#we romans

We Romans is a blog that translates the work of contemporary authors into Latin, then translates it back so it says stuff like, "Let it please you to make new journeys, and may you spare your parents, and perhaps also the herb." 

I am so geeked to have my writing featured on this site.

Once, as a baby, I was sick and the family doctor called in a prescription to the local pharmacy. My father was supposed to pick it up on the way home from work, but he didn’t come home until late, and he didn’t have the prescription with him when he did. My mother was angry about the forgotten medicine, but also because he was drunk and because it had become obvious he was having an affair.

My mother says my father got angry at her for being angry with him and he started choking her. My mother remembers him pressing his thumbs on her windpipe and almost passing out. She remembers thinking it seemed like a stupid way to die….

I was too young to remember anything about that time when my father choked my mother and she didn’t tell me about it until after he was dead. But sometimes my father would ask my mother if she remembered when he almost choked her to death and then my mother would ask my father if he ever worried about his dinner being poisoned. And then they would both start laughing. My sister and I always thought it was a joke.

FRAGMENTVM Big Ray

Olim infirma valetudine infanti mihi medicus familiae medicamen parabat. Accipiendum erat patri meo cum multo die desineret laborare, sed multa nocte domi advenit medicaminis oblitus. Mater est irata quod medicamine relicto potus quidem erat pater et paene apertus adulter.

E relatione matris ipsa irata iratum patrem fecisse traditur ut hic se suffocaret; patrem pollices ad sui fauces pressisse et stultum sic mori se opinari mater meminit….

I hope everybody had a great summer! Back to school, back to work. I'm really excited about this new season of We, Romans. There will be some new features, such as a literal translation back into English from Latin. I am also shifting the focus from exclusively Latin translation to a broader, three-pronged project: Living Writers, Ancient Art, Latin Translation.

Why the change? I feel like this project, truly a curation of three disparate parts, is relevant to people interested in any of the three. The literal translation back into English is an example of making this blog more accessible. My love of Latin has not diminished. I feel that this new configuration more accurately represents what I want this blog to be.

Living Writers is where I make my home. I, like many of you, am a writer myself. I'm always looking for new authors. I'm looking for new voices that I haven't heard before. I read a lot of white guys, it turns out; accordingly, I curate my writers based on a quota system. I determine these quotas, in part, through demographic data in the USA. This filter helps to offset my internal reading bias. Already in preparation for this new year of posts have my reading habits expanded. I'm really excited about each and every new writer I'm featuring this coming year.

The Ancient Art I feature alongside my living writers comes from various muesums and research institutions online. I will always link, via the image, to the institution where the piece of art is housed, or to some other relevant or fun information. I'm learning the most in this area. I do not come from a visual arts background, but putting together these posts is helping to broaden my perspective. Please contact me with any suggestions or criticisms in this field in particular. You can help me, if you want to.

Finally, the oldest aspect of this blog, still so dear to me: Latin Translation. In order to make this aspect more enjoyable to all you non-Latin readers or beginning-level learners, I now include a literal translation back into English. I'm excited about this new feature. I think this makes the oftentimes cloistered mechanics more visible to those who have no experience with a language so beautiful as Latin. I strive to make my translations accurate representations of Golden Age Latin prose. That being said, I do not work with an editor, and mistakes are liable to slip by me. You are once again encouraged to point out suggestions as you see them. I appreciate any feedback.

Last year was a great first year for We, Romans, though short. I look forward to another great year. Thank you for reading.