Ancient Roman Feasts and Festivals

We're Doing it Wrong
--by Amy Barr (blog 011)

Romans really knew how to party, I mean they really knew all about it. If you look through the list of Ancient Roman holidays and festivals, you can see why nobody thought to invent “weekends” back then. They didn’t need them. To be a Roman was to be perpetually engaged in holidays, observances, and food-filled festivals. One seldom had to wait long before a new event was on the calendar. Sometimes Romans would pause one holiday to celebrate a different one.

When people snort and claim that modern holidays, especially Christian holidays, are just this Roman event or that one, don’t take it to heart. In Rome, almost every day of the year was a celebration or observance of something. Good luck fitting in a new event without hitting another Roman festival, if not two or three.

Are there any holidays that the Romans observed in such a way that we moderns observe it still today? Not really. Compared to the Romans we moderns are super bad at this holiday thing. We now have very few nationally observed holidays and very few in which we all share similar activities and traditions. Look over Rome’s annual event calendar to see how many days off, how much feasting, how much drinking, how many competitions, races, plays, mock sea battles, productions, parades, and barbeques (sacrifices to the gods with tasty side dishes). Today we really aren’t “doing it right” with our paltry handful of puny celebrations. We should marvel that Rome ever got anything done at all! Celebrations fueled Roman productive days that much more.

New Year’s Day – the Romans had a tough time deciding when the year started. While they had a month called Januarius, it wasn’t always considered the start of things. Even when Januarius was marked as the calendar’s start, March kicked off the active year as soldiers headed off to a campaign. Much of January was tied up in festival events as was March with five major events celebrated in each month.

Valentine’s Day – strictly speaking, there was no event in which Romans doled out cheap drug store chocolates and stuffed toys to their loved ones. The saint for whom the holiday was named was a physician who was beheaded for helping Christians in the third century. Waxy chocolates and cards are a purely modern addition. The Roman holiday Lupercalia held on February 15, was celebrated by running 2 teams of young men dressed as goats who competed to make a disgusting a mess by smearing everything with milk and blood. Winners got goat bragging rights, I guess.

Also celebrated in Rome in middle February was the Parentalia, a 9-day event in which one primarily drank heavily while remembering one’s parents. Some still observe this festival year-round.

Halloween—Lemuria was celebrated on February 21^st, an event marked by again drinking heavily when remembering relatives. Lemuria is as close as we get to a ghost focused event and it was marked by bringing one's dearly departed dead a selection of food offerings so they wouldn’t roam Rome. Nobody likes hangry ghosts.

Thanksgiving—many if not most of Rome’s festivals centered around thankfulness for various events (victories), resources (fire, water, safety, peace), foods (grapes, goats, sheep, and grain), or drinks. The Ludi Romani, September 5-19 tied up most of the month with parades, feasts, theater events, and horse races. For obvious reasons, this event stuck around for centuries, until AD 549. This makes our one morning a year parades and green bean casserole a bit disappointing. The . Plebian games in honor of Jupiter were celebrated for much of November (4-17) just to remind everyone how much fun weeks-long events could be.

Christmas—Some love to state, and usually with a knowing expression, that our modern Christmas is just the Roman event Saturnalia, celebrated on December 17 each year. Eventually, Saturnalia would become a 5-day holiday centered around the winter solstice (Latin for sol+sto/stare, meaning the “sun stands”). The whole event was marked by gambling, roast pork, wine, silliness, goodwill, and especially gift-giving. Buildings were decorated with evergreen boughs and copious candles since it was, after all, the very dead of winter. Ancient writers used to complain about the horrible shopping crowds as they longed for peace and quiet. This event was like many other world solstice-focused events that lift the spirits in the darkest days of the year. 

A connection with the birth of Christ with our December 25^th date did not happen until at least 273 AD. Even then, it was very controversial since in the ancient world birthdays were not typically celebrated. In hopes of giving a better reason for the yearly season of light, good-will, and gift-giving, early Christians supplanted the ancient Roman origins and repurposed an already well-loved holiday with better reasons for hope and joy.

The Romans celebrated SOMETHING almost every odd day of the year and not a few even days (it was considered bad luck to start a holiday on an even day). So, may all your odd days be merry and bright and your even days even more.

What's the Right Stuff for a Good College Recommendation Letter?

