Rome If You Want To

It's funny, I was just talking to a friend the other day about how we both took Latin in high school and loved it—it's good for your vocabulary and understanding of grammar, it just impresses the hell out of people, and it's really very easy. Hardly any irregular verbs—learn your declensions, and you're home free. And today the Times has a story about how Latin is making a comeback in the United States.

Evidently Harry Potter played a part, and so did a few movies about the ancient world. Personally I'm a huge believer in knowing history and language and learning about the ancient world. I remember once staying overnight at a B&B in Kent, in southwest England. The next day, this fellow was giving us directions, and he said go here and go there and make a turn onto "Stone Road" and at that point my mind went traveling. I sat there, notebook and pencil in hand, thinking about how the folks who lived there a couple of thousand years ago named it "Stone Road" after the Romans came along and built it. I heard the tramp of marching feet, and the clanking of armor and weapons. Anyway, salvete, discipili. Enjoy.