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Translations of ancient Latin give unique insights into Roman culture

CBC Radio | Posted: April 1, 2016 12:52 PM | Last Updated: April 1, 2016

Image | Learning Latin

Caption: Learn to insult your friends in classical Latin with newly translated ancient Roman texts in Eleanor Dickey's book, Learning Latin the Ancient Way: Latin Textbooks from the Ancient World. (Neha Viswanathan/Flickr cc)

Audio | The Current : Translations of ancient Latin give unique insights into Roman culture

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If you ever sat through Latin lessons in school, you might be inclined to believe there's no such thing as an "easy way" to learn the ancient language. Recently translated ancient texts would seem to suggest that that's been the case for centuries.
Carpe diem with these Latin insults:
  • Your master will hear about this if he encounters me!
  • Are you insulting me, scoundrel? May you be crucified!
  • Why? Because I am a free-born man, and you are a useless slave.
Eleanor Dickey (external link)is a classics professor at the University of Reading, in England and is first to translate centuries-old Latin-as-a-second-language teaching materials into English. She joined The Current's Friday host Laura Lynch to explain how the ancients learned Latin and what it reveals about Roman civilization that influences our world today.
Dickey is the author of Learning Latin the Ancient Way: Latin Textbooks from the Ancient World(external link). (Link downloads text)

Image | Learning Latin - Roman Baths

Caption: Newly translated ancient Latin texts reveal Roman baths weren't all that clean. The water was never changed and it meant having to scrape oneself off with a metal scraper known as a strigil to remove dirt after leaving the bath. (Lucy/Flickr cc)



Are you struggling to learn Latin? Share your experience.
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This segment was produced by The Current's Julian Uzielli.
RELATED LINKS
♦ Ancient Greek manuscripts reveal life lessons from the Roman empire(external link)
♦ How the Romans taught Latin (N.M. Gwynne would not approve)(external link)

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