Salvete!

Today we reverted back to our regularly scheduled classes, convening in Fox Hall for our Latin lessons following breakfast. In the afternoon, we were introduced to the world of numismatics by our wonderful guest speaker, Dr. Liane Houghtalin, a renowned expert in coins of the ancient world. After a crash course in coin dating, we looked at Greek and Roman coins, from both before the Roman Empire and at its height. 

We were glad to have some time to ourselves during otium verum before we split up into various groups for working on set building, play rehearsals, or our dedicated Memoranda team. We concluded the day with a follow-up to our ceramic making session last week, in which we created our own Sculpey statues and carvings. Following a lecture on two types of ancient painting techniques by our mysterious mysterium colorum teacher, Magister Cavedo, we took part in using not-so-ancient products (acrylic paint from Target) to paint our designs. We were also given the opportunity to paint wooden boards, and some students even took to their skin to make unique art on their hands. It was an extremely enjoyable night with a lot of beautiful artwork to show for it and good vibes overall. 

Hoping your day was as good as ours, your aediles,
Mercury and Ananya :D

Salvete!

We began today with our elective classes, which we chose based on our standings in the province cup last night. The magisters did a great job preparing complete and interesting lectures in the hour or so they had to impart this supplementary education to our usual lessons. We then took a trek to a local church for our morning activities, beginning with a cooking lesson led by Magister Jefferson. We cooked traditional Roman foods with a modern twist, and prepared the dishes most similar to those eaten by people who lived in our respective provinces. The food we made was sold in tonight's thermopolium activity, in which we simulated a Roman restaurant and other attractions such as fortune telling, arm wrestling, and plenty of scams. In a sense, this was a preparation for our larger mercatus event, which will combine all of the various skills we have picked up in our 3 weeks here at GLA. After lunch, we partook in some fun Latin drills where we were able to practice our spoken Latin skills. Following our afternoon Greek classes, we got into our togas and gathered in MPR for thermopolium. The event was a great success and had a huge effect on our standings in the province cup. During this time, we bartered, haggled, and outright stole from each other, all with the intentions of financial success, both for ourselves and for our provinces. At  this time, we were able to enjoy the food we made, including lentils, Roman herb and cheese dip, pickles, and pancakes, along with iconic staples of Roman food: bread and wine. (Don't worry, it was really grape juice.) After removing our togas, we then convened once again in MPR to receive our epistulae and wrap up the day's activities. (We even got today's Wordle on the third try! Thanks, RAs!)

Signing off for now, your aediles, 
Ananya and Mercury :D

Salvete!

Yesterday we welcomed the renowned theater professional Valerie Carlson to speak for the Academy, on the intersection between the comedy works of Shakespeare and those of Plautus. We will be performing Miles Gloriosus by Plautus the day before our closing ceremony at GLA, an event which friends and family are welcome to attend. We followed up an interactive lecture with a quick rehearsal using the expertise she taught us, or for those of us on our Memoranda team, a session spent collecting and organizing pictures. 

In an evening excursion, we convened on a grassy lawn to watch a performance of The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Richmond Shakespeare Festival. The event lasted well into the night, so much so that we decided to put off writing the blog until today (our sincerest apologies). 

We followed up a night of revelry with some much needed rest, as our censors made their daily count at 12:00 rather than a bright and early 8:00. A morning of free time was followed by a wonderful display by The Twentieth Legion, a historical reenactment group, who brought a plethora of Roman objects (some authentic, some recreated) for us to see, touch, and learn about. The evening culminated with presentations by the provinces about their understanding of this year's multifaceted theme, non nobis solum, meaning "not for ourselves alone". In the nighttime air, we gathered around the illuminated fountain for a ceremony celebrating the ending of our first week at GLA, and the coming of our next two. 

Signing off until next time, your aediles, 
​Mercury and Ananya :D

Salvete!

What a jam-packed day! The Latin Academy started the day off bright and early with a lesson in architecture by Magistra McIntire. Together we characterized the unique qualities of Roman public buildings and were given a chance to compare them to other styles of buildings, both older and more modern. We then ventured out to the Virginia State Capitol to see these architectural motifs with our own eyes. After a friendly tour led by some of the staff, we posed for a group picture in the rotunda in front of George Washington, or as we like to call him, Georgie Washie. 

Our lunchtime was spent exploring Maymont Park nearby, which housed both Japanese and Italian garden styles. There was ample time to walk around and see the enclosures of raptors, hawks, cows, and other animals. Our final stop before heading back to the dorms was at a small gelato shop owned and operated by a GLA alumn. We had the opportunity to peruse through some local businesses in the Randolph-Macon area before getting some much-needed rest before dinner. 

Finally, we ended our day off with our first session of nugae, convening in the MPR for a night of karaoke. We heard some great classics such as You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift, Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, and Africa by Toto (performed by the Africa province), as well as many Broadway hits. We rounded off the night with a riveting performance of the Greek alphabet song by our very own RA, Jack Purple, which we all joined in on. We can't wait for what our tribunes come up with for the next nugae!

Signing off until next time, your aediles,
​Ananya and Mercury :D

Salvete!

Another misty day here at the Latin Academy (οἴ μοι!) but we nevertheless persisted as we met in Fox Hall for our second day of Ancient Greek. Lessons today included translating (!!!) a summary, in Greek, of the story of Iphigenia, a movie which we were all very moved by last night. Although the wet fields were unavailable to us during otium verum, we gathered in the common room for card games and reading in what turned into a very relaxed afternoon. Following our free time, we practiced our Ancient Greek some more in Greek drills with our very own Magister Jefferson (the man, the myth, the legend), and learned some more vocabulary, this time describing our families. So don't worry about being forgotten here at GLA, your memories live on!

