Have discussions about the violence of Greece and Rome.Others present all Roman families as white and wealthy, a notion that encourages the viewpoint taken by white supremacist groups that Rome was a homogenous white empire. Many textbooks contain lines that make jokes about slavery, sexual assault, and even genocide - topics that should never be taken lightly. The depiction of Rome in a textbook is one that a student truly internalizes. Use textbooks that don’t romanticize the ancient Mediterranean or ignore the injustices, move away from textbook usage completely, or name the problems with them (see below for recommendations).However, by also studying epitaphs, graffiti, and less commonly-studied writers, students are able to interact with texts that are more representative of the Roman public. Vergil, Cicero, and Horace are important authors in any Latin curriculum. Read texts beyond those of the standard canon.The lists below are by no means exhaustive, and this is not at all a condemnation of modern classics education - only a recognition that, always, we must keep doing better. The ancient world was diverse, as the field of classics should be, and in order to preserve the longevity of the study of antiquity, these points are crucial to understand. They are given in light of the fact that, too often, the classics have been misused as a tool of oppression, and classics education has in many cases lacked nuance or full perspective. These recommendations and resources for educators are compiled from scholarship and presentations by female, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ classicists. While this document is certainly not comprehensive, it outlines steps in the right direction.ĭIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION IN CLASSICS EDUCATION My hope is for other students to share the same experience, so that the classics will no longer be an exclusive and elitist field, but rather, like a space that is welcoming to all. But this type of teaching shouldn’t be a privilege - it should be the standard. Personally, I’m very lucky to have teachers and mentors who believe in a more inclusive classics, viewing antiquity with nuance and having real conversations about injustices encountered. I compiled this document as a resource for educators, as the classroom is often the first place where students get to know Latin and Greek. Latin textbooks mock enslaved people under the guise of “representing antiquity,” while young students study versions of myths that present sexual violence as “Jupiter’s antics.” Even in the AP curriculum, many discussions of Caesar still glorify him as a great leader, disregarding his genocidal slaughter of the Gallic peoples. In fact, these conversations are critical. But more and more, while studying Juvenal and Cicero and Ovid, I’ve come to realize the extent to which spaces within the classics blatantly walk away from conversations about race, gender, and sexuality - conversations that are more than necessary. After all, there was truth in what she was saying: to this day, the faces of the classics still remain predominantly white, male, and wealthy.Īs a high school senior, for most of my years studying Latin, I never considered how the classics fit into modern discussions of prejudice and injustice I simply accepted the pictures and descriptions I consumed of blond, rich families living in colossal villas. “I just don’t see the classics as a space for people who look like us,” she said. Detail of the gold glass medallion in Brescia ( Museo di Santa Giulia), most likely Alexandrian, 3rd century AD (public domain)Įarlier this year, during a conversation about our college plans, a friend of mine was stunned when I told her I studied Latin and Greek.

Latin for keep moving forward