On Saturday, May 3, 2014, the Classical Association of Massachusetts held its Spring Meeting at Westwood High School. Dr. Ted Zarrow, the resident Latin teacher, was the main facilitator for the event, centered on the theme “All Things Augustus.” Overall, the workshop provided high quality professional development for all in attendance.
Ted Zarrow presented the first speech on Augustan imagery in Fascist Italy and Augustan coinage. The attendees were treated at the very beginning to an entertaining video clip of Zarrow’s students, who performed a Gregorian chant-influenced reading of the Res Gestae. Some of the main points of Zarrow’s lecture included Mussolini’s 1937 celebration of Augustus’ birth, which included commemorative stamps with quotes from the Res Gestae. Sometimes, however, these quotations were altered to reflect the Fascist political agenda, such as his conquests in Libya and Ethiopia. Later, the talk shifted to specific coins issued by Augustus. The imagery on these coins displays imperial propaganda like the following: the zodiac sign of the Capricorn, alluding to his conception, not actual birth; the iconography of Augustus as Mars; and stock phrases like “signis receptis” to honor places he had conquered.
Professor Ray Starr of Wellesley College then led a very spirited discussion on Roman law, concentrating on the patria potestas, the “paternal power” held by the oldest surviving male in a family. The lineage of a Roman family was agnatic; when the oldest male dies, all males have independent power over themselves, and if no father or grandfather had been alive, the females would have also been independent. Two important points of Starr’s speech were on peculium and marriage. First, although the peculium is often a reference to slaves’ allotted money, free Romans also had a peculium; the man with patria potestas legally controlled everyone’s finances in the family. The patria potestas and the peculium were intertwined in that one existed because of the other. With regards to marriage, to the Romans it was a private manner; in legal terms a couple had to “act married,” in Starr’s words. Starr then discussed Augustus’ attempts to put legal implications on marriage depending on one’s age and how it would affect one’s inheritance. Most adult men (ages 25-60), except under very certain circumstances, legally had to have a wife. One overarching point was that a paterfamilias had complete control over the lives (and deaths) of his family, but severe instances were rarely documented. Generally it was a fascinating speech and filled with interesting facts, especially on the status of women in Rome.
Geoffrey Sumi of Mount Holyoke College spoke about the “visual language” of the Roman forum during the time of both Julius Caesar and Augustus. Among the more important topics discussed were the succession to Augustus and how Drusus was originally being groomed to follow Augustus in the principate. Sumi also related the story of how two figures came to cremate Caesar’s body in 44 BC, often regarded as the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux). This ceremony occurred in the same location as Tiberius’ eulogy for Augustus. Allusions to the Dioscuri became a recurring feature in Augustan literature and ideology.
Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow of Brandeis University then gave a rousing oration on the smells of a Roman city. She has performed field work in the Cloaca Maxima and mentioned that Roman sewers did not provide much sanitary cleansing. Fresh market smells, stinky sewers, and funeral pyres “sizzling with human flesh” were everyday parts of ancient life. Koloski-Ostrow explained some fairly graphic descriptions of the public latrinae and then remarked how Romans thought that evil demons inhabited the black holes underneath the toilets. Bakeries, fulleries, tanneries, livestock and pets in people’s homes, the bath complexes, and last but not least, cemeteries and funerary regions were all given their proper dues in her lecture. It was presented right before lunch nonetheless! This was a truly fascinating look into the ancient world, a very illustrative view that could certainly grab a student’s attention.
After a well-prepared Italian lunch the afternoon session convened, in which Mike Haddad of Lynn English, Liz Kelley of Littleton, and Mary Lou Markarian of Milton shared their experiences of bringing students to Italy. They offered some valuable advice, of which the takeaways comprised of scheduling regular meetings with students and parents before the trip and tips for choosing the right travel company. They also said to stress to students that the trip is educational in nature.
Then Dr. Zarrow led the remaining participants in a round of Certamen with an Augustan theme. The questions ranged from easy to difficult, and this team-building activity was an amusing conclusion to an informative day.
This was my first CAM meeting and I look forward to attending several more! I express my thanks to everyone who was involved.
