Why Study Latin? (1951)

[Music] hey fella this is the Latin class isn't it Latin language and literature thank you well here we are in a Latin class it's typical of classes all over the country why do some many other study left what can you get out of studying Latin let's see if we can find out mrs. Adam miss Adams why should we study Latin why do you think we should study Latin well there's so many raises I hardly know where to begin for example I like to think sometimes of a farm boy who lived centuries ago on the plains of northern Italy this boy tended his father's flocks he loved the countryside but as he worked he dreamed he dreamed of Rome the greatest city in the world at his time he dreamed of his country and of its history and he worked to learn of its history and its language that boy was named Virgil and the language he learned was Latin years later Virgil wrote the Aeneid a great epic poem telling of the legendary history of Rome and the ideals of Roman citizenship arma we are on the quake condo Troya quip Remus Oh Boris Italian well that's interesting but there are translations aren't there oh yes my song is of war and a man first from the shores of Troy he came forced by fate from his homeland and so on yes there are translations but none that quite matched the original Latin for beauty of expression Virgil wrote in Latin and so did others the soldier statesman Julius Caesar left us his own story of his campaigns Cicero statesman senator lawyer is essays his speeches and his theories of liberty that Americans still honor and there were many others today we can read their works in translation or in the rich beauty of life I studied Latin in order to enjoy this great literature more fully where did Latin come from why was it so important as a language Latin was the language of the Roman Empire but long before there was a Roman Empire about 1000 BC a number of nomadic peoples from the north entered Italy and some called Latin settled in the rich farmland south of the Tiber River so the small commercial city grew up on the Tiber the city we know as Rome from about 500 BC onwards Rome prospered and its influence grew until about 100 AD when almost all the civilized Western world was contained in the Roman Empire really a Latin Empire throughout much of this great empire the Latin language was spread later local tongues began to develop direct descendants of Latin Romanian Italian French Spanish Portuguese and many lesser dialects Latin also affected the languages of the Germanic peoples among them the Angles and Saxons who later migrated to England and whose language became English so we have a direct inheritance from the Latin but the Roman Empire collapsed there's nothing left of it now there's quite a bit left for through the long years of the medieval period Latin remained the principal language the language of learning the medieval church worshiped in Latin medieval monks copied the Bible and other important manuscripts in Latin medieval scientists recorded their observations in Latin medieval universities kept the light of knowledge burning in Latin they taught the Roman law the rules by which civilized men live our modern University still pay homage to Latin for example in their motives in Dale speranza Dave sub Newman a weekend so you see Latin is also the key to a very important period of history and Latin lives in our language and culture today thank you miss Addams but is that why the class is studying Latin why not ask them all right you why are you studying Latin well I want to be a professional man a doctor or a lawyer maybe either way Latin is important you've heard these legal terms habeas corpus subpoena but that's not the half of it listen corpus delicti per curiam in toto ex parte and dental IT shall I go on that's enough wait I'll give you some medical terms that are Latin er come directly from Latin you already know post mortem and of course penicillin from the mold Penicillium and maybe you know some of these tibia fibula vena cava corpus luteum well and besides that Latins very important and all the science that you'll have to take before you study medicine alright Latin is important if you're going into law or some scientific subject but well how about you why are you studying laughs well I've always wanted to write but I've been told that I don't have enough interest in words in putting them together to make meaning understand I think so well I'm taking Latin to help that and I really am getting interested to like just this morning I ran across a word I didn't know I'm mission I didn't have any idea what it meant I could have looked it up but this time I figured it out from Latin Amy that's from latin ominus meaning all and this is from the Latin skins knowing omniscient knowing all why the study of Latin has done so much to broaden my vocabulary well to get the idea Latin helps me understand English do you have any idea how much Latin there is in English take some of our finest writings hey the Declaration of Independence for example take out the words that come from Latin and there's not much left Lattin runs right through our whole language so I'm taking Latin to help me understand and use English yes it sounds important if you plan to use and understand English now let's see how about you well I'm not gonna be a doctor or a lawyer or a writer in fact I'm not at all sure what I want to be but you know I do want to know more about where the basic principles of our government come from our way of life the Latins founded Rome and they were the leaders of the Roman Empire and we've gotten a lot of our ideas from Rome why just think a constitution our procedures for government the way our government works all these things reflect the political experience of the Romans the theories of Cicero justice fair play that's an idea the Romans developed in ancient Rome the law protected every citizen against injustice and we've adopted that idea our law requires each citizen to be responsible for his actions and for the actions of his government well the point is that by studying Latin I can understand these ideas better you so understand our democracy better that's important to me besides that later I may want to study some other languages Spanish maybe we're French knowing lat I'll make those languages a lot easier well there you are some of the most common and practical reasons for studying Latin and they're pretty convincing studying Latin could be a good idea well I think we'd better get on with and here is the starting point for your study of Latin the key to languages