehemens. Num igitur ex eo bello partem aliquam laudis appetere conaris? num tibi illius victoriae gloriam cum M. Crasso aut Cn. Pompeio communicatam putas? Non arbitror hoc etiam tuae deesse impudentiae, ut quicquam eius modi dicere audeas. Obstitisti videlicet ne ex Italia transire in Siciliam fugitivorum copiae possent. Ubi, quando, qua ex parte? cum aut ratibus aut navibus conarentur accedere? Nos enim nihil umquam prorsus audivimus, sed illud audivimus, M. Crassi, fortissimi viri, virtute consilioque factum ne ratibus coniunctis freto fugitivi ad Messanam transire possent, a quo illi conatu non tanto opere prohibendi fuissent, si ulla in Sicilia praesidia ad illorum adventum opposita putarentur.


Why is it important for Cicero to discredit Verres’ military career?

iam ver egelidos refert tepores

Here are a couple of poems in celebration of the first day of spring.

Diffugere nives, redeunt iam gramina campis
arboribus comae;
mutat terra vices et decrescentia ripas
flumina praetereunt;
Gratia cum Nymphis geminisque sororibus audet
ducere nuda chorus.

The snows have fled, now the grass returns to the fields, and to the trees their leaves, the earth changes in turn and the swelling rivers flow past their banks, the naked Grace, along with the Nymphs and her twin sisters dares to lead the dance.

Drances et Murena

Over the next couple of weeks, as I have opportunity I will be posting some sample answers for the trial paper my year 12 students sat recently. This might be a bit boring for regular readers, but I hope that someone out there might find it a helpful resource.