Castra Latina MMVIII

Five things we learnt at Latin Camp:

1. We’re allowed to call Mr Morrison ‘Joel’
2. Water pistols get confiscated
3. The food is quite nice
4. A three-headed Cerberus race results in really bad carpet burns
5. The number of cute boys that study Latin is 0

Last Friday evening 160 Latin students from around NSW arrived safely at Elanora Heights conference centre. We were divided into tribes and after some te cognosco (getting-to-know-you) games, we learnt how to rap, Roman style, then we watched some film clips to study their depiction of ancient Rome, including Monty Python and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum… When we were finally sent to bed at 11:00pm we were all too exhausted to hold the parties we’d planned.

The next day included a bushwalk full of Roman and Greek mythology, a presentation on Roman weapons by James Adams, gladiator training at Capua gladiatorial school, lottus (bingo using Roman numbers) and a session of design where we made badges and painted t-shirts with Roman phrases. Some memorable slogans included ‘I’m with Grumio →’, ‘Veni, Vidi, Voravi’ (I came, I saw, I ate), and ‘Hercle! Quid tui vultui accidit?’ (By Hercules! What happened to your face?).

After dinner was the moment we’d all been waiting for… The Roman Concert! This involved everyone dressing up in old white sheets arranged as togas and acting out the myths we’d been rehearsing during the day. The best performances included ‘Zeus Visits Earth’, performed by the gallant Gauls, and ‘Orpheus and Eurydice’ by the amazing Amazons.

Once the concert was over and we’d changed back to our 21st century attire we were given supper and watched part of a movie about Odysseus and the Cyclops, Polyphemus. Then we sat back and listened to the lesser known story of Cephalus and Procris. This concluded Saturday’s program and we were sent back to our cabins. However, once again, the busy day (along with the teachers’ patrolling) prevented us from having some really good parties.

Sunday dawned bright, filled with new adventures. But first we had to drag ourselves out of bed (the twelve hours of activities we’d completed the day before were starting to kick in). After breakfast a trivia competition was held to test us on all the things we’d learnt over the weekend. There were 50 questions and the winning tribe happened to be the only tribe in which there were no St Georgians. The next scheduled activity was to be the mini-Olympics, but unfortunately due to bad weather the events had to be abandoned for an indoor competition. We were nevertheless still able to compete in the indoor javelin (with foam tridents replacing the javelins) and plastic-plate-discus (taped together and thrown frisbee-style), the Oedipus hopping relay, the Cerberus three-headed race (like a three-legged race, but with three people crawling) and the Ben Hur chariot race, in which two ‘horses’ dragged a hessian sack up and down the hall with someone sitting on it.

So, Castra Latina MMVIII was lots of fun, and a big gratias maximas goes to Mr Morrison for organising it for us, and helping with transport.

All in all, Latin camp was truly optime!

Yr 8 Discipulae Latinae