"You can't stop what has begun
Signed, sealed, they deliver oblivion
We all have a dark side, to say the least
And dealing in death is the nature of the beast."
-- Pink Floyd
During Spartacus's march north through Italy, his hastily assembled army - minus the Germanic troops - bested some of Crassus's newly assembled legions.
The Romans were competent engineers and had one of the most powerful military forces in history. Their society was highly dependent on a lively slave trade, as there was no middle class. They were content to simply borrow culture from conquered nations. The only art they ever pursued was the art of torturous death.
Upon return to camp from the disastrous battle that Mummius was ordered not to engage in, Crassus ordered the decimation of the surviving troops. Decimation was a long-abandoned Roman military punishment, consisting of the arbitrarily killing of one of every ten soldiers, usually at the hands of the other nine.
Those silly Romans!
(No real point to this entry. I had just never pondered the origin of the word decimation before, and was quite surprised when I learned where it came from on a History Channel special. Another reason to learn Latin.)
Latin was a feature of my particular post vatican ii education...close to 8 years of it which came in handy for everything from science and medical terminology to english vocabulary and spelling bees. It is utterly useless for anything Finnish though.
Get the CUP Latin I course or go to a university bookstore near you and see what, if any, latin texts they have on hand. Brush up on your English grammar as it will help as well. Wheelock's is OK if there's nothing else around. It's a fun language and you'll get to see what real bores lawyers and doctors are when they try and be witty in Latin at cocktail parties
