Sunday, December 09, 2007

Roman Holiday Party


Many thanks to all who made the Roman Holiday Party/Feast Day Celebration a great success - particularly Fabiola, Poseidon, Corvinus, Persephone and Philomena. Congratulations to Saints Sebastian and Daria for winning the costume contest and Fabiola for cooking the best dish (ham with a plum sauce). The skits were excellent and very entertaining. Special acting mentions should go to the gray sisters from team #2, "The Wind God", Fabiola, and Julius Caesar for their fine performances.


Monday, December 03, 2007

Saturnalia/Solemnity party!


JOIN US FOR...

The Dead Language Latin Club
A Roman Holiday party at the J. and A. Van H's (e-mail jvanhecke@sbcglobal.net for directions)!
Saturday, December 8
1:00-4:00 p.m.

· Roman Feast
· Games
· PiƱata
· Costume contest
· Skit
- Celebration of the Solemnity

If you are currently homeschooled, studying Latin, and in grades 7-12, this is just the thing for you! An afternoon filled with fun, food and games! Meet other kids who study Latin just like you. Dress and do as the Romans did! Please wear a Roman costume and bring a Roman dish to pass! (If you’re not sure what to wear or bake google “Roman food and dress”.)

To RSVP please contact Lauren (see directory)

Please click here to view photos of last year's party.

Friday, November 30, 2007

October Meeting




somebodies vs. nobodies



Victors:
Certamen: The Nobodies
Skit: The Somebodies

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

A New Generation Discovers Latin

After all, if we do witness an increase in the number of masses offered partly or mostly in Latin over the next generation, the recovery of this beautiful and richly meaningful practice will surely be aided by the growing numbers of children — including many children of Catholic families — studying the Latin language today. Why the upsurge in interest? Turns out Arrius Potterus (as he is known in the new Latin translation of Rowling's first book) gets a good deal of the credit. (more)
[Editor's note: I am not hereby endorsing reading Rowling's work! Anyone in my family or who reads my blog knows of my reserve about the Harry Potter series. I also don't think that Hogwarts has a classical curriculum, even if they use a lot of Latin. In fact, I think many of the problems in the stories stem from an alienation of the wizarding educational system from both classical and religious thought--very similar to the problems that beset our own educational system.]

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Some neat online quizzes

Here. I found this on the Ohio State Latin page.

Now, why the cursor says "You go, girl," I don't know.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Perseus Project

"Perseus Classics Collection: An Overview
"The Perseus Classics collection began as an integrated collection of materials, textual and visual, on the Archaic and Classical Greek world. Named for the Hellenic hero who explored the world to its most distant reaches, Perseus made it possible for specialists and non-specialists alike to move between traditionally distinct types of information, such as images and texts, and across traditionally distinct disciplines, such as classical archaeology and philology. Building on the success of the tools and resources developed for Ancient Greek source materials, the project expanded into the Roman world, with additional art and archaeology materials as well as new collections of Latin texts and tools.

"The collection contains extensive and diverse resources including primary and secondary texts, site plans, digital images, and maps. Art and archaeology catalogs document a wide range of objects: over 1,500 vases, over 1,800 sculptures and sculptural groups, over 1,200 coins, hundreds of buildings from nearly 100 sites and over 100 gems. Catalog entries are linked to tens of thousands of images, many in high resolution, and have been produced in collaboration with many museums, institutions and scholars. Catalog information and keywords have been taken from standard sources, which are cited in the entries for each object.

"Numerous secondary sources supplement Perseus catalog entries. Prominent art and archaeology works include the Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, Attic vase paintings in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, by L. D. Caskey and J. D. Beazley, selections from Attic Document Reliefs: Art and Politics in Ancient Athens, by Carol L. Lawton, One Hundred Greek Sculptors: Their Careers and Extant Works, by Andrew Stewart, and more. All art and archaeology materials are extensively linked to the Perseus atlas, which contains over 5,000 classical sites.

"In addition to art and archaeology sources, essays, and tools, the classics collection features several hundred works of classical Greek and Roman authors, both in the original language and in translation. Moreover, Perseus has created a suite of powerful linguistic tools, all extensively linked to lexica, which permit the careful study of Greek and Latin. All word study tools are documented; please visit the help and information center for the latest information on the scope and functions of these tools. Text based secondary sources include Greek and Latin grammars, commentaries, and Thomas R. Martin's popular An Overview of Classical Greek History from Homer to Alexander, which acts both as an introduction to Greek History and an tool for accessing clasics resources in Perseus; it's a great place to begin exploring the classics collection.

"Nearly all the classics materials are interlinked and accessible from any given resource. For example, a user reading Julius Caesar's Gallic War in English, may wish to check the particular Latin word Caesar employs to describe a military formation. Simply by switching the version of the text, users may see the original Latin (De Bello Gallico) and select a word of interest. This word is linked to the word study tool for Latin, which presents information on the form of the word, gives a brief definition, and provides links to other tools, such as the dictionary and word frequency chart. Or, a student may wish to plot all of the sites Caesar mentions on the Perseus atlas. A link on every text page makes this available. Additionally, users can access art and archaeology information such as numerous coins which depict Julius Caesar."