Great Grades aren't Always the Golden Ticket
By Amy E. Barr (Blog 010)

I write a lot of recommendation letters for students applying to college. This is not unusual for most language teachers, I expect. Colleges are interested in a language educator’s assessment of a student for the same reason that colleges require foreign languages. Success in a foreign language speaks well for future outcomes in any academic field. Languages require time management, self-management, tenacity, analysis, and consistent effort. Consequently, I write quite a few recommendations each year.

What makes a student recommendation-worthy? What earns high marks in my letters to colleges?

I have a few extra challenges as I get to know my students. I teach synchronous online classes. These are not nearly so impersonal as one might think, but a student does have to work a little harder to make an impression on her educator when normal first impressions (appearances, demeanor, deportment, even good or bad handwriting) are removed from the equation. On the other hand, many of the qualities that suggest a student will be successful in future academic enterprises rise to the top without biases interfering.

When I submit a recommendation letter to a university, the admissions counselor never asks about student grades. That data is already neatly tucked into transcripts and filed accordingly. I have had students with astoundingly high scores (nothing but A+ marks as far as the eye can see) but about whom I can find very little to say because, in the end, they were only outstanding when it came to grades. Colleges never ask me about grades in a recommendation letter. If a student only has good marks “going for them,” they may be in trouble. Colleges want to know if the applicant has…

• Intellectual curiosity:  Does the student regularly ask questions? Does the student get help when he or she is confused about something? Is she able to exchange ideas in discussions respectfully and effectively?
• Leadership and integrity: Is the student honest with his work? Does she get along with educators and peers? Does he display a good attitude in class and in personal correspondence?
• Grit: Does the student have academic and personal grit or resilience? Does he push through and get things done even during hardship and stress? Is the student willing to take critiques and improve accordingly? Is he self-directed?
• Communication: Does the student exchange ideas in a professional manner? Does he express himself well in class and in written communication? Is his academic writing up to snuff? (hint: colleges are not normally looking for skills in creative writing unless that student is going to major in that subject). 

A core value at The Lukeion project is to make our expectations and assignments college (and life) preparatory. Not everyone is a big fan but, regardless of perfect scores (or not), students with the right college “stuff” can really shine or … not so much. When composing a recommendation, I look for the details of that student’s time in my courses. Here are some of the questions I ask about that student’s time in my classes:

• Intellectual curiosity: Does a student get involved with discussions or question/answer time in class? Do I get an email from the student asking for clarification on assignments or does the student skip stuff complaining she didn’t know what to do? How well does the student interact with peers on the discussion board or chat box? 
• Leadership and integrity: Has the student ever crossed the line and been suspected of plagiarism or obtaining answers from peers, siblings, or friends? Does the student get argumentative, rude, or petty with peers or instructors? Does the student regularly try to wheedle more points awarded on quizzes or exams? Is the student interested in the fair exchange of ideas with others or does she tend to have an ax to grind all the time?
• Grit: Does the student frequently ask for extensions on assignments or make excuses for poorly done work? Does she have roller-coaster grades as the semester cycles through different parts of the year? Does he constantly ask for special considerations and blame external events when things go poorly? Does she get personally offended by peer reviews and instructor feedback in writing assignments?
• Communication: Does a parent always do the emailing and arrangements for a student? Does the student regularly participate in class, get fully involved in peer reviews, and go beyond the minimum on discussion boards? Has the student proven himself in formal academic writing assignments or does he avoid the type of classes that place writing expectations on him? Does she always write the shortest possible answers on exams?

I can write outstanding recommendation letters for academically average students who excel in these preferred qualities. Universities will be pleased to add them to their programs.

I am also sometimes compelled to write some bland letters for A+ students who never participate or who wheedle, complain, or make things hard on peers.

Excellence is far more than just good marks. Anyone can choose to have “the right stuff,” with or without the stellar scores.

CORNUCOPIAE

The Ancient Tradition of Challenging Family Gatherings

--By Amy Barr (blog 009)

My grandmother had a cone-shaped wicker basket full of wax fruit. She would predictably haul it from plastic wrap every year during the first week of November. This slightly musty smelling cornucopia, together with her matching pilgrim and Indian salt-and-pepper shakers meant the holidays were on their way. Once the vinyl harvest-gold tablecloth was spread on the dining table, the promises of pie and tender turkey were guaranteed.

