After all, I’m a Latin teacher. But I love the language (grammar, English derivatives, and literature) way more than I love the history. I haven’t taken a formal Roman history course since Western Civ in high school. At Reed, there was Hum 110 and I took an awesome course on the Ancient City in Rome, but that was way more about architecture and urban environment. That class assumed I had taken a prereq at Reed, but I actually used it as my Roman History credit.
At dinner with my boyfriend and his dad the other day, I embarassingly forgot the battle of Actium. I just don’t have a good memory for military history, which is a shame because it’s what my dad and my boyfriend’s dad love. But I really should read up more and try to achieve this goal. If I am really dedicated, I could even do it in Latin. For now, I put Robin Lane Fox’s history of the classical world on my bedside table.