Lisa M. Cerrato, Robert F. Chavez

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

St. Michael Prayer in Latin

Sancte Michael archangele, defende nos in praelio, contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur: tuque, princeps militiae caelestis, satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo, divina virtute in infernum detrude. Amen.

Friday, October 12, 2007

A Nice Shot of Hadrians Wall (1st century AD)


Hadrians Wall, originally uploaded by chandos.

Here's an interesting website for more details.

And here's a map of the location of Hadrian's wall.

Monday, October 01, 2007

The Flavian Amphitheatre - a.k.a. The Colosseum


coloseum, originally uploaded by paion.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

September Meeting

I can't seem to come up with a sensible subtitle for this picture, perhaps because I didn't attend the meeting. But anyways, the rest of the pics can be seen here.

Latin Lives Newspaper

This looks interesting, but I have no more information on it than this e-mail I received. There is apparently no online presence. It is probably written with stylus on wax.

Hello,

I am the Editor-in-Chief of Latin Lives, an internationally distributed Latin-themed newspaper run entirely by high school students. Latin Lives is seeking new writers and editors for this school year, and I was wondering if it would be possible to send an advertisement to members of the Nuntia email list.

Please let me know if this would be alright. Thank you so much for your help!Yours truly,
Julie Zauzmer
juliemz@comcast.net

Update: Julie e-mailed me with this description of Latin Lives:

Latin Lives is an entirely high-schooler-run newsletter about classical topics both ancient and in the modern world. It is published bimonthly during the school year and is distributed to classrooms in the US, Singapore, and England. If your class would like to subscribe, please let me know and I will send you more information shortly. If any of your students would like to become contributing writers, editors, or business manager, please tell them to email me as soon as possible for an application.
Thanks so much for your interest in Latin Lives!

Yours truly,
Julie Zauzmer
Editor-in-Chief
juliemz@comcast.net

I've asked her to send me subscription information.

Upcoming meeting

From the Triumvirate:

Salve!
The October Latin club meeting will be held on October 16th at the Van Hecke's house from 6:30 to 8 pm. We're going to play Certamen for Roman history and Latin grammar, so your warned to study up on that, but don't stress over it. We're also doing a skit. We need someone to bring a Roman like snack for this meeting. So if you could do it, please e-mail me. Also, I've been told to remind you to bring the dues for the Latin club ($10) to this meeting, if you can.
RSVP to the Gotcher's at (414)427-6972 and hope to see you there!!
Semper Fidelis,
Kate Mantyh

P.S. We're aiming to have the meetings this year on either the 2nd or 3rd Tuesday. Novembers' meeting will be on the 13th or the 20th. Please e-mail me and tell me if you could make it on one of those dates. Thanks!

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Minutes - September 11th Meeting

Dead Language Latin Club
Minutes for September 11, 2007

The meeting was brought to order at 6:43 pm. Nate and Christina G, Lauren and Enan Z, Michelle B, Stephen Z and Kate M were present.

We prayed the Pater Noster. Then we sang Aufer Me Ad Areman, which was suppose to be "Take me out to the ball game" in Latin, but turned out to be "Take me to the gladiator arena."

Next we built and raced chariots; boys against girls. Even though the boys got over the finish line first *coughonfootcough*, the girls won, because of their superior design.

Last we held the business meeting. The President, Nate, gave his report and welcomed us with a hardy, "Welcome." He then told us about the Latin convention. We discussed that it would be awesome if we could get 10 or more people to go with our club. Next we talked about the future meetings and the December Party. The treasurer, Kate, then gave the report that we have the same amount of money as we did in May. Finally the meeting concluded with Mr. Gotcher giving the moderator's report. We discussed e-mails, the blog and meeting dates. We are also considering watching a Roman themed movie.

The meeting was brought to a close at 8:09 pm. Lauren provided the snack of cookies, dates, grape juice, and peanuts.

Friday, August 10, 2007

The pope encourages us to read classic authors

Following the advice of St. Basil the Great.

Finally, Basil was of course also concerned with that chosen portion of the People of God, the youth, society’s future. He addressed a Discourse to them on how to benefit from the pagan culture of that time.

He recognized with great balance and openness that examples of virtue can be found in classical Greek and Latin literature. Such examples of upright living can be helpful to young Christians in search of the truth and the correct way of living (cf. Ad Adolescentes 3).

Therefore, one must take from the texts by classical authors what is suitable and conforms with the truth: thus, with a critical and open approach - it is a question of true and proper “discernment”- young people grow in freedom.

