One of our classes was "Declamatio", taught by Dr. McCaffrey. Here is an example of one of the questions on our quiz. See if you can figure it out:
"Plain to involved we'll one are and us."
1) To are of by at?
Check back tomorrow for the answer to this perplexing question. In Declamatio, Dr. McCaffrey teaches us to understand Latin by reading it aloud rather than translating it. Our next class, "The Iliad and Bronze Age," is taught by Magistra Wilkins. The story begins in the ninth year of the Trojan War. "Rage--sing goddess of Achilles's rage" is the astounding opening line of The Iliad. The class focuses around the continuing theme of the Iliad: μηνιν αγαν (rage in excess). In our first class, we learned about the origins of Western epic, Homeric dialect, and both the structure and themes of The Iliad. Alpha, beta, gamma, delta.... Fondly referred to by Dr. Casey himself as "the squiggly letter class," the first Graeca class was spent vigorously learning how to both write and speak the Ionian alphabet (n.b. alpha+beta = alphabet!).
After prandium, all of the students gathered in front of the bibliotheca for "Repetitio Graeca"! We all broke into factions to play a fun alphabet memory game. Then, we took up sticks of chalk and inscribed the Greek alphabet all over the sidewalks. Of course, we had to include a competition! Three contestants bravely stood in front of The Academy to not only recite, but to sing, the Greek alphabet. Prizes of column-shaped chalk sticks were given to the winners of the certamen.
Then, students gathered in the back room of the Old Chapel to try out for Curculio, our play. Students volunteered to read for all of the roles, giving dramatic and varied portrayals of each of the characters. Auditions continue today, so stay tuned!
Students then decked in traditional Roman costume, including togas and stolas, and gathered around the fountain for pictures of familia and The Academy (included in the memory video). We all wore our archaic smiles and stood in contrapposto positions to imitate Roman statues in our pictures. Indeed, calida erat!
Finally, the Orationes began! With palms sweating and legs shaking, we all gathered in a nervous frenzy to listen to the election speeches. The Nobiles Romani, the highest ranking order, introduced the elections. Here is a brief description of the jobs for each of the positions:
1. Quaestores: Distribute mail at Epistulae and hand out trash bags.
2. Aediles: Write on the blog.
3. Tribuni Plebes: Organize evening functions and help to ensure that communal areas are neat.
4. Consules: Introduce guest speakers, write "thank you" cards, and give morning announcements.
5. Praetores: Organize the Olympic ludi
6. Censores: Wake up students in the morning and keep count of the number of students throughout the day.
Then, the voting began! The consiliares organized all of the students into a Roman social hierarchy for voting. The "Comitia Tributa" elected the quaestores, aediles, and tribuni plebes. The "Comitia Centuriata" elected the consules, praetores, and censores. Finally, when the sun set and the frenzy of the day had died down, we all walked back to the dormitory for Epistulae, with a new student council in place. The Quaestores kept the room bubbly after a long day by singing a song to introduce the mail and by giving us a demo on how to properly open trash bags. Please keep sending letters to all of us!
Stay tuned for more posts of our fun filled days at The Academy. Valete, omnes!
