Last benefit of a classical education......?

I always said that the most useful qualification I had for being a mother was O' Level latin.

When my children went through the 'Why is 'this word' is used to describe that?' stage (Why are road crossings called pedestrian crossings), O level latin was invaluable. I even found myself regretting I had never studied greek (Mummy, why is a rhinoceros called a rhinoceros?).

Thanks elegran. 8 so well pleased. Have yet to put them to DS. He WIll be miffed if I score more than he does!!

Think that I learned more about Roman history, customs etc from watching I, Claudius than from doing Latin at school.
I remember a very strange Latin teacher we had for a year ( who mysteriously vanished) who spent a lot of the lesson scribbling things on bits of paper ( in Latin) which she then scrunched up into a ball and lobbed it at one of us, who then had to unscrunch it and translate what was written.We all got pretty fed up of this, and one girl wrote 'Quiz? Ego! ' Scrunched it up, and when the teacher turned to the blackboard lobbed it at her.We all sat there smugly waiting for the eruption.It never came, as she read it, looked at us, and laughed, then threw it into the wastepaper bin.

I remember the quote as 'nil illigitimus carborundum'. Always makes me smile.

My Latin master was also my French master. I wanted to drop Latin and take German instead (which he also taught) but he wouldn't let me.

Where was I living 2 years after leaving school? Germany!! Latin was no bloody use to me there

Do you want the answers now, mcem ? Disclaimer - I may get them wrong!

Orphaned twins Romulus and Remus were fed and raised by a she-wolf.

Octavian became emperor Augustus.

Voting - "^ . . . “no one was deprived of the suffrage” – no one, that is, except women, foreigners, and slaves. . . . no adult male citizen was deprived of his right to vote – this would have been tyrannical.^"

Tribunes - The answer to this is far more complicated than I thought it was (I have Googled it) so I shall not attempt to put an answer here.

Would a victorious Roman general expect to march his troops through the city in triumph? Only after he had sent his report to the Senate with a traditional laurel wreath. Mranwhile the army stayed camped outside the city. He then petitioned for to be granted a triumph, and if it was granted he got permission for a ceremonial march through Rome. This was to stop an ambitious commander continuing his campaign by attacking the city itself and installing himself in charge.

"Veni, vidi, vici" That was Julius Caesar about his defeat of Britain, of course.

Underage Roman boys wore a toga with a purple stripe round the edge, to mark them as juveniles.

Athena (Greek equivalent of Minerva, goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, mathematics, strength, war strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill - quite a girl!) was patroness of Athens?

Battle of Marathon - Persian forces landed near Marathon, Athenian forces managed to block two passes which would have let them through and defeat them, with no help from the Spartans who wouldn't leave their religious festival. According to the myth Pheidippides ran back to Athens (25 miles) with the good news, said "We won" and died. The modern Marathon race is based on this legend. Truth is probably a confusion between a messenger hurrying 40 miles to sparta to get their assistance and the victorious army marching back the 25 miles at a high pace (laden with armour, weapons etc) to head off a Persian force sailing round.

Socrates died of hemlock poisoning, administered as a death sentence when he was convicted of "corrupting the youth of the city-state and impiety against the gods of Athens". He taught his students to question everything and think things out for themselves.

Archimedes was said to have died during the seige of Syracuse. A Roman soldier was sent to fetch him to meet the victorius general Marcellus, who had given orders that he was not to be harned. Archimedes was in the middle of a mathematical problem and refused to come until he had finished. The soldier was enraged and killed him with his sword.

The beautiful Helen was the very young Queen of the mature Menelaus of Sparta, but eloped with or was abducted by Paris, who had been sent on a diplomatic mission by his father Priam, King of Troy.

No latin or greek at all. A reasonable O level French. I have picked up bits of latin from singing a good few requiems etc in choir. It's surprising what you can piece together, not always totally correct, but it helps to get the gist of somethings.

