Flora, goddess of spring, fresco from the Villa di Arianna, first century. Naples National Archaeological Museum, Naples, Italy
Salvētē sodālēs!
This has been a difficult year for me. My conversations with others in the field of Classics have helped me regain a sense of perspective, perhaps because the study of antiquity yields a special insight into the enduring patterns of human experience. The stories of Persephone and Pompeii show us the potential for new growth after disaster, for the capacity of a community to learn from struggle and to create new things together. I want my president’s letter to simply reflect moments of hope and brightness from this year, individual and communal: blooms in the garden of ClassConn.
Your ClassConn president showing students the consequences of using AI inappropriately: Rome March 2025
As educators, we plant the seeds and patiently nurture our students through the years, hopeful that our efforts will bear fruit. At the end of each school year, I am proud to see how much my students have grown as individuals and as learners. Our students’ love of Latin inspires incredible creativity and scholarly work. At the end of this letter, I am sharing two examples from my own students. One is a free adaptation of Vergil; the other a senior project recreating Roman military gear.
As I celebrate my own students’ achievements, I celebrate the achievements of all Connecticut’s Classics students. The success and enthusiasm of many Connecticut students and their teachers were on full display at the annual State Latin and Greek Day on May 1st. You can read more about CSLGD here, courtesy of Arlette deKoning. Arlette and Drew Warchut, both past recipients of the Distinguished Service Award, have led the committee for CSLGD through challenging times capably and responsively. With Drew now stepping down, this committee is in need of new members. Please let Arlette know if you are interested.
What is blooming this summer in our ClassConn garden?
Following a successful annual meeting in New Haven, CANE presents the Summer Institute,“The Time of Monsters”: Discord, Collapse, and Renewal in the Ancient World. The title alone will entice many of us to attend later in July.
ACL Vice President and ClassConn superstar Mark Pearsall has been hard at work organizing this summer’s fantastic program for the ACL Annual Institute in Chicago, at which ClassConn members Kevin Ballestrini and Maureen Lamb will be presenting. Kudos to Kevin for his well-deserved ACL award for Excellence in Creating Technology-Based Education Resources.
Thanks to the ClassConn board for their hard work this year. Along with regular business, they have been sprouting ideas to build advocacy and community. To that end, we are planning more informal social gatherings and events throughout the year and the state, such as a group outing to the Wadsworth Atheneum in July, and to an Elm City production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in August. Stay tuned for announcements as we develop our event schedule.
Unlike the common idiom of the kitchen, the more hands there are in a garden, the more it flourishes. Please lend your time and energy to help our community grow and prosper together. Let us know what ideas you have for informal ClassConn events and outings, from small to large, around the state, via this form. In the same spirit, all members should feel free to organize their own ClassConn events, and announce them on the ClassConn Facebook page.
ex animo,
Kate Horsley
Free Translation of Aeneid II.721-746, by Jaden Lee (Hopkins class of 2025)
Here I, scared and mad
Some GOD stole my mind
Bewildered me
And I became confused
For a while didst I follow
The trackless places
Leaving the known place
Of the road
ALAS, my wife Creusa I do not know
If by fate she was stolen
Or she strayed behind
On our eyes she rested no more|
(Away from us she did go)
Nor look for her
Nor mind turn to
Not before we came to the sacred-mound
The sacred-mound of CERES
Here everyone gathered here
she was missing from all near
She deceived all dear
Madly I accused all
Men, GODS,
the cruel THING I saw in that city
defeated
… quoth he whence,
I stoopeth mine
broad shoulders down
And I covered myself
with lion’s skin garment
And father, now mine burden;
and on mine right did Iulus
Follow his mateys with footsteps unequal
And rusheth this family,
through SHADOW
And I, whence the spears
nor raiders of the Greeks break rank,
Fearing all wind, every sound
I feared for
My CHILD and my BURDEN hence.
***
The PORTALS we approached
which seemed thus
To have passed all road in safety,
When suddenly
Footsteps, footsteps
The sound of quick footsteps
Warneth us through SHADOW
Then Father mine:
“Flee!” quoth he, “Flee, my child;
They approach!
Perceiveth I, their shields burneth bright
And bronze swords in mine sight”
From the Author: In my translation of this section of the Aeneid, I called to mind several themes. Pirate-speak is archaic to us not unlike the Aeneid would have been to later Roman readers. It also calls to the forefront an irony: It is the Greeks who are seafaring raiders of Troy, and Aeneas is the narrator himself. Coleridge is especially appropriate for this in his poem, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, which I used as a standard. The archaic language preserves the ancient tone of the Aeneid itself. Furthermore, Coleridge himself is an ideal model of the type of poem constructed here: This version of the text is from 1834, Coleridge himself being from the Romantic era of writing and philosophy (for scale, after Immanuel Kant, but before Friedrich Nietzsche). Not only do the revolutions in philosophy parallel to the upturn of the Roman Republic becoming the Empire Virgil himself experienced, but the emergence of scholasticism in this period, especially in the re-definitions of metaphysicality, theology, and liminality, paved a new style of authorship that would have reflected this new interest in what was previously considered sacrilege in the pursuit of so-called “pagan gods"; it is quite fitting of a “modern Virgil”, indeed. Therefore, whether by circumstance or by another cause, Coleridge, in my opinion, seems to have rendered Latin-like verse particularly well in English poetry in terms of structure; I have thus elected to use Ancient Mariner as a standard.
Magnolia Willey (Hopkins class of 2025) completed an in-depth senior research project entitled Where in the World is Legio IX Hispana? An Exploration into the Disappearance of the Ninth Legio, and constructed the equipment pictured here. She explains her creations: “The centurion armor and Augustan-style shield are my attempts at rendering historically accurate Roman military equipment. They were the final products of my studies into the form and function of Rome’s military between the end of the Republic into the Early-Mid Empire. Each piece was created with cardboard and hot glue, and painted with spray paint or acrylic.”