Last Saturday, 17 students from Convent and Stuart Hall attended the Ludi Octobres, the fall California Junior Classical League (CAJCL) event at La Entrada Middle School in Menlo Park. All day, from playing trivia certamen to playing basketball, there was an abundance of activities for all different types of students with a diverse array of interests.
“For some, the fun is academic; others enjoy the different athletic competitions,” said high school Latin teacher Dr. David Jacobson, one of the faculty members who chaperoned the event. “There is something for everyone at these events.”
The day began with all the students from schools across the Bay Area in the gym as the CAJCL council led students in reciting the JCL Creed, the JCL Song and the Pledge of Allegiance in Latin.
From there until 2 p.m., students participated in academic tests and other activities like jewelry making, impromptu art and even speed dating.
“Pickleball was so much fun. I mean, it wasn’t really Latin-related, but I met a lot of new people,” said junior Creighton Cahill.
Following the initial activities, students were encouraged to attend the colloquia, which are essentially discussions about topics in Rome and Latin. One of Convent and Stuart Hall’s very own teachers, Dr. Mary Blum, hosted her own colloquium called “Living in the Margins: Killer Bunnies, Violent Snails and Other Scribal Mischief.” This presentation focused on the amusing marginalia that scribes created, which were sometimes jokes and other times pokes at their bosses.
“I realized that we in the modern period tend to think about things from the mediaeval period as being very serious and decorous, all weighted down with import and gravitas, and, in the end, that isn’t always the case,” said Blum.
“Dr. Blum’s lecture on killer rabbits and medieval manuscripts was my favorite part. It was really fun,” said junior Kaden Ghandi.
The other lectures focused on other topics related to Latin, including one by a Stanford professor, Dr. Patrick Hunt, which focused on the life of Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca.
“My favorite part of Ludi was attending the lecture about Hannibal’s elephants,” said history teacher Lauren O’Donnell. “It was really cool to hear from a professional archaeologist about how they traced his path across the Alps.”
At 3:30 p.m., students attended the closing ceremony and departed at 4 p.m.
“It’s a fantastic chance for students to learn and discover just how big the intellectual world really is,” said Jacobson, citing the immense opportunity Ludi presents to students for learning opportunities. Ludi also gives a sense that learners of Latin, a dead language, are in fact not alone.
“Events like Ludi and State Convention allow middle and high school students of the classics to see that they’re not alone, that there are other students and adults who are interested in these languages and histories and experiences,” said Blum.
Overall, Ludi Octobres and the State Convention, which will take place at the end of March next year, present a fantastic opportunity for all kinds of Latin students to come together for a fun, creative and intellectually enriching day.
Ludi Octobres showed that Latin is not dead — it lives on through games of pickleball, discussions about killer rabbits and rounds of Roman trivia.