With the famous image of bees that gather from flowers only what they need to make honey, Basil recommends: “Just as bees can take nectar from
flowers, unlike other animals which limit themselves to enjoying their scent and colour, so also from these writings… one can draw some benefit for the spirit.

We must use these books, following in all things the example of bees. They do not visit every flower without distinction, nor seek to remove all the nectar from the flowers on which they alight, but only draw from them what they need to make honey, and leave the rest. And if we are wise, we will take from those writings what is appropriate for us, and conform to the truth, ignoring the rest” (Ad Adolescentes 4).

Basil recommended above all that young people grow in virtue, in the right way of living: “While the other goods… pass from one to the other as in playing dice, virtue alone is an inalienable good and endures throughout life and after death” (Ad Adolescentes 5).

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Some cool Latin Resources

HT Greg Popcak. of HMS Weblog.

Great site for prayers: http://www.preces-latinae.org/index.htm

Pope’s Latinist: http://frcoulter.com/latin/

Church Latin: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09019a.htm

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Congratulations!

To the two Dead Language Latin Club vets who are graduating from high school tonight!

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Latin Club Meeting


Yesterday we held the last meeting of the year. The skits we put on chronicled the journey of Theseus from his home to Athens. The picture you see shows both casts after the skits.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

A Contest for the final meeting?

Here's a thought: Let's have a translation contest for the final meeting. Take any song, whether secular or religious, poem, limerick, nursery rhyme, and translate it into Latin. The winner will get a prise. Here are some examples:


Fumus, draco magnus

Fumus, draco magus
Incoluit mare.
Lusit autumnal'illic
Maritimo Hanalo....(cont.)


Or:

Gabrobocchia [author unknown]
Est brilgum: tovi slimici
In vabo tererotitant
Brogovi sunt macresculi
Momi rasti strugitant.... (cont.)

Or:
ARDET ROMA
(London's burning)
ardet Roma! ardet Roma!
vigiles, O vigilate!
en! en! flammae!
aquam ferte! aquam ferte!

What do you think?

Friday, May 04, 2007

Figures of Speech

"Here [is] an exhaustive list of figures of speech, literary devices and verbal techniques. These devices and conventions are the threads that make up our rich, complex language. Used skillfully, they can inspire, intrigue, surprise and engage...."

Classic authors knew and used these figures ubiquitously, including great saints, such as St. Augustine and St. Jerome.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Now HERE is a resource I'm sure you won't want to do without!

For all you theology enthusiasts, Opera Omnia Sanctae Thomae de Aquino--IN LATIN!

And I mean omnia! Including works falsely attributed to him in the middle ages!

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Rogue Classicism Atrium

Did you know that today is the traditional anniversary of the fall of Troy? Here is an excellent website/blog that features "This Day in Ancient History," "Nuntii Latini" (News in Latin), "Classical Words of the Day," "Review" and other interesting Classics related items. Here is today's News:
Cheetah LXXV annorum:
Nuntii Latini
19.04.2007, klo 17.10
Cheetah simia, quae in compluribus pelliculis cinematographicis una cum
Tarzan agebat, septuaginta quinque annos complevit....
more.

Friday, April 20, 2007

Next Meeting and Elections...

(from the secretary)

The first thing that should be mentioned is that there will be no Latin Club meeting for this month considering how late in the month it now is. We will however be represented in the upcoming GMCHE conference and I am told that various things such as our scrapbook and awards will be put on display.

In addition to this, the next meeting to be held will be on the 25th of May at the Van Hecke's from 6:30-8:00 pm. This will be the last meeting of the year and elections will be held. For all those interested in running, take a look at the bylaws which explain the election proceedures.

2007 NLE Exam and Key Now Available

For those of you wondering about what you got right and wrong on this year's exam, the details are now available on the NLE Website.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Audio Files of the Mass (missal of Pope Paul VI) in Latin

I'm going to regularly post some interesting Latin and Greek language, history and literature links I discover. Here's the first one: Audio Files of the Mass (missal of Pope Paul VI) in Latin.

Monday, April 09, 2007

Salvete

Hello, my name is Ria and I suppose you could call me one of the plebians of the Dead Language Latin Club. I attended the Latin Convention in January and plan to post on that shortly. But for now I will just post our team results from that event:

1st Place Team Spirit for Small Schools
1st. Place Team Spirit for Friday morning
1st Place Team War machine contest (with help from Coyote's dad.)
1st Place Nate Costume Contest
1st. Place GilbertGirl Mythology test
2nd Place Coyote Costume Contest
2nd Place Team Spirit for Friday afternoon
3rd Place GilbertGirl Poster
3rd Place Nate Greek History
3rd Place Nate Latin Lit
3rd Place Nate Latin Vocab
4th Place Ria Latin Derivatives
4th Place Nate Latin Derivatives
5th Place GilbertGirl Pentathalon
5th Place Nate Greek Derivatives
Hon Ment. Girls Door Contest