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LeaAnn A. Osburn, Executive Editor
Andrew Reinhard, Managing Editor
Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers
www.BOLCHAZY.com
eclassics.ning.com
Number 72, Jan. 2010
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
 
In this issue you will read about Bolchazy-Carducci’s Legamus Readers, about Classicists using twitter, about the musical CD Athens v Sparta, and about the recent APA/AIA convention. I have been on Twitter for about a year and I am a newbie over at Facebook. It seems that every day I see another classicist who joins Twitter or Facebook. I invite readers with a question or a comment about the Legamus Readers or anything else in this or recent eLitterae issues to twitter me at LeaAnn@twitter.com or to send me a message at LeaAnn Osburn at Facebook. If I cannot answer the question, I can at least direct you to who can. Any suggestions for articles you would like to read and/or write for eLitterae are also welcome tweets/messages. Enjoy this issue!
 
LeaAnn Osburn
 
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Dear Colleagues,
 
Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers recently attended the 2010 APA/AIA Joint Meeting in sunny Anaheim, California. Lou, Marie, and Allan Bolchazy as well as  Andrew Reinhard, our Director of eLearning, made up the BC contingent.
 
We introduced the latest additions to our BC Latin Reader Series, A Plautus Reader by John Henderson and A Sallust Reader, by Victoria Pagan. These readers, written by experts in the field, are designed for intermediate/advanced college Latin Students. Look for more readers to be published in the near future.

The Series Editor, Ronnie Ancona, received a teaching award at the meeting. Brava!
 
We are always delighted to see many of our authors at the meeting. We had a chance to talk with Hans Mueller, who is authoring an AP level Caesar text and co-authoring our Caesar Legamus Reader, and Debra Nousek, who is co-authoring our Caesar Workbook. Look for these texts to come out in the near future.
 
Speaking of Advanced Placement, the College Board will make an official announcement of their selections for AP Latin on September 20, 2010, regarding the addition of Caesar to the AP syllabus and changes to the Vergil selections.  Bolchazy-Carducci is anxiously awaiting the announcement, as we feel it is very important for us to lead the way in providing essential new textbooks to meet new educational opportunities.
 
We are 10 years into the New Millennium, and while we debuted Latin for the New Millennium in 2008, this exciting new series is now complete (after all, Rome wasn’t built in one day). This brand new Latin Series offers a fusion approach of grammar and reading, and introduces students to Latin readings that span the Millennia.
 
Bringing Classics learning into the 21st Century, Andrew Reinhard provided demonstrations of many of our new and forthcoming eLearning products, including our new download site, iPodius.bolchazy.com, where you will find Latin audio, video, Living Voice of Greek and Latin Literature by Stephen Daitz, vocabulary flashcards and software downloads.
 
Valete,
Allan Bolchazy
Vice President
 
The Middle Child of Latin Instruction
High school Latin 3 or intermediate college Latin has many of the features of the middle child in a modern family. This middle level of instruction is not given the resources that the oldest child, namely the AP or advanced class, receives nor the care and attention bestowed upon the youngest child (introductory Latin). Until recently there were few textbooks for intermediate Latin instruction and those that did exist were either a compilation of passages selected from a variety of authors or a reader that focused on one author only with little help for the beginning reader. As a result many teachers put together a patchwork of what was taught at this level.
 
The formation of the Legamus Committee by Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers brought together a group of teachers from both high schools and universities with the purpose of discussing intermediate instruction in Latin, thus shining a light on the characteristics and needs of this previously neglected group of students.
 
Important characteristics of intermediate Latin learners are:
  • reluctance to use footnotes
  • inability to understand many footnotes
  • poor memory of some complex grammatical structures
  • difficulty finding some words in a dictionary or glossary
  • trouble determining the correct meaning of a word for the context in which it is located
  • inability to link the context of one sentence to another in a passage
  • ignoring the context of a whole passage to determine meaning
  • little awareness of words left out of the Latin passage but necessary to grasp the meaning
  • continuing inability to see that a word modifies or is grouped with a distant word 
  • translating but not understanding.
Important needs of intermediate Latin learners are:
  • an English pre-reading that sets the context for the student
  • footnotes that are easy to understand
  • review of certain complex grammatical structures within the context of passage where they are located
  • a same page or facing page list of words with the meaning needed for the context given
  • help with left-out words and distant modifiers
  • questions or explanations that relate the context of the passage to a student’s experiences today.
As a result of the Legamus Committee’s work and relying heavily on their findings, a template was created for a new series designed specifically to meet the needs of transitional or intermediate Latin learners. Each book in this series, called the Legamus Transitional Readers, was co-authored by one college instructor and one high school teacher. The authors developed books for five authors of canonical importance: Vergil, Catullus, Horace, Ovid, and Cicero. These five are now in print and their teacher’s manuals will be available soon. In addition a Greek transitional reader of Plato is in print and a Caesar Legamus Reader is now in development.
 
