The Cambridge School Classics Project (CSCP) is delighted to announce the launch of their new set of free video resources: Romans in Focus. Funded in part by a generous grant from the Department for Education, these videos are designed to support the teaching of Roman Civilisation and focus on some often overlooked elements of Roman society.

The eight short videos can be found online at www.romansinfocus.com and cover the following topics: women and work, insulae and mass housing, freedmen, auxiliary soldiers, Roman law, growing up in the Roman Empire, constructing power in Augustan Rome, and public and private religion. Each aims to explore and examine those who were often invisible in Latin literature, and to challenge and debate some of our most common misconceptions about these people and their lives. The videos are presented by Dr Claire Holleran of the University of Exeter, and Dr Ersin Hussein who teaches at the universities of Warwick and Bristol.

Each topic comes with ancillary resources, designed to open up discussion, examine sources and to extend upon the video. These resources aim to encourage students to interpret the evidence for themselves and to discuss the strengths and limitations of different sources. We have also included links to useful websites, and have listed all the objects shown in each video with high-quality images, their find-spot, and links to further information, including where to visit them - excellent for planning school trips!

We really hope you enjoy using these videos and resources in your teaching. If you have any feedback or suggestions please do contact us on [email protected]

Romans in Focus Webpage screenshot

This is a list of Latin-speaking weeks that regularly take place each year. It may be that there are also other meetings of which I am not aware and the list may contain some errors: I should therefore be grateful to anyone who draws my attention to them.

Carolopoli [Charlestown], Virginiae Occidentalis [West Virginia]

Biduum Noveboracense http://latin.org/wordpress/events/list/

Jacque (Iacoba) Myers, Praeses, S.A.L.V.I. Los Angeles, CA e-cursus – [email protected] Iacoba [email protected] Moderatrix Nancy E. Llewellyn e-cursus – [email protected]

Carolopoli [Charlestown], Virginiae Occidentalis [West Virginia]

Rusticatio Tironum – S.A.L.V.I. Septentrionale Americanum Latinitatis Vivae Institutum Jacque (Iacoba) Myers, Praeses, SALVI Los Angeles, CA http://www.latin.org/programs/rusticatio/tironum/ e-cursus – [email protected] Iacoba [email protected] Moderatrix Nancy E. Llewellyn

Conventiculum Dickinsoniense

Department of Modern & Classical Languages, Literatures, & Cultures, 1055 Patterson Office Tower, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0027,U.S.A.

moderatoribus, Terentio Tunberg [email protected] et Milena Minkova

http://www.dickinson.edu/info/20033/classical_studies/61/teacher_workshops

Mobilis, Alabama

Cenaculum Familiae Sancti Hieronymi– Hebdomada tranquilla et jucunda ubi lingua Latina erit nobis sermo communis. [email protected] http://www.hieronymus.us.com/index.html

Lutetiae Parisiorum [Paris]

‘Living Latin in Paris’: http://www.paideiainstitute.org/living_latin_in_paris

Ferigoleti [Frigolet]

Feriae Latinae Ferigoletenses http://www.frigolet.com/en/component/content/article?id=120 tel. : (33) 04 90 95 70 07 Moderatores: Pater Patricius – [email protected]

Maria Antoinette AVICH, 21b rue Sainte Anne de Baraban, F-069003 Lyon – [email protected]

S. Ottilien

Seminarium Latinitatis Vivae Germanicum in archiabbatiâ ottiliensi, Bavaria D8694; singula a Societate Latinâ, Universität des Saarlandes, FR6.3, PF151150, D-6604, Saarbrücken, Germania. tel: 0681/302-3192; e-cursus [email protected] http://www.voxlatina.uni-saarland.de

Amoeneburgi [Amöneburg] prope Marburgum

Septimana Latina Europaea: (<<Latine loqui – romane coquere>>), Johanneshaus, D-35287 Amöneburg . Interrogetur: Thomas Gölzhäuser, Chattenhöhe 5, D-35630, Ehringshausen, Germania; tel: (0049)6449-921919 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] http://www.septimanalatina.org/index_e.htm http://www.maierphil.de/SeptLat/

Monasterii (Münster)

Seminarium Monasteriense (Muenster) fiet diebus 7.-13. mensis Augusti MMXVII Caecilia Koch moderante. [email protected]

