by Aldus Marius on Mon Jun 23, 2003 12:00 am
> However if we were to start a discussion on Greek ranking,
> it would -I believe perfectly fit here [...] not that I couldn't bear it to be
> over there, but this is where we talk about Military subjects, don't we.
Thus Hellenos, in a public reply to a private message. And I agree with him, despite his poor 'Nettiquette; I said so last time, even as I requested that said discussion take place in a different thread:
> While I'd really prefer this thread to stick to the Roman side of things,
> his subject is military in nature, and a separate thread for it should not
> have to be banished to the Collegium Graecum. (Extra emphasis added.)
And then he raps me on the snout thusly:
> You really give me the idea a Romanofil doesn't support filhellens,
> that would be kind of denying history, now won't it .
Now, rapping a Wolf on the snout is generally considered a bad idea, in Rome as in Greece I'm sure. But since he's got my attention and I have yet to swallow him (Roman Discipline, y'know--handy thing, not going off until you can see the points of their pikes), I will tell him exactly how I feel about Grecophiles in a Roman place, and he has only himself to blame for drawing it out of me:
No, Alexander, I personally--key word personally--do not "support" philhellenes, philodendrons, Reconstructed/Reformed Mayans, or even my fellow dog-lovers in a Roman place, ** if ** their main or sole contribution to my experience there is to derail any ongoing Roman discussion and try to make it Greek, houseplantish, religiously Mesoamerican, or canine instead of Roman. There is room in a Roman forum for discussions on Greeks, houseplants, dogs (we have a Pets thread), and arguably Mesoamerica (depends on how strongly you believe in ancient ships being blown off-course). But in no case will I appreciate those or similar topics becoming the *main focus* of any thread I have started or have majorly participated in.
The strength of my feeling on this stems from my experiences in other classical organizations (not the OP, btw; they never spent enough time on classics to have this happen to them). What I have seen in these places is that, when any Greek element is introduced, it tends to swamp and very quickly take over the Roman element, to where there's nothing left for a Roman-in-Spirit to do but sit and listen to the Greeks prattle about how we of Rome owe them Everything and can't do Anything as skillfully as they. Is this the "history" you suspect me of wanting to deny...? Rather, I am sick of having my face rubbed in it, and I came here thinking that was much less likely to happen.
Right up until the discovery of Troy, Classical Studies itself basically meant Roman Studies in this country--dunno about others. Afterwards, everyone went Greco-lunatic, and now it is difficult to find Latin classes west of the Rockies, or real Roman majors offered west of the Mississippi. At best there may be a few Roman classes every other semester; at worst you can take a correspondence course. And this is at the University level. I own Latin primers that were issued to sixth-graders. But that was early in the last century, and you'd almost have to go Ivy League to get to read the same books now. What an embarrassment; and what a poverty of soul this can lead to, if one is indeed a Roman-in-Spirit.
I do not want to