Mark Antony in Sanskrit
I went to high school in Rome, Italy. I took four years of Latin, which my UN diplomat mother swore would make me a better person. I can quote the opening lines to Caesar’s Gallic Wars, which has really come in handy over the years. Since I am neither a doctor nor lawyer, as best I can tell, I was best able to use “living Latin” while I was in Rome and when I return there…or at the movies. As an example, all the manholes in Rome have the designation S.P.Q.R., the same designation on Russell Crowe’s arm in Gladiator. Senatus Populusque Romanus – property of the senate and the people of Rome. Good to know.
I went to an all-boys high school called Notre Dame International, which was a part of the Brothers of the Holy Cross network out of South Bend, Indiana. These good men had a strong relationship with both the Vatican and the American Seminary of Rome. The Catholic Church is nothing if not solidly aligned among its constituent ranks. They stand as a phalanx of support like the columns forming the Piazza of St. Peters Basilica. It was normal-course for Notre Dame International to bring brothers from all around the world to teach at the school for a year or two while they basked in the glow of the Holy See. Occasionally, the order would bow specifically to the needs of Ecumenical Council.
Such was the case with Brother Paul. It turns out that Brother Paul was considered to be the foremost Latin Scholar in the world. The Vatican called on him to come to Rome to write a modern dictionary of the ancient language, which was in daily use within the hallowed halls of St. Peters. He was lodged at the school and given the added duty to teach Latin IV (that would be fourth year Latin in case you forgot how to recognize Roman Numerals). I was enrolled in Latin IV that very year.
In the Spring, we, like all high schoolers around the world, took a class trip. We went to Egypt (not as exotic and distant if your starting point is in Rome). We went by boat from Naples, much as Mark Antony must have done 2 millennia hence. We were lectured in Latin enroute on the history of the Roman conquests in North Africa. It was more interesting than most Latin classes since Brother Paul was in-touch enough to understand that we were on vacation.
In fact, Brother Paul proved to be very human. When we arrived at the Great Pyramids of Giza we noticed writing etched into the walls of sandstone at the base of the tombs. Brother Paul stopped and shone his flashlight on the etchings and went back and forth mumbling. He then turned to our group and said, “Boys, allow me to translate the dirty jokes written in Latin on these walls by the Roman soldiers that were here serving under Mark Antony. Let’s just say that General Antony’s exploits with Cleopatra, the last Pharaoh of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, were less epic than history generally attributes to him.” Oh well, one military hero bites the dust and another scholarly hero goes on the pedestal for a group of teenage boys.