Urbs Aeterna
Welcome to the world of ancient Rome, "Urbs Aeterna," the "Eternal City”, where civilization thrived and prospered for over a thousand years. In this place legal code developed, city planning evolved, engineering advanced and military strategy was perfected. Here the heart of philosophy beat fervently, and the soul of nuanced language soared. This is the mother lode of art, architecture and literature. Civilizations throughout the Western World have been drinking from the creative fountainhead of Rome for centuries, as a result of which we are profoundly and permanently commingled. Of the many bequests of the ancient Romans, perhaps the most significant is the Lingua Latina itself. Its impact on our language is incalculable. Its vast vocabulary and clear syntax have benefitted us with a rich source of precise and beautiful expression. Communication may very well be the most powerful human tool, the foundation or sine qua non of everything in life. For what responsibility is more profound than being able to tell your loved one the unique characteristics that make you want to spend the rest of your life with him or her? Or, when your child wants to know why you love him or her, being able to express exactly the ways he or she is special to you ? Or, for the rest of your life, enjoying the ability to express yourself confidently and cogently in the many negotiations you will face. And so the value and the heritage of the Latin language live on. There is also much to be said for the discipline of studying Latin. If learning the endings and usage for more than five cases of five declensions, and memorizing over a hundred forms of regular verbs seems daunting, the payback is tremendous. The rigor of doing this well will build important skills that will serve you well throughout your lifetime. Studying Latin will provide you with a broader understanding of language and communication; a deeper knowledge of the culture, social mores, religion and history of one of the world's most powerful ancient civilizations; and, an ability to think critically and solve problems as your mastery grows. As you immerse yourself in this beautiful ancient language, you may also feel privileged to be part of a very small membership of individuals with knowledge of its esoteric culture. You may find that the process of deducing the correct ending to suffix to a noun or verb is somewhat like solving a puzzle. And you may discover pleasure in reading the myths and legends that underlay the ancients’ understanding and perception of the world around them: Plato said, “Myths are the best understanding about life, the deepest truth about human behavior.” Studying Latin is fun and satisfying in ways that few other things are.
Let’s talk about how the ancients looked at the art of weaving and even used it as a method of communicating. Beyond the obvious practical purposes of providing warmth and modesty, cloth was also used to indicate rank, as in the royal purple stripe the Roman senators wore on their togas. Candidates for office in Rome had their togas bleached to make them “candida” or “bright” so that they would be noticed among the throngs at the Forum. Cloth was one way to make a woman look attractive. And among the colorful frescoes on their walls, Romans hung artistic tapestries. Men bragged about wives who were talented and skillful weavers. Often, when a man had company, his wife would sit quietly apart at her loom to demonstrate her talent, as well as her sense of discipline and domesticity. Weaving was one of the most important of household duties.
As the Greeks were developing their religion and trying to explain the vagaries of life and nature through mythology, the Moirai, or Fates, appeared. Together these three fearful crones spun out, measured and cut a thread on behalf of every person to indicate how long that individual would live.
One of the oldest myths is a cautionary tale about an arrogant young woman who possessed extreme skill at the loom. Over time, her pride grew and she began to brag that she was even more clever than Athena, the Olympic goddess of defensive war and the patron of handicrafts. Athena challenged Arachne to a contest. Of course the goddess won. To punish Arachne for her hubris, Athena turned her into a spider, destined to spend her life spinning, but not making weavings quite as lovely as before.
More about weaving to follow.
