When someone registers on the ARLT web site I usually have a look at their school site, first to see if they are on the staff list (I try to keep our teachers' Section exclusive to teachers) and secondly to see how lively the Classics department is and how they use the internet.

The other day I was able to congratulate ...   more »

A new book on the heroes and heroine in the fight against slavery is reviewed in The Guardian, and includes this:

But above all there was the abolitionist's most tireless worker, Thomas Clarkson. He was a giant of a man, more than 6ft tall, with striking red hair. Clarkson sprang into prominence when he entered, and won, England's top Latin essay competition. His chosen subject was the slave trade and his tract became famous.   more »

This could inspire some students, perhaps.

"The outline of William Sanders Scarborough's autobiography sounds like the plot to an improbable novel:

"Born a slave in Macon, he broke the law by learning to read. As a young man he witnessed the end of the Civil War, then excelled in school and went on to college. He became a professor of Greek and Latin - perhaps the leading black classicist of his generation - and served 12 years as president of an Ohio university.   more »

Robert Kilroy-Silk has launched a new political party called Veritas, Latin for "truth". Even though the language is now largely ignored in schools, it still plays a big part in English. So how well do you know these commonly-used Latin words and phrases?   more »

I shall have to leave it to you to do the relevant sums, but this news item from today's Times gives something to go on. What interests me is that, in terms of extra earning power, biology does not count as a science. You have to go for Phys and Chem. I wonder how much PricewaterhouseCoopers charged for their research, and how Classics would fare if our organisations commissioned a similar survey.   more »

The TV presenter Sarah Cawood was interviewed on Tuesday January 18, 2005 in The Guardian. She has presented The Girlie Show, Top of the Pops and Live & Kicking and is the new draw presenter on the National Lottery Jet Set, so she seems to have potential 'street cred' among girls, anyway. And she enjoyed Latin!   more »