Roman Triumph

Beginning Latin--

There is no better Sunday morning for the Latin teacher than the one the (good) grades are in! The class average in the first test was 91. 25 (turn to BB for more detailed statistics). This average shows clearly that you have been very successful in your understanding of basic Latin concepts (noun, verb, subject, object, etc.). The other two remaining tests are much easier in a way, because you will simply continue to add more information onto these basic structures that you have already mastered. If you have made it so successfully through the first third of the book, clearly there is no stopping you until the end of it!

So, as my mind is swimming with your success mixed with my morning coffee, I had this double vision of an ancient Roman triumphus and the closest equivalent I have ever seen in Rome. It was the night that the Azzuri (the national Italian team) won the soccer cup, summer of 2006. Rome positively exploded in a bacchic celebration, fireworks and music and cars and motorinos and the Italian flag everywhere. Standing in the middle of it all in the Piazza Venezia, I remember wishing (for the millionth time in my life!) that I were Italian instead of Greek. What a powerful tool the triumphal procession must have been in cultivating the national pride of the Romans, their sense of mission and duty to bring over the entire world under their sway...and, as successful Latinists, you too are officially under the Roman spell now, at least until December.

So, enjoy your well deserved success and your Sunday, and I will see y' all tomorrow!

EM.