Frisingae [Freising]

Septimana Latina Europaea, Intrerrogetur Robert Maier, Katharina Geisler-Str., 16 D-85356 Freising, tele.: 08161/872007, insc.electr. [email protected]; Telephonuli : +49-174-9107508

Theulegii [Tholey]

Seminarium ‘Latinitatis vivae’ . Singula a Societate Latinâ, Universität des Saarlandes, FR6.3, PF151150, D-6604, Saarbrücken, Germania. tel: 0681/302-3192; e-cursus [email protected] http://www.voxlatina.uni-saarland.de

Barcinoni, Catalonia

Colloquia Latina Barcinonensia IV (20 horas) http://www.uab.cat/web/estudiar/cursos-d-estiu-uab/professorat-no-universitari-1345700278932.html [email protected]

Matriti

Cursum CAELUM V http://www.culturaclasica.com/?q=caelum

Romae

‘Living Latin in Rome’: http://www.paideiainstitute.org/living_latin_in_rome

Montella

Scholae aestivae in Italia http://scholalatina.it/it/scholalatina.it [[email protected]]

Viterbo

Conventiculum Viterbiense [email protected] http://europalatina.live/symposia

Cataniae in Sicilia

Symposium Latinum in Aetnae radicibus http://europalatina.live/symposia [email protected]

Posnan'

Schola Aestiva Latinitatis Vivae Posnaniensis MMXVI in Instituto Philologiae Classicae Universitatis Posnaniensis – [email protected] Seminarium L.V.P.A.e http://www.lvpa.de/nuntii.php

Brian Bishop

Fewer schools entered this year than last, which was a shame (4 schools and one private entrant; 20 entrants altogether). However, the entrants from Liverpool Blue Coat School, North London Collegiate School Jeju and Taunton School all reached a very high standard in their reading and we were able to award 1^st and 2^nd prizes in all categories.

The schools that enter all appreciated the competition:

I think it is a good thing to be supporting oral Latin in this small way.

Thanks to Pat Bunting and John Hazel for help with the judging.

I had the great pleasure of attending the Classical Association Conference of 2017 which was hosted by the University of Kent, and run by them in conjunction with the Open University. The University was a very pleasant and hospitable venue, with the advantage of having plenty of accommodation on campus. We were looked after and guided by a team of Classics and Archaeology students who had their special study interests emblazoned on their blue tee-shirts. I was delighted to find that one of these students was an ex-pupil of mine!

I very much enjoyed our introductory lecture from Professor Ineke Sluiter (Leiden) on ‘Anchoring innovation: a Classical research agenda’. Her message was that anchoring the New in the Old was effective and valuable, and something that Classicists were good at, owing both to the depth and the breadth of our studies.

Then we were plunged into the usual feast of papers, the variety of which always makes choice virtually impossible. The theme of the ‘sensory’ pervaded many of the panels, and this introduced a new dimension to the conference. To start with, I focused on Roman everyday life, and learnt a great deal about Roman bars: their uses, their changing architecture, their atmosphere and, of course, their punters! In the second session I flitted between ‘Theatricalising objects’, and a paper on the use of Rome for satirical purposes in Star Trek! In the afternoon there was an opportunity to go on an organised trip: I visited Richborough coastal fort for the first time to my shame, but also to my great interest, while others explored aspects of Canterbury.

How prevalent really was the Roman city grid-system, and was it really such a ‘Roman’ feature, questioned Professor Wallace-Hadrill in his lecture ‘What did the Roman city do for us?’—as he dazzled us with diagrams of octagonal cities, both ancient and modern, and considered what really mattered in a Roman city.

On Friday I did a bit of ‘night-walking in the streets of ancient Rome’, learned about Pompeian pavements and British rural bath-houses, and examined some of the Amazonian figures of Classical literature, to mention just a few of the intellectual and ‘sensory’ delights of that day. It was easy to ‘hop’ between the panels as they were usually all in the same building.