Glad my Higher Latin didn't involve Bonnie Prince Charlie! (Carolus Princeps Pulcherimus?) My Higher Greek exam made us translate Queen Elizabeth's speech to the troops at Tilbury: "I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king." Goodness knows how I (or anyone else) passed. I always wondered what kind of sadist thought that question up.

grumpa No, but much was made of passer being the definitive word for a sparrow, and the connection between oculis and binoculars and so on.

Katek I didn't have a Latin master. At my first secondary school I had Miss Burt, who was rather small and neat and capable with smoothly bunned hair (a bit like Thatbags, actually) At the next, Classics was taught by the headmistress, Mrs London, who was rather larger and whitehaired. She took three of us to see a production of "Oedipus at Colonnus", in Greek, at a replica outdoor amphitheatre. A long and incomprehensible production and uncomfortable seats on grassy tiers. I distinguished myself on the train by being able to pour our lemonade into tilted glasses without spilling a drop or having it froth up over the rim. It would have been more impressive if I hadn't said "When I fail my A-levels I shall get a job as a barmaid". I had previously been the one who accurately translated the sexy come-on that a female character in one of our texts was saying to the hero - the rest of the class were keeping their heads down and pretending not to understand such things.

7 I think. Very useful for study of French and Spanish (and a bit of Italian later).
Passed 0 grade but failed Higher. How would anyone translate Bonnie Prince Charlie into Latin??
Extremely useful for spelling and grammar.
If we could have the answers I may find I know even less than I thought.
Or should I be conscientious and Google them (or ask DS tomorrow?)

And I'm sure you explored the symbolism of 'passer', Elegran.

Think I managed 7 or 8 Elegran.....memories of "could do better if she tries"!! Did any of you have to stand when Latin master swooped in in his gown land greet him with "salve magister"?

Oculis, not uculis.

We did do the poems of Catullus, grumpa and they were much more interesting than Caesar banging on about Gaul being divided into three parts. I can remember nothing of the war, but I can still recite part of his ode to his girl-friend's pet sparrow
(Lugete, O Veneres Cupidinesque
Et quant' est hominum venustiorum
Passer mortuus est meae puellae
Passer deliciae meae pullae
Quem plus uculis eius amabat. . .)

and his farewell to his brother who had died and was buried far from home
(Multas per gentes et multae per aquea
Venio, frater, has miseras te ferre . . .)

Well I managed 7 out of the 12 I think. I always felt very sorry for poor Archimedes being butchered by the soldiers as he drew his diagrams.

DD did Latin at her comprehensive (I told her future employers would be more impressed by a Latin GCSE than one for PE) She has found it very useful when correcting her students' thesis because their grasp of grammar tends to be nil.

Thank goodness - I could never live up to it!

I think you have definitely replaced Ana as dux ludorum, anno

I often think that today's teenagers would enjoy Latin more than we did if instead of the Gallic Wars they were given the poems of Catullus and Ovid's Metamorphoses, Ars Amoris and Ars Amatoria. "Please sir, what does 'fututiones' mean?..... Ooh sir!"

My own A level Latin was useful when tackling Old French (compulsory) at university, and I have fun nowadays tackling the Latin Crossword in Saturday's Times.

As for practical use, back in the fifties a group from my school was on a cycling tour of Germany with two masters in charge, a native Austrian and an English classicist. One of the boys had a minor injury and stayed behind with the Austrian to be patched up. The rest carried on to the next youth hostel, where the German manager and the English classicist found they could converse perfectly in Latin.

And you chose annodomini as a username.

I got about ten Elegran. I have a memory for useless information but can't remember what I went into the kitchen for. I am very fond of Lyndsey Davis's books featuring the Roman detective Falco. Funny and informative too.

"Amo, amas, I love a lass . . ."

I dropped both Latin and french, amo amas amat is about all I remember

I can tell you all about Archimedes screws and his principal.

I can answer 6 (I think ) and I also know Archimedes was born in Syracuse!

I dropped Latin 'o' level twice ( after changing schools) but was forced to take it in 6th form as you had to have 'The Latin' to study English at university at that time. I only passed because I learnt by heart the English translation of Ceasar's 'Gallic Wars V'.