randolphclassics

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tag yourself ancient languages 

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ask your doctor if joining a selective group of classics majors at a prestigious liberal arts university and descending into moral decrepitude is right for you

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On its last legs but still devoted to the Classics Department at Randolph College. Virginia, USA.

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The Sportula

IMPORTANT SHIT, CLASSICISTS:

You should know about The Sportula, and they say it best themselves:

Q: What is the sportula?

A: We are a group of Classics Graduate Students and Junior Faculty committed to making sure that students from working-class and historically looted communities (like the ones we ourselves come from) don’t fall through the cracks left by traditional scholarship programs; all too many of which have a poor understanding of what our lives are *actually* like and what we *actually* need.

Q: What does that mean?

A: It means that, in our experience, a lot of programs/resources that might provide money for tuition or a specific course/project don’t take into account the further realities of our lives–that we often also needed $$$ for the work shifts we were missing by taking that class, or to bail our mom out of jail, or to buy the textbooks, or to pay our cellphone bill so we could have access to our online course materials from home, or subway fare, or just a freaking sandwich and fancy coffee so we could concentrate on a full belly/have a bit of sweetness in our survival as financially marginalized Classicists in training. None of those were theoretical examples, and this is why we want to smoothe the way for the next generation of Greek and Latin students like us!

Q: What does the sportula do?

A: We provide microgrants–petty cash ranging from $5 to $300, no questions asked, to Classics undergrads who need it. We can also work to find you larger amounts of money and/or connect you with mentorship for non-monetary needs (e.g. if you need a classicist from your racial/ethnic group to talk something over with, or if you have an issue impacting your academic career that you don’t feel comfortable letting your department know about, or you need access to a certain journal/manuscript etc). In short, we are the informal old boys club for ppl who never had access to the old boys club, and we wanna give you the cash you need to thrive.

Q: How do your microgrants work?

A: Contact us through our contact page, tell us what you need, and we will make every effort to send it to you through PayPal, venmo, mail, western union, etc (tell us how much you need, what mode of delivery you’d prefer, and when you need it by). You don’t have to explain yourself–we get that our lives can be complicated and strongly believe that we as financially marginalized people are the best arbiters of what we need and the experts on our own lives. We reject the all too common pattern in academia (and everywhere) that demands working class people “prove” their worthiness or expose/perform their need and trauma for some committee in order to get the money that we need and deserve. That being said, do also let us know if it’s for something like a book or an item we might be able to hook you up without having to spend money.

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This week I had my first lecture on Mesopotamian history. At one point, the professor was talking about ancient texts. As an example, he told us that if we read an ancient inscription of a king who conquered other peoples, we could just take it as that, as a king telling us about something he did. Then he said this: “But most importantly, ask yourselves: “Why is he telling me this?””.

This, I think, is why Ancient History and all the other fields of the Classics department are more important than ever. I’ve studied other things before but never was there such an emphasis on the critical evaluation of sources. In my first semester, we critically analyzed Pericles’ funeral speech in Thukydides’ Peloponnesian War. In my second semester, we talked about historians’ interpretation of the past and how they were influenced by the events of their own times. I’m in my third semester now. 

In the times of “fake news” and “alternative facts”, this skill is the most valuable tool we have. I’ve started studying Ancient History because of my love for the ancient Greeks but this is living proof that Classics is much more than just the study of long dead civilizations. 

So always ask yourselves: “Why is that person telling me this?”

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Hot take: English does have a vocative case and it’s indicated by the prefix @

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Senate Battle #2

CLODIUS [pointing at Cicero] He knows nothing of loyalty Smells like new money, dresses like fake royalty Desperate to rise above his station Everything he does betrays the ideals of our nation!

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I'm a better weaver than Athena.

smart move to say this on anon

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me, translating: what the fuck is that form

the dual: surprise! i bet you thought you’d seen the last of us both

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no punctuation we read like romans

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Hey Tumblr, if you are still mad about the Library of Alexandria, Stop! You can SAVE one ancient library right now. The Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum was buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, Some nearly 2000 carbonized scrolls were discovered along with the villa in the 1700s. Over the past couple centuries the scrolls have been a major source of study and today we are finally reaching ways of reading their contents without destroying the scrolls in the process. Here’s the big news, just over a week ago a whole lost work of Seneca the elder, became unlost! Article here: http://www.romeandart.eu/en/art-news-historia-seneca.html  The villa itself is largely underground and was explored via tunneling and as such it’s full extent still hasn’t been made clear, and it has long been suspected that additional libraries could exist within the site, not to mention other as of yet undiscovered villas. However, Italy as with many European countries simply has so many archaeological sites and new things being found all the time and not enough money to go around. Additionally the Villa of the Papyri is threatened with constant flooding issues. Library aside Sites like Herculaneum and Pompeii and all Archaeological sites around the world tell us so much about ancient peoples and cultures where we don’t have their literature to call on.  So how can you save the last ancient library? Donate to various archaeological and conservation/preservation groups, or even volunteer! Here a just a couple links to get started:

World Monuments Fund: https://www.wmf.org/get-involved

Archaeological Institute of America: https://www.archaeological.org/giving

Friends of Herculaneum Society: http://www.herculaneum.ox.ac.uk/

Pompeii Sustainable Preservation Project: http://www.pompeii-sustainable-preservation-project.org/  

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A piece in Medium by our own Gabe Kuhl, ’17.

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Εωερυ SINGLE day.

when you forget which language keyboard you were using: λολ

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Parilia at Randolph: this year was a rousingly interpreted MEDEA—the Seneca version!!! (Yep—this fall’s Greek Play is Euripides’ MEDEA. Mark your calendars for October 5, 6, and 7.)

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Costume. Chitons.

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a greek chorus which just shouts “oh shit” at relevant intervals