Latin lover. No reference to the now obsolete definition used to indicate, in a joking tone, the irresistible seducers of the Romagna Riviera who showed off gallantry and virility. The Latin cited here is the original one, the language born in Latium vetus (early Lazio), between the Tiber and the Liri, in the 1st millennium BC and spoken by the ancient Romans.
Released a couple of months ago and already almost at its second reprint, Latin Lover (fresh and ironic title) published by Blackie Edizioni is the first book by Daniele Michienzi, literature teacher and social media spreader thanks to his page Loquendum.
(https://www.panorama.it/personaggi/loquendum-il-latino-splicato-con-un-linguaggio-ironico-e-leggero).
The work presents itself as a modern declaration of love for Latin and an invitation to be conquered by it “the most alive dead language there is”.
Told in a pleasant and light way and filled with anecdotes and curiosities, you can experience the thrill of being at a school desk again thanks to trivia And sarabande. There is also a section with the most effective Latin phrases to show off to appear profoundly erudite.
A great passion for languages, grammar and etymology (he is now dedicating himself to the study of German and Turkish), Professor Michienzi was fascinated by Latin from an early age, even starting to study it on his own thanks to a book given to him by his parents.
“I didn’t want to write a book for professionals, the structure is very pop and ironic, and not even a book for students. I wanted it to be something that everyone could appreciate from their own angle. A particular alchemy was born with people of all ages and types, both those who had already studied Latin and, above all, those who had never studied it.”
A “dead” language, but which is being rediscovered?
“It’s not just the language that is being rediscovered, but all of classical culture. There are those who have the desire, time and patience to counteract the linguistic obstacle, but we are also seeing greater attention to classicism; this is demonstrated, for example, by the recent success of Nolan’s film.”
Now, what do you think of his Odyssey?
“It is certainly a very strong cultural operation, everyone talks about the Odyssey, and there has been an increase in downloadable books and its paper versions. If you know it well, however, there are points to disagree with, as when in a dialogue with Penelope, Ulysses declares that he is in the Bronze Age. This definition was coined by historians only many centuries later!
I found the role of women a little thin and pale compared to the original, except perhaps for Penelope. As well as – this is purely my personal taste – the excessive reduction of the mythological part. Rather than revealing how deities interacted among men, a psychologized version emerged; Athena, for example, it is not clear whether there really is or is just a mental projection of Ulysses’ sense of guilt. In any case, everything that makes classical culture pop, in its most positive sense, is excellent.
Speaking of making pop, in the book you tell one of the first “dissing” of history, that between Nevio and the Metelli
“Gnaeus Nevius, writer of the 3rd century BC, had a dispute with the Metelli, a very important family in Rome at that time. One of his verses written against them is famous and gave rise to a very dangerous “dissing”, in Latin called altercatio. In 206 BC Gnaeus wrote: “Fato Metelli Romae fiunt consules”, a deliberately ambiguous verse, due to the word fatum which, being a vox media – a word that can have a positive or negative meaning – could have been translated as “by will of fate”, or “by misfortune”.
The Metelli did not take it well, responding in turn with: “Malum dabunt Metelli Naevio poete”, an equally ambiguous phrase: with malum, to be interpreted as apple, or as evil. Given the fate that the Metelli made of Nevius – they imprisoned him – there is no doubt as to which of the two versions they meant.”
At the end of each chapter you recreate a “colloquium“, an imaginary interview with great figures of the past, Cicero, Dante, Agrippina. In addition to a strong culture, you need to be gifted with imagination to combine Latin and irony
“Some of these dialogues are with characters who are not from antiquity, but for example from the Middle Ages or the Modern Age. In the book I tell the history, the life of the Latin language, from its origins to the present day, to show that Latin is not just something that belonged to Cicero, but is a language that has survived for centuries, it has had a life of its own even after the fall of the Roman Empire until recent times. There is a chapter in which I interview Newton, who used Latin to enunciate the three laws of motion. I interview Pascoli, great Latinist and winner of many prizes, and Marinetti, founder of Futurism.”
Is there something from classical culture that you would like to bring back to the present day?
“If we talk about classical culture in a broad sense, therefore also including Ancient Greece, I would like to bring back the curiosity of philosophy, that search for the causes of things, that open mentality that was there at the time and which unfortunately in my opinion has been lost. I would import the sense of institutional decorum, the composure of the Romans, even if we are talking about different eras. What most of all would be nice to bring back today, however, is “humanitas”. The concept of humanitas derives from ancient Greece, but it is was refined by Cicero. A sensitivity that made us understand that man also needs culture. There is not only usefulness, there is not only practical activity; to be a good citizen you must know how to think and also nourish the cultural part. Think of the tendency in today’s society towards materiality, towards immediacy. That attention to the highest values is missing.”
Teacher, popularizer and now writer
“I want to highlight that I am not an influencer or a teach-toker: I am not and I do not even aspire to become one. I keep my teaching career separate from my activities as a Content creator
I “Content creator”they probably also existed in the classical age, obviously without social media!
“Absolutely! Let’s think of the poet Apuleius: popularizer, philosopher, magician, lecturer. He was called to hold conferences in the imperial provinces; something comparable to today’s TedX.
Without a shadow of a doubt he could be labeled as the first content creator in history, or rather, the first Auctor digitalis.”