Conscious of being the ARLT rep, I did of course attend pedagogical sessions. A number of these were more relevant to university teaching, but nevertheless illuminating. (Next year, at Leicester, there is going to be a big focus on school education.) In spite of this emphasis, there were some valuable exceptions: I enjoyed Steven Hunt's session on ‘Classics in the contemporary classroom’ which encouraged Classical outreach to Years 5 to 8 through the medium of mythology-the relevance of which subject was also expressed in the Presidential address of Professor Bob Fowler: ‘What's in a myth?’. It was also useful to learn about the strengths and downsides of classroom ‘voting’ technology from Helen Lovatt. Other experts suggested a presentation of ‘authentic’ Roman dress, and the creation of a fully (well almost!) performed animal sacrifice in the classroom, these latter two under the aegis of a panel named ‘Phenomenal Expression’!

The ‘Classics in Schools’ Round Table at the end of the conference was a session I found particularly inspiring. A lot of thought is being given to outreach by different universities and organisations in order to get Classical subjects back into school-age education, and to make it effective and more permanent. Different approaches to outreach are being considered and trialled, involving more interaction with the schools themselves rather than just being ‘missionary work’. It is worth finding out what is going on in your locality.

As usual, I have not done justice to the conference, which is a remarkable event. Even if one cannot attend every year, I urge teachers to experience this - especially next year, in Leicester, when both dates and content are really teacher-friendly. Bursaries are available.

In recent months the focus has been on training – training Minimus trainers as well as training teachers and PGCE students; the demand is rising – and at quite a pace. Training is funded by Classics for All for which the Primary Latin Project is extremely grateful. There are currently 16 Minimus trainers, covering all parts of the country. An official training day for Minimus trainers took place in April, held in the splendid surroundings of the Classics Department at Birmingham University, thanks to the kind support of Dr Elena Theodorakopoulos. Experienced Minimus teachers gathered for the one-day course. The morning was devoted to the basic training of Minimus and the focus in the afternoon was on training PGCE students. This increase in demand for training means that we would like to increase the number of trainers. If anyone wishes to become a Minimus trainer, please get in touch. Details are on the Minimus website.

The training has taken place far and wide. Barbara Bell was able to talk to Australian teachers who were taking part in a Classical summer school in Sydney. Jane Maguire represented the Primary Latin Project (PLP) and taught the Australian teachers for the best part of a week. Also in January, a wonderful weekend of teacher training was arranged by Dr Evelien Bracke on behalf of the Cymru Wales Classics Hub (CWCH) at the very picturesque Gregynog Hall in mid Wales; the snow was an added bonus. This weekend was designed for current and prospective schoolteachers wishing to learn how to integrate Classical languages and / or cultures and history into their school curriculum. There was considerable interest in Minimus which, I hope, will lead to more schools in North Wales starting Latin.

Classics Hubs are developing in many areas, again thanks to the support of Classics for All. The most recent one is in Bristol. There have been a number of Minimus training days in the area with a very promising uptake from schools. PLP is delighted to be able to help with grants for Minimus textbooks. 15 teachers from Liverpool primary schools were trained as part of the Liverpool Classics Hub. The participants were particularly interested in how Latin can lead to improved literacy. At present ten schools are interested in delivering Latin across KS2 within the curriculum. Following the Liverpool teacher training day, 12 PGCE students from Liverpool Hope University were delighted be able to add certification for Minimus training to their portfolio. This is a growing area, following on from the success at the School of Education, University of Bristol which has just completed its third year of Minimus training. PGCE students in Swansea University have also been introduced to Minimus; this will be repeated next year and Cardiff Metropolitan University would like their PGCE students to have the same opportunity. Newcastle University organised a varied day of training for PGCE students in April and, as part of that day, there was a session on Minimus. This is just a snapshot of what is happening all over the country. A full update of the training is given in the PLP Newsletter.

Although I will take over as the Director of PLP in November and Dr Elena Theodorakopoulos will take on the role of Chair, we do not intend to let Barbara take too much of a back seat.Finally, one of the PLP's USA members, Zee Ann Poerio, from Pittsburgh, has been awarded the prestigious American Classical League Merita award at this year's conference in Michigan. This award - the highest that ACL presents – is for ‘distinguished service to the profession and to ACL’ and Zee Ann will join a list of outstanding Classics teachers. We send her our congratulations.

Please note that the website www.classicsteaching.com no longer operates. For information about teaching Classics, including Initial Teacher Training courses, please see www.startingtoteachlatin.org, which has more flexibility in displaying information.

Steve Hunt [email protected]

Please contact Steve Hunt on [email protected] if you wish an event to go into the next calendar.