Since each of these books focuses on one author and on the grammatical structures of that author, maximum flexibility is available for the instructor. The many variations that diverse instructors, different levels of schools, unusual combinations of student abilities, and differing length of a course create can all be met by choosing which Legamus reader and how many best suit the needs of the class.
At long last a series of books (and accompanying Teacher Guides) designed to meet the special needs of transitional learners are available for the middle child of Latin instruction. By using these books, students will be better prepared for advanced Latin classes and enrollment can be maintained. A chart of grammatical topics covered in each book in the series is available from Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers. (Click this link to view the chart: Grammar Reviewed in Bolchazy-Carducci Transitional Readers)
 
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ATHENS v. SPARTA
By Steve Lundy
(reprinted from athensvsparta.com)

Editor’s Note: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers is please to offer a new MP3 download, The History of the Peloponnesian War, by Texas-based rock band, Athens v. Sparta. Sample each track and download the amazing album at iPodius by clicking here: http://ipodius.bolchazy.com/Audio/AthensvSparta.html.
 
“A great war, more worthy of relation than any that had preceded it.”  So begins Thucydides’ great history and the story of the Peloponnesian War, the conflict that took place in the latter part of the 5th century BCE and enveloped the entire Greek world for more than thirty years.  Although the major grievances were between Athens and Sparta – the two most powerful Greek states throughout the period – the horror, scope, and complexity of the struggle eventually spread across the Mediterranean Sea, from Sicily in the West to modern Turkey in the East.  The war brought violence and catastrophe to disparate people throughout and forever changed the course of history.  An Athenian general and aristocrat, exiled for much of the war, Thucydides was well placed to observe the ensuing conflict from all points of view, and his timeless and sometimes unsettling tale remains as fresh today as it was two-and-a-half thousand years ago.  As the historian concluded, he was not writing merely for his own contemporaries, but to give the world “a possession, for all time.”
 
So it is not without due cause that historians and scholars have attempted to understand and retell Thucydides’ story, without pause, since it was first written.  Athens v. Sparta now joins that tradition, infusing the classic narrative of the Peloponnesian War with a take that is vibrant, modern, and above all, musical.  Led by a veteran of the San Antonio and Austin indie music scene, Charlie Roadman, Athens v. Sparta was inspired by Thucydides and his successor Xenophon (who took up the history upon Thucydides’ death) to create a new version, capturing the gravity of the ancient narrative within the approachable framework of well-crafted latter-day musical sensibilities.  The result is a vivid, fascinating, occasionally humorous, and often surprising fusion, which achieves its aim well: to present the fullness of the war, its circumstances and consequences, to ears not yet attuned to the niceties and nuances of ancient history.  The CD educates and entertains.  It is ideal for garnering the interest of students new to Greece and the classical world.
 
This kind of challenge was not easy.  Adapting the war to a music album has taken three years to put together, with 20 musicians involved in creating the final product.  Thucydides and Xenophon’s narratives present two substantial volumes, intimidating to even the well-seasoned historian.  Using the celebrated edition of Thucydides by Robert B. Strassler, the principal and most dramatic events of the war are divided into fifteen tracks, chronologically ordered, covering the full extent of the conflict.  Each track develops the story in two ways.  First come the words of Thucydides and Xenophon themselves, poignantly narrated alongside musical backing by renowned Austin actor and director, Ken Webster.  Second, cutting through the narrative, is Charlie Roadman’s own interpretation of the events, put to lyrics, and often telling the stories of those who do not find a voice in Thucydides’ text: onlookers, combatants, hapless victims of the battles.  Like the primary sources, the musical version of the Peloponnesian War covers not only those moments of confrontation between the two sides, but also reflects the rich detail of the period: life in Athens, relationships between allies, the open sea, diplomatic encounters, and the historical reputation of the principal characters in Thucydides’ work, from Pericles to Alcibiades.  All in all, each song, with great pathos, relates the essence of this deep and drawn-out conflict and the ancient texts that told it, attracting newcomers, history enthusiasts, and music fans alike.
Reviews
“An indie rock release from Austin, Texas, relating the history of the Peloponnesian War? You’ll believe it when you hear it.   Athens v. Sparta—about the conflict the historian Thucydides called “a great war, more worthy of recounting than any that preceded it”—features songs like “The Oligarchic Coup” and “The Sicilian Disaster.” The combination of grim narration, ethereal music and trenchant lyrics is spellbinding.”
- Steven Saylor, Author of Roma Sub Rosa series
 
“In a little less than an hour, this new CD offers an engaging and historically sound account of the major events of the Peloponnesian War and introduces Pericles, Lysander, and other figures in Greek history. In the style of a Greek drama, the narrator presents the story, drawing on the written words of Thucydides and Xenophon, while a singer takes the role of the chorus, highlighting the action with contemporary music and language. I commend the script as a substitute for any textbook narrative, in part because it relates events of the Peloponnesian War to issues in present-day politics and war familiar to students. The original music composed for this production provides an effective background for the spoken word and heightens the tragedy of the war. I regret that this CD was not available years ago when I first began teaching Western Civilization courses! I would have made use of it every semester.”
-Terry L. Smart, Ph.D., Professor of History, Trinity University
 
"A combination pop-opera, Greek drama, modern allegory, and historical CliffsNotes created by Trinity University history grad and musician Charlie Roadman, the album resonates on several levels and is likely unlike anything you’ve ever heard. It details how Athens’ cultural hubris, faltering democracy, self-serving oligarchs, indifference to its allies, and ill-considered military adventurism resulted in a war doomed by poor prosecution and overextended forces."
- Chris Parker, San Antonio Current
 
The Peloponnesian War has already spawned scores of historical texts and dry documentaries, but leave it to Austin’s Charlie Roadman (F For Fake) to try setting it to music. The lawyer by day/rocker by night delves deep into Thucydides’ classic story on his new Athens v. Sparta, teasing out its finer details by pitting the established text (narrated by Hyde Park Theatre Artistic Director Ken Webster) against his own lyrical interludes, which are more concerned with feelings than facts. It all works surprisingly well thanks to vocalist Kevin Higginbotham’s ear for gorgeous melody, adding an undercurrent of pathos to a story that was previously all about dudes pummeling . . . each other.”
- The Onion
 
“Athens v. Sparta is most suitable for use in the classroom, especially when either secondary or college-level students study the history of Greece. And what a way to study history anyway! I only hope more teachers learn about the composition and try it in their classes."
- Dr. Allan Kownslar, Professor of History,
Trinity University, San Antonio
 
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By Andrew Reinhard
 
The late-20th and early-21st century created an entirely new lexicon of terms that have worked their way into the vernacular: Web 2.0, blog, Google (and google), wiki. One of the newer terms, “Twitter”, finds itself adopted by Latin teachers interested in communicating in another way with their students.
In 2006, Twitter (www.twitter.com) became the newest player in social networking media. While its contemporaries, Facebook and MySpace, became massive networks for friends to treat almost as a second home online, Twitter ran in the opposite direction, granting its users a mere 140 characters in which to post personal updates. These updates, called “tweets”, let users tell the world what they were up to several times a day. Other Twitter users could choose to “follow” their friends and colleagues through the website, or could opt to receive updates on their cellphones. These followers could even “tweet back” to a friend by using the “@” symbol in front of the name, followed by a personal message.
While tweets can be as mundane as telling your friends what you had for breakfast, thousands of people adopted Twitter to report breaking news, cite interesting websites, post images, and more. Educators also began to explore Twitter as a way to reach students past and present, and to stay connected with old students and with other teachers.
 
Classics has embraced Twitter (see the “Links” article that follows this one). Many teachers are tweeting either in Latin or about it, discussing pedagogy, technology, and Classics in the news. Dr. Dave Oosterhuis of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, tweeted with his students last year, asking questions in Latin or asking for English derivatives from Latin vocabulary that they were studying. Oosterhius is writing an article on his experience with Twitter which will likely be published later this year.
 
Twitter is being used by educators to tweet assignment and test reminders to their classes, and is being used for fun, too, in having brief dialogues with students in Latin. To protect one’s privacy, or to restrict students to  reading only non-personal, class-related tweets, teachers create a “handle” (a Twitter username) to use with classes, and perhaps a second, private handle to use with friends and family.
 
Twitter accounts are free to have and to use and are available at Twitter.com. One can tweet and read tweets from others online or on a smartphone.
 
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By Andrew Reinhard
 
Many, many Classics teachers, authors, and publishers are tweeting both in and about Latin and Greek. Here is a sampling should you choose to follow any/all of these people on Twitter. Click on a link below and then click the “Follow” button:
  • Lit Sphinx (http://twitter.com/Lit_Sphinx): Latin, Greek, and some English translations of proverbs, aphorisms, and memorable quotes from Classical literature.
  • Rogueclassicist (http://twitter.com/rogueclassicist): David Meadows is THE tastemaker in Classics, especially when it comes to new media and breaking news for Latin, Greek, and Classical archaeology.
  • Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers (http://twitter.com/BCPublishers): Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers also tweets with news about new books, software, audio, and events.
  • Verba Latina (http://twitter.com/VerbaLatina): Dr. Dave Oosterhuis tweets Latin words; his followers tweet back with English derivatives and etymology.
  • Ancient History (http://twitter.com/_ancthist): N. S. Gill writes the Ancient History column at About.com. She tweets as well about ancient history and Classics.
  • Caroline Lawrence (http://twitter.com/CarolineLawrenc): Caroline Lawrence writes Roman mysteries for young people. Follow the daily life of this American author (living in Britain) as she pens the next best-seller.
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Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers invites its eLitterae subscribers to take advantage of a 20%, single-copy discount on any Legamus Transitional Reader.
 
Vergil
LeaAnn A. Osburn and Thomas J. Sienkewicz
xxvi + 136 pp (2004) Paperback ISBN 978-0-86516-578-6 $36.00 $28.00

Catullus
Kenneth F. Kitchell, Jr. and Sean Smith
xxx + 162 pp (2006) Paperback ISBN 978-0-86516-634-9 $36.00 $28.00

Ovid
Caroline Perkins and Denise Davis-Henry
xxvi + 132 pp (2008) Paperback  ISBN 978-0-86516-604-2 $36.00 $28.00

Horace
David J. Murphy and Ronnie Ancona
xxiv + 192 pp (2008) Paperback ISBN 978-086516-676-9 $36.00 $28.00
 
One copy, prepaid, no returns, not available to distributors. Offer expires 02/28/10.
BCP Throwback Deal of the Month
 
With a backlist of over 400 Classics titles, Bolchazy-Carducci has a number of old chestnuts that deserve your attention. We are offering a new monthly special on these oldies-but-goodies starting in January. Save a whopping 75% on a single copy of any of these titles through Feb. 14th:
 
Ovid with Love: Selections from Ars Amatoria I and II
Paul Murgatroyd
x + 228 pp (1982, Reprint 1990) Paperback
ISBN 978-0-86516-015-6 $40.00 $10.00

Ovid: Selections from Ars Amatoria and Remedia Amores
Graves Haydon Thompson
168 + fold-out pp (1952, Reprint 1997) Paperback
ISBN 978-0-86516-395-9 $33.00 $8.00

Ovid Metamorphoses I
A. G. Lee
viii + 162 pp (1953, Reprint 1988) Paperback
ISBN 978-0-86516-040-8 $26.00 $6.00
 
One copy, prepaid, no returns, not available to distributors. Offer expires 02/14/10.
 
Make sure you mention that you are an eLitterae subscriber if you place your order by phone or fax. If you place your order via the Bolchazy-Carducci web site at www.BOLCHAZY.com, your discount price will be relfected in your online invoice.
 
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Comic from When In Rome, Best Cartoons of Pompeiiana Newsletter.
Comic a Day Pompeiiana Blog
 
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See the Bolchazy-Carducci web site for classroom tips on teaching Catullus and on using children's books translated into Latin, Christmas carols in Latin, and Latin proverbs to teach grammar. In the search box, type "teaching tips" to see all that are available (click on a title to view and click on the teaching tip link).
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