Let’s go back to that wicker basket cornucopia decoration. For all you introverts looking to avoid small talk during this year’s family gathering, I’ll give you something substantial to use on your favorite extrovert, once he or she has you cornered. As a bonus, this may also impress grandma that the Latin or Mythology classes are paying off.

The cornu copiae was originally a minor detail in the myth of Zeus’ troubled upbringing. Zeus was the youngest child of a large dysfunctional family populated by paranoid and argumentative curmudgeons. So far this may sound exactly like your own family gatherings, so read on.

As the story goes, Zeus’ dad Kronos solved family conflicts mainly by eating his children. The good news for Classical mythology fans is that Zeus’ siblings (Hera, Hestia, Hades, Poseidon, and Demeter) were all immortal. Nobody was especially harmed—just majorly inconvenienced—by Kronos’ poor conflict resolution skills. By the time little Zeus came along, his five siblings were already braving most of their formative years in their father’s digestive track. 

When Zeus was born, mom Rhea swaddled a rock and tossed it to Kronos in the hopes she’d outwit him. The plan worked. Kronos swallowed that rock and went back to work being in charge of things, satisfied that his kids would all leave him in peace. Meanwhile, Rhea smuggled baby Zeus to Crete because, well, Crete is fabulous. 

Zeus drank goat milk until he was big enough to grow a nice full black beard at roughly a year old. Details are a bit foggy but either the goat or the goat-herding nymph was named Amalthea who safeguarded Zeus from being overheard by his dim father by playing load music night and day.

Things didn’t go so well for the goat. Rough little Zeus broke the poor thing’s horn off and then, as a touching tribute to the critter that saved his life, he turned her skin into a nice poncho. He decided to call that goat-skin cloak his aegis. Athena would later wear Zeus’ aegis around Olympus as a token of his favoritism to start arguments at family dinners. Later she bedazzled that weird old thing with the head of Medusa and a selection of snakes.

That old broken horn was special. It was blessed with the divine power to supply an endless number of elegantly arranged wholesome snacks. Some think this horn originally came from that time when Heracles wrestled a river god so hard that he broke his horn off (Greek river gods often had horns, FYI). But I enjoy imagining the stylish symbol of autumn abundance having its roots in that doozy of a family fight about how to raise kids. Either way, the symbol of seasonal “plenty” arose from arguments and wrestling.

In later imagery, any abstract Roman deities who represented luck, prosperity, peace, wealth, or art, were depicted carrying a cornucopia. While my Latin students come to class proud to already know that the word cornucopia means “horn” (cornu) “of plenty” (copiae), the word copia usually means “abundance, provisions, supplies.” If you were to see the word in a military context it would be used to refer to military troops.

This holiday may your table be graced with plenty and with abundance (and not with troops). May your family never be so dysfunctional that dad starts eating the kids. And please, take good care of your goats.

The Right Kind of Ancient Greek

Which Version of the Greek Language Should I Learn?
By Regan Barr

When I was in junior high, my best friend and I discovered the magical world of Middle Earth and quickly became Tolkien addicts. To our delight, we discovered that my dog-eared paperback edition of The Return of The King had an appendix with a table of Dwarven Runes in the back.  For countless hours we practiced writing notes to each other in runes as we gradually mastered this new and fascinating code. Other close friends, however, thought we were crazy. Why spend so much time learning to write “meet me at my house in an hour” in a new alphabet?

Fast forward several decades to a homeschool conference at which The Lukeion Project was an exhibitor. A mother hurried up to our booth and excitedly announced to me, “My daughter wants to learn Greek!” I was thrilled. I grabbed the sample copy of our textbook from the table and opened it to begin explaining the new adventure she was about to undertake.

And then her daughter saw the first paragraph in Greek. She jumped back, visibly shaken, as though she’d seen a ghost. “What is that?!” she exclaimed. I answered, “That’s Greek. Look, we start here with the alphabet, and then…” She interrupted me, “I don’t wanna do that! What are those funny marks?” She turned on her heels and was off through the convention hall to find a language that offered the comfort and familiarity of her own alphabet.

Well, Greek isn’t for everyone. Yes, you do have to learn a new alphabet to even get started, and then there are those pesky accents and breathing marks. Everyone’s heard of Active Voice and Passive Voice, but what pit of doom spat out this new-fangled Middle Voice? I find that a students’ approach to the alphabet can be a good indicator of how they’ll do in the language. Some approach it with fear and trembling, and perhaps they should start with Latin. But others are magnetically drawn to the alphabet, eyes wide with wonder – as Bobby and I were to Tolkien’s runes. These are the students I love to have in my Greek 1 course.

