We outlined the Roman origins of Halloween over a year ago in a previous article, and here we will focus a bit more on the Roman holidays that bridge the gap from ancient Rome to modern Halloween.

First of all, there is the link of Halloween to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. As Samhain simply marks the end of summer, or the harvesting season in modern day Ireland, the festival was a celebration of the harvest and a look forward to the new year, which started on November 1st. There was a great big party for the community – all hearth fires were put out in favor of one, large, communal fire where sacrifices were made. Seeing as this was a time of transition, the belief was that the forces of the underworld were ever present as the line between the living and dead was blurred. It became a time of prophecy and the Druids, or priestly class of Celtic society, used this moment to ask questions about the future – doing this with great pomp and ritual. Most were also in costume. Once the rituals and celebrations were over, the hearths within the homes were rekindled using the fire from the sacred, communal bonfire.

The Romans were not without their otherworldy celebrations. There was the Feralia, which according to Ovid, was celebrated at the end of the Parentalia from February 13-21 (a festival for honoring dead ancestors). The Feralia, celebrated on February 21st, was a festival were the Romans had to make offerings to appease the dead. If they did not, the consequences could be hauntings by these infernal spirits.

Yet it remains that the strongest link between ancient Rome and modern Halloween was the result of the celebration which honored the goddess Pomona, the godess of fruits and orchards. She was associated with the apple, and as we have seen, this is probably the reason why bobbing for apples is a tradition associated with Halloween. The Romans, who had conquered the province of Gallia and thereby subjugated the Gauls and Celts (living in Britannia), assimilated Samhain with the Pomona festival (a form of synchretism). As this tradition was kept alive for hundreds of years, eventually the Roman Catholic church assimilated this pagan holiday celebration with the recognition of All Hallows Day, a day to commemorate the saints and martyrs of the Catholic church’s pantheon.

So Samhain/Pomona Day was typically celebrated on October 31st and Novemeber 1st, respectfully. Then the Catholic church proclaimed November 1st All Hallows, which essentiall made All Hallows Eve – or Hallowe’en – the night before, October 31st. Without the Roman empire assimilating Samhain into their own festival, we may not have had a Halloween celebration to begin with. Scary thought!

Some Links:

Great and Telling Tales: Halloween

Salem Witch Trials

Malleus Malificarum

Starz version of the story looks to zoom in a bit on the life of a gladiator, and of course sensationalizing it a bit to make for an interesting tale for modern sensibilities.

Take a look at the trailer and judge for yourself – this isn’t your daddy’s Spartacus:

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Such as it is with Latin programs across the country these days. Some schools, in an effort to scale down their spending, have decided to shed courses from their curriculum. Usually, these are cited as courses that are not a part of the central core of the public school education system – i.e. English, Math, Science. We obviously feel that this is an oversight and an injustice to students and to their future, but that is something we can discuss at another time. There is a school that is bucking the trend, however. At a time when most are cutting back Somerset Academy is adding a Latin program.

Despite its popularity among its students, parents and community, Doctors Charter School closed its Latin program. As a result, Somerset Academy seized the opportunity to build one of their own with the same teacher, John Ricard.

The program will start simply, with Latin I, building from its 8th grade student population while also offering courses to 9th, 10th and even 11th graders. The idea is to offer high school credit to 8th graders, which will get them their 2nd year of a foreign language out of the way after only their 9th grade year. This will form a strong base for the Latin program and help to establish a tradition at the school.

The 8th graders, however, are not the only ones with interest in the program and for whom it would benefit. Current high school students – in 9th, 10th and even 11th grades – will benefit as there is time to take Latin I this year and Latin II next year. This would not only fulfill their language requirements, but also give them the added benefits that an education in the study of Latin can bring them – just in time for college.

New Latin program being promoted for Somerset Academy students

There are several orientations taking place this week at Somerset Academy in Pembroke Pines and there will be a booth available for the students there to get more information on the program and the benefits of studying Latin. (Chances are, some of those very students will be referred to Romae.org to get more information) In fact, Somerset Academy has already posted a link for a promotional flyer advertising the new Latin program that is being installed this year. Students, if they are interested, are being encouraged to sign up and change their schedules accordingly.

Learn More

Latin offers various benefits to anyone who undertakes the difficult and challenging task of studying it. This is also why the study of Latin is widely recognized as an unmatched academic endeavor for prospective college students by universities. Here are a couple of links that can help potential Latin students make the decision to take the plunge:

Latin at Somerset Academy flyer

Why Study Latin? Middle School Students

Survey of College and University Admissions Personnel about value of taking Latin

Why Study Latin flyer (2003)

National Junior Classical League – largest classical organization in the world today, comprised of junior and senior high school students

If you are on Facebook, why not come on by and show us some love! See Romae’s Facebook page.

We will be organizing various discussions and events from that portion of our every-growing web presence. So hit us up over there or just look at the bottom right of the site here and become a fan!

Also, don’t forget that we have a Twitter account and you can follow our updates on all things lingua Latina there.

Here is a tool that could help. We all probably use PowerPoint to create various presentations but there is an alternative that has more bells and whistles – but you do have to pay for the service. That said, it is worth trying out and if it fits your needs definitely take advantage of it.

I have attached here a presentation on the nasty 3rd declension nouns and tried to summarize some things to guide my students – have a look! This presentation requires a password – its the imperative for “to open” in Latin…

Read an inscription from Pompeii – the Eumachia Building!

Learn about volcanoes and even make your own!

Look at some pictures from Pompeii that I took!

It is to this latter example this resource applies: Google Docs.

Consider using Google Docs for your next group project assignment. Our students are technologically savy (maybe more so than we currently are) and they are pretty good about finding each other online and communicating with one another. Google Docs is free and allows for collaboration on documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Check out this short introductory video to get a better example:

Let me know what you think! Post your comments and tell me how you are going to use this project idea in the future. Again, I think a great way to test it out is to use it for a group project and allow your students the freedom to work on their projects – just make sure they invite you to colloborate/view their project by sending you that all important email!

I will use the data to gauge what I need to improve upon as a teacher as well as where I need to push more of my classroom focus towards.

It will be interesting to see the results in light of the fact that the school I currently am working at is eliminating the Latin program. The details of that are forthcoming, but it suffices to say that the administration lacks the vision and intestinal fortitude to keep Latin at their school. Perhaps I am biased, however.

To take the survey just click on the Latin Interest Survey page on the navigation bar above.

What use could this have for teachers? Well, it would allow your students to create a project whereby they could create a montage of images about a particular subject and set it to music. They could even add text and narrate it themselves. The possibilities are endless.

There are some limitations for using Animoto, however. There are two basic tiers to their service – free and pay per use. The free trial version allows you to upload about 15 images for a 30 second clip. You add your own music and can publish your creation in a variety of formats. Here is an example – I created this using images I took while in Italy this past summer at Pompeii:

If you want to create more than just 30 second clips, you will have to pay for it. Also, if you want to coordinate projects for your classroom, you are going to want to create an account that will allow multiple users access the tools to create the project. Take a look at Animoto’s education services. The cost is minimal but the benefits are great. It will be another way to get your students excited about your classes and in particular, help them connect with classical studies.