Why would anyone study want to study Latin? As a Latin teacher, I get asked that question often. Here is the answer I give on my syllabus every year. It incorporates both my own reasons and some more practical considerations.
The world’s begun
without you.
And no reception but
accumulated time.
- Rita Dove
We’ve missed a lot. For many thousands of years before we got here people were thinking, loving, rejoicing, suffering, warring, struggling to find better ways to live, trying to figure things out, and making art to communicate and express all that they experienced. In this class we will explore some of that vast richness that lies in the past. We will study the Romans’ cultural precursors, the Greeks, who profoundly impacted the culture over a large geographical area and a great sweep of time. We will learn about the Romans themselves and their empire. Even after that empire fell, the legacy of the Romans resounded through the ages. And that resounding echo is in Latin. The influence of the Latin language is ubiquitous. About sixty percent of English words are derived from Latin. Latin evolved into the Romance languages: Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Romanian. If you can read Latin well, you can pick up a newspaper in any of those languages and understand much of what it says. A majority of difficult English vocabulary words come from Latin. Latin terms and phrases are a part of every lawyer’s daily conversation with colleagues. Most scientific and medical terminology is Latin (and almost all the rest is Greek). According to the Princeton Review, medical schools are more likely to admit students who majored in Classics (Latin and Greek) than those who majored in Biology. As you study the legacy of the Greeks and Romans, you will become more aware of the allusions to their mythology, literature, and history that are all around you. You will start to “get” lots of jokes and references that you didn’t even know you were missing.
