Classics

Latin ®evolution

Would it be true to say that Latin could never change because it is a language which is not spoken anymore? Of course not. For one thing it is spoken in the Vatican – if you want proof look at the cash machines there. And there are constantly new Latin words being invented for modern gadgets and foodstuffs: what, for instance is maizae grana tosta? There is further evidence in the Latin tweets at: Pope Francis (@Pontifex) | Twitter. And of course, it is still spoken in the Romance Languages: what are French, Spanish and Italian if not evolved forms of Latin? No doubt we could debate the evolution of the Latin Language, but there is no doubt about the evolution of Latin teaching. Since Latin was removed as a prerequisite for studying Medicine at university and for entry to Oxbridge, it has had to fight for its space in the education of young people. Hence, the evolution from the chanting of forms, learning of tables and writing Latin Prose to the Cambridge Latin Course. Caecilius dominates the thoughts of every Year 7 and 8 student of Latin to the extent that when we take them to visit Pompeii they head straight for his house.

Thus the job of Latin teachers is to animate the classical world aurally and visually for Classics students and to make live a language which some inaccurately describe as dead. So, this academic year, the Year 7 Latinists have visited Manchester to study classical influence in art, including the wonderfully cinematic chariot race painting in the Manchester Art Gallery which is understandably the city’s favourite painting. Our Year 9 students have walked the Roman Walls of York and visited the undercroft of the Minster. Year 11 have travelled further afield to London to take in the stunning artefacts of the British Museum, including the ever controversial Elgin Marbles, and the bewildering array of classically inspired paintings in the National Gallery. We also teamed up with the Art, English and History Departments to deliver a series of seminars with ‘War’ as the common theme. The introduction to these was an assembly given by Mrs Hone which recalled the lives of four heroes of WW1, two of whom attended Bolton School: they were brothers who lost their lives on the same day in the Battle of the Somme.

Perhaps the highlight of our Year was the Michael Scott lecture, ‘Why study the Ancient World in the 21st Century’ – a title which hints at the way Classics teaching has changed over the years. We do have to win over our students and convince them that our academic subjects are worth studying for the myriad reasons we believe they are: learning about the roots of our culture, enriching English vocabulary, enhancing the brain’s linguistic mechanisms, reading Ovid, Homer, Thucycdides, Virgil et cetera.