Fun with Latin over the Years

During my days at St-Joseph High School, there were many occasions when, for a lark, I might be tempted to review passages out of early Roman history to see how these words of wisdom translated into the attitudes and politics of the time, i.e. those precious years: 1953 to 1957.

Again, my goal was focused on personal amusement but also on getting an appreciation of the many ways that highlighted comments, insights, jokes, decrees, biographies, journals, etc. from the days of the Roman forum still fashioned my view of world history up to the present? Are we all “moist robots” – I thank a literary friend for this neat concept – still trying to implement these maxims of yesteryear without realizing their subconscious motivations?

Growing up in a totally bilingual environment, was it possible that my general, assimilated attitudes about everything including politics, religion, beauty, ethical behavior, morality, physical reality and even sports were the sum total of all the beliefs that my ancestors had gathered over the centuries. As an example, was the story of Joan of Arc, AKA “Jeanne d’Arc”, who was burned at the stake at Rouen in 1431 by the English Church Fathers for witchcraft, somehow, still influencing my realty today (in 1957)? See Joan of Arc.

Some Latin History & Beginnings of Old French

There are many interesting events, celebrations and festivities that marked the halcyon days of the Roman  Republic and the Empire that followed, which can fascinate us, English-speaking Americans and Canadians, even today.

But first of all, why study the Latin language, which  contains all the primary data regarding this ancient civilization dating back to 350 B.C.? Here, historians and linguists could readily help out. They would point out that about 60% of the words – one in six – in the English dictionary have a Latin root, although much of our spoken, common, everyday English is of a Germanic nature.

This Teutonic flavor was eventually introduced by the Franks, a Germanic people, into the existing, vulgar “street Latin” still in use throughout the, then, decrepit territories of the fallen Roman Empire.  Such was the case in the year, 800 A.D. when Charlemagne was recognized as the Holy Roman Emperor residing in Achen, which is, today, a town in Germany. At this point, the grand stylistic prose coming from celebrated authors such as Cicero, Pliny, Caesar and Suetonius had long been replaced by texts of lesser quality and influence.

hundreds of years after the fall of the Roman Empire in Western Europe.

by the Franks under Charlemagne around 800 A.D.

which was still used in towns, villages, manors, cathedrals, monasteries during the

can  fascina te those among ls, who wonder, even today,  just how important the events that followed