We then convened in the Multipurpose Room for an arts and crafts lesson to prepare us for our exciting day of visiting architecture in Richmond tomorrow. Magister Cavedo led the sculpting process with his mysterious expertise in the arts, and we unleashed our creativity upon an enormous box of Sculpey. Our creations will be traded amongst each other during our Mercatus convention at the end of our three weeks. We loved receiving your letters (and some odd packages) during epistulae, and ended off the night washing our matching shirts for tomorrow, listening to Olivia's great playlist. 

Signing off for now, your aediles, 
Ananya and Mercury :)

Salvete!

After the excitement of yesterday, we were very glad to have today as a day for rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation. Today marked another day of Latin, in which we pretended to go to the marketplace in our Loquenda (spoken Latin) classes. We will eventually convene in a full immersion marketplace simulation bustling with all that we had to learn here at Academy. In the afternoon, after a little more practice with Latin Drills, our very own Memoranda team was hard at work beginning to assemble slideshows, videos, and other presentations to preserve our memories at GLA. Memoranda is responsible for creating a farewell video as well as a personal CD for each and every one of the discipuli. Play rehearsals began today as well, with a whole-cast table read in both English and Latin (we definitely got the gods' approval as they thunderously interrupted our rehearsal).

Our day was finished with an emotional note as we gathered in the Brock Theater for a MOVIE NIGHT!!! The movie Iphigenia was a depiction of the beginning of the Trojan War which details the tragedy of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra's eldest daughter and namesake of the movie. A few hours in the theater left everyone in a state of mixed catharsis and a longing for continuation (as well as a general consensus that Agamemnon did everything wrong). We were glad to recieve letters from friends and family at epistulae, and excited to start another day at Academy tomorrow. 

Signing off for now, your aediles,
​Ananya and Mercury :)

Χαίρετε et konnichi wa! 

Who would have known that on our second day at Latin Academy we would be learning Ancient Greek and Japanese! That's two more languages than we signed up for. We started the day with our very first Ancient Greek lessons, and learned a very catchy alphabet song. ὃς καλός! We were given the opportunity to convene with the Japanese Academy, where we greeted each other in the opposite languages that we were learning. We've seen them around campus and in the dining hall wearing their blue tags, and it was nice to finally be able to put names to faces and make some new friends.

Tuesday evening marked two very auspicious events here at Latin Academy: play auditions and elections. Over the last few days, the Populares and Optimates factions have been facing off in a bitter match full of bribery, propaganda wars, and fiery speeches. Tonight we gathered in our togas to hear the speeches of the many candidates who connected to the audience and appealed to them with both humor and solemnity, along with the occasional boast. Gathering in the Multipurpose Room, decked out in our nifty togatae, the various members of our Academy took part in a traditional Roman election to choose our representatives. In the end: Tyler and Laura were elected Quaestors to help with handing out mail. Karsten and Ellie were elected Tribunes to plan social events. Ananya and Mercury became Aediles who are now updating the blog! Madi and Macon are our Praetors who will help plan sports events for Fourth of July. Esther and Grace Ma were elected our Consuls and will help introduce speakers and give the morning announcements each day. Lastly, Morgan and Jimmy were elected Censors, tasked with keeping count of everyone and waking up their hall-mates in the morning.

Another event that took place on this fun-filled day was auditions for the play. We are putting on Miles Gloriosus by Roman playwright Plautus, which centers comedy, star-crossed romance, and many mischievous, confusing plots which our directors don't fully understand themselves. Although the play itself will be performed in Latin, the auditions were in English, which we were very thankful for. We were impressed by the way the actors were able to perform in such versatile ways on a moment's whim, and switch quickly through parts in quick skits. The auditions were ended by each actor reading some Latin from the play on the spot, which truly put our Loquenda skills to the test. The main character, Pyrgopolinices, our Miles Gloriosus (Braggart Soldier) will be Keith. 

Here is our full cast list:
Miles Gloriosus: Keith
Palaestrio: Ananya, Mercury, and Grace Ma
Periplectomenus: Amelie and Jason
Sceledrus: Nathan
Philocomasium: Dale
Pleusicles: Karsten
Milphidippa: Sara
Aeroteleutrum: Caroline
Artotrogus: Deeba
Cario: Will H.
Plautus Ipse: Percy
Cook entourage: Donny, Robert, Jaden
Courtesan: Autumn
​Parasiti: Laura and Morgan
​
That's all for today!

​Signing off for the first BUT NOT LAST time, your aediles, Ananya and Mercury :D

The first day of Academy was filled with fun things and new friends!

After we took our COVID tests, we moved into our dorm rooms. We soon had to say goodbye to our families (for three whole weeks!) and jumped right in to Academy activities! The provinces all competed in a game for points in the *Province Cup* and went on a brief tour of all the buildings we will use at R-MC. 

We tried hard to learn everyone's name at Academy through the name game in small groups. We heard that Sol bought shoes in the Roman Forum, Jordan bought Jacks, and Kirti bought Kupcakes. In the end, Karsten was brave enough to name every single student in the Academy - and earned some major points for his province, Italia!

Following dinner in the dining hall, we learned about ancient rhetoric and Roman elected officials. We are preparing for our own Roman-style elections which will happen on Tuesday by writing speeches, creating graffiti in Latin, and strategizing our campaigns. Hopefully our dorm will be filled with election graffiti by tomorrow!

More fun things to come tomorrow - we're excited to see what the next three weeks hold!

-- Magister Jefferson