Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Beware the Ides of March

I studied Latin at school. When I say I studied Latin, what I mean is that I was sat in a classroom wondering what the hell they were on about whilst others were actually sat there studying it. Unfortunately on the day I had to decide which subjects to choose for O'Levels I decided to give up Music, the only subject I was ever really likely to do well in, for Latin, on the whim that that particular day I decided I was going to be a dentist and Latin might be useful.

I remember only a few things. I can decline the verb Amo, to love. amo amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant along with two other tenses, amabo and amabam, but I don't know what tenses they are. Still, it's something. The other thing I know is that the Ides of each month are the middle days and that includes the 15th. Including March which was one of the ten months they bothered with. Including the year 44bc. And that was the day, 2060 years ago today, that Julius Caeser should perhaps have taken a bit more notice as to what was going on.

Perhaps between 1970 and 1973 I should have been taking a bit more notice of what was going on in class.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

My remembrance of Latin is akin to yours, though I did like it when I studied it for a whole term before the school decided not to offer it further.

Masher said...

We never studied Latin at my old school.
Romanes Eunt Domus is about all we learnt... and that was from Monty Python.

Right you! What's happening? I took this blog off my feeder because it was no longer going to be used. Then it came back from the dead during February. And now it's still breathing.

Which one should I be reading? (I can't get a feed for your French one, for some reason).

kennamatic said...

Toffeeapple - I enjoyed it too on a friday afternoon when the teacher thought it was more useful to read us stories than teach us latin.

Masher - well, theoretically, if I want to blog about France it should be on LoupiaLife but that's "un petit" dormant at the moment as you may have noticed. I will use this blog for non French stuff and particularly things I don't want family and friends to know who all look at the French blog if they haven't died of boredom waiting for the next post. Think of it as a sort of exciting game as to which one I will post on next.

Brennig said...

Something about loving a farmer's daughter yesterday, today, and tomorrow? That's about all I have