In 1961, at Madison Middle School in Tampa, I had the opportunity to begin studying a dead language, Latin, from a great teacher named Mrs. Clements. Although I went through three years of Latin, it took 54 years to realize what those early Latin courses did for me.
On Sept. 25, I boarded the MSC Divina cruise ship in Civitavecchia, Italy, the port of Rome, with a few members of my family for an 11-day cruise around the Western Mediterranean Sea. Each day, we saw a different city: Pisa, Florence, Messina, Naples, Cannes, Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona, Malta and Corfu.
The beautiful sculptures and paintings, attractive architecture, famous volcanoes and interesting countryside were enjoyable.
On the second day, we took an excursion to Pisa and Florence. The Leaning Tower with its dazzling white Carrara marble was amazing, but when I turned from the tower to seek the facilities, I received the first hint of what the trip was really about.
On the grounds of the tower was a sculpture in black stone of a wolf suckling two twin boys. Mrs. Clements’ first teaching point flashed into my brain: Mythically, Rome was founded in 753 B. C. by twin boys, Romulus and Remus, who were suckled by a wolf.
Thank you, Mrs. Clements.
That same day, we toured Florence, including its L’Accademia Museum with its most famous sculpture, Michelangelo’s David. The David was truly beautiful, but some of the lesser-known sculptures gave me Latin flashbacks. Early in Rome’s history, Romans found the need for a new pool of spouses to continue their culture, and they found that pool in a neighboring tribe known as the Sabines. We saw a sculpture that depicted this important part of Roman history, with a title in Latin. Not only was I able to translate the title, but I remembered the phrase from a Latin reading which provided it.
Thank you, Mrs. Clements.
As we went through the cruise’s 11 days and all its ports, each was memorable in its own way. But it wasn’t until the cruise ended, and we arrived in Rome to spend the last two days of our trip there, that I understood the big picture of the trip.
In the city, manhole covers were emblazoned with the letters “SPQR.” As we stood on a hill overlooking the Circus Maximus and the Forum it hit me: Everything we had seen on our 11-day cruise was there because Rome had started it or heavily influenced it. It had been either created or governed by Rome.
“SPQR” meant Senatus Populusque Romanus, or the Senate and the Roman People (with the help of a few emperors and legions along the way).
Even the Mediterranean Sea, on which we had cruised, had been called Mare Nostrum, Our Sea, by the Romans, because they had created or governed all the lands bordering it.
Thank you, Mrs. Clements.
Our last day in Rome sealed the picture. We toured the Vatican Museum with its 11 miles of corridors and exhibits. As we walked through the amazing building, I was actually able to read inscriptions from the Latin I had studied so long ago.
Thank you, Mrs. Clements.
Who said there’s no benefit to studying a dead language? Thank you, Mrs. Clements.
Felix Haynes is a co-owner of the Plant City Times & Observer.