I didn’t have a chance to learn Greek until college, but Sir Winston Churchill famously wrote of schoolboys, “I would make them all learn English, and then I would let the clever ones learn Latin as an honour, and Greek as a treat.” In my experience, Greek is challenging, but it is certainly a treat. There’s nothing like reading the words of Plato, Jesus, or Thucydides in the original language!

Perhaps you, or someone you know, has considered learning Greek. There are many reasons for doing so: a desire to read the Greek historians and philosophers in the original language, a thirst for Biblical studies, or perhaps an infatuation with ancient civilizations and languages. The first question to answer is: “which Greek should I learn?”

Ancient Greek courses generally fall into one of three categories: Homeric Greek, Classical Greek, or Hellenistic Greek. Classes that focus on that last one may also be called Koine or Biblical Greek. The one you choose to start with might depend on your motivations, but I’ve studied all of them and definitely have an opinion about which gives you the biggest bang for your buck.

Homeric Greek (750 to 500 BC) is, as you might guess, the Greek in which Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey are written. It’s not our earliest written Greek; that honor goes to the Mycenaean Greek (1500 to1200 BC) found on Bronze Age tablets written in Linear B. But it is the earliest Greek to tell stories. (If you like reading financial records, Mycenaean Greek is for you; otherwise, I’d move along.) Make no mistake: reading the Iliad and Odyssey in the original Greek is a delight, but most of the body of great Greek literature is from a bit later.

Classical Greek (500 to 300 BC) is the language of Herodotus, Euripides, Plato, and Xenophon. Some of our earliest and greatest literature is written in Classical Greek: Tragedy, Comedy, History, Philosophy, and more. This is the Greek that universities, a few special high schools, and programs like ours at The Lukeion Project, will focus on. It’s well worth the effort.

Hellenistic Greek (300 BC to AD 600) emerged as a result of the conquests of Alexander the Great. As his army marched south into Egypt and east as far as India, people who spoke different Greek dialects were thrown together with people learning Greek as a second language. The result was a somewhat simplified version of Greek, often called Koine or “common” Greek. This was the language of Strabo’s Geography, the New Testament documents, and Plutarch’s Lives. This is the kind of Greek that most seminaries teach.

The engaged student will profit from studying any of these, but I believe that the best place to start is with Classical Greek, whatever your ultimate goal.  Both Homeric and Hellenistic Greek are well within reach if you begin with the masters of Attic and Ionian Greek in the Classical period.

Many learners are very happy with that answer, but I get the most pushback from people who are particularly interested in Biblical studies. They often say, “but my real goal is reading the New Testament; isn’t it easier to just learn koine?” It’s a valid question, and one to which I am sympathetic; that’s where I began my journey with Greek. In fact, some seminary professors will tell you that’s all you need. I disagree with them.

Imagine someone who doesn’t speak English saying, “I want to read Shakespeare.” A friend might respond, “then you’ll need to learn English.” “But I don’t want to learn ALL English – I just want to learn Shakespeare.” Hmm… Shakespeare didn’t write in a vacuum. The words he used came with baggage and nuances and a variety of meanings, depending on context. Sometimes he used words in surprising ways that can only be grasped if you’ve encountered that word in other contexts.

So it is with the New Testament. Many classes on Koine Greek are actually classes that teach only New Testament Greek; if it’s not found in the New Testament, it’s not mentioned in class. You’ll leave class unprepared to read Strabo, the Septuagint, Plutarch, or the early Church fathers. If a word has a meaning that Bible translators and editors believe is never found in the New Testament, it won’t be in your glossary, either. You’ll never have a chance to consider that meaning along with the others.

The original recipients weren’t working from a New Testament glossary, and they weren’t encountering these words for the first time in their lives, like beginning Greek students are. For the first century audience, the words were already steeped in meaning. It was only when I began to read Classical literature that I could appreciate some of the surprising, original, and sweeping ideas that the New Testament writers expressed using words in ways that challenged their readers' assumptions. To truly read the New Testament as the original recipients did, get your translator and editor out of the way – read it for yourself, with as much context as you can. And that means starting with Classical Greek. 

More Keys to Memorization

Quid dicam de thesauro rerum omnium memoria?
What shall I say of memory, the repository of all knowledge? 
(Cicero - De senectute)

by Amy E. Barr

Homer, many would argue,* was the composer of the Iliad, an epic describing the almost final days of the Trojan war. I say “composer” nor writer because it is unlikely he had the luxury of being able to write down those 24 books of Greek poetry in dactylic hexameter since the Greek alphabet was still on the drafting table. Even if he was able to enjoy a beta test on that new Greek alphabet, he was blind, so there’s that.  Homer also composed and recited the Odyssey, the tale of Odysseus’ struggle to get home, in much the same way: all from memory. Both epics are 24 books written in meter (an arrangement of long and short syllabus) rather than rhyme.
*It is common for some to sneer that the Iliad and Odyssey were written by committee and perfected gradually over time rather than composed by Homer. First, I hate people that sneer but, second, I’ve never seen a convincing argument for how a committee would be able to write a better epic than a single author. These sneering types probably actually enjoy committee meetings. I bet they are the ones that regularly schedule them on Fridays before holidays. 

My point is this: Homer composed and recited and then MEMORIZED very long epics. As one might imagine, the need to memorize these epics (and others from this same early period) lasted quite a while until that Greek alphabet finished up the GoFundMe period and eventually launched. Even then, memorization continued. As an educated Greek or Roman person, one memorized parts, or even all of these epics, plus plenty more.

Memorizing fast amounts of information used to be standard. What happened to us? I think we forgot how the brain can do amazing things! While there are plenty of techniques you can use to memorize large quantities of information, I recommend two that everyone can use right away: writing and sleeping. Sleep is a fabulous study aid as long as you are not sleeping through the block of time scheduled study.

Rewire Your Brain Every Day 
Daily study alternating with other normal activities and a full night's sleep is the best stress-free way to soak up something complicated like Latin. I’ll use Latin as my example because I am a Latin teacher. These techniques work for anything complicated.  Try this: Spend about 8-12 minutes on vocabulary right before you go to sleep EVERY night. Your brain will work on it all night for you while you get some quality snoozing done. First thing in the morning, zoom through your deck once more. You’ll find your retention is pretty good! Your brain chewed on those facts for you all night.
Next, look at a chart of endings or forms that you taped to your bathroom mirror, just think them through while you are brushing your teeth. Then make yourself write them out quickly on a piece of scrap paper from memory. When you are riding in a car, spend 10 minutes flipping through flash cards or getting to know some noun or verb endings. Short study periods. No late-nighters.

LONG CRAM SESSIONS ARE A WASTE OF TIME
Cram sessions (when you sit for extended periods trying to ‘cram’ knowledge into your brain right before the test) don’t work. This rule is true for any complex body of knowledge like math formulae or points of history or scientific names for seaweed. Break up your study sessions into short periods (20 to 30 minutes) that are never longer than 45 minutes to an hour. Even on a day off, do 15 minutes of study (I like a ton of homemade flash cards or reading the chapter), but do this especially before you go to bed. I recommend that you involve as much writing and rewriting as possible. Got a stack of principal parts to learn? Tell yourself you can go to bed after you’ve written them all five times each.
People who play instruments are already familiar with this mastery method which is why musicians tend to be really good Latin learners. “Music makes you smarter” because it teaches you how to learn. Constant practice and repitition does the job in music and in language.

Use all your senses
You might be surprised to hear this, but I’m not a proponent of approaches that have you mindlessly chanting Latin all day. Most of those Latin learning systems don’t teach you much except for how to make an hour boring while your dog or cat looks at you funny. There IS, however, something to be said for employing multiple senses to memorize things. So chanting (or drawing, or writing, or listening) can be a great tool depending on your learning style. Most of us benefit from the simple act of writing things out because slowing the brain to carefully compose letters on paper is a big boon to mastery.
Just like you wouldn’t lift weights with only one arm, why study only one way? Work out different parts of your brain by using all your senses to memorize. Get creative:  Read, write, draw, doodle, pronounce, even act out your data list. Some attempt to write a story in Latin each week using that chapter’s vocabulary correctly. This technique can be done for most subjects.

Some create a pictorial system for flash cards, drawing a doodle for a term to help cement a concept visually. Others enlist a study buddy who is willing to help wflashcardssh cards on a regular basis. 
Remember, study some every day, write things out, and get a good night of rest. Your brain will double your efforts for you!