Wednesday, 13 April 2011
Ante Latinam, Post Latinam
To me it sums up visually the sort of internal process of education that one gets out of learning Latin, the language that is at the foundation of our civilisation. It is at once humorous to me while still making its point very effectively.
What I did not expect, was to read in Cæsar's De Bello Gallico a passage which all but justifies this picture as being in fact an accurate depiction of the state of the ancient world! Here is an excerpt of his description of the Germanic tribes:
Neque multum frumento, sed maximam partem lacte atque pecore vivunt multum sunt in venationibus; quæ res et cibi genere et cotidiana exercitatione et libertate vitæ, quod a pueris nullo officio aut disciplina adsuefacti nihil omnino contra voluntatem faciunt, et vires alit et immani corporum magnitudine homines efficit. Atque in eam se consuetudinem adduxerunt ut locis frigidissimis neque vestitus præter pelles habeant quicquam, quarum propter exiguitatem magna est corporis pars aperta, et laventur in fluminibus.
I find it striking not only that the barbarians not only actually were basically wild hulking giants dressed half-naked in furs, but also that the Romans were so sophisticated in comparison, with a standard of living that after the fall of Rome would take a millennium to recover. This picture, which I had merely found humorous, speaks the truth in more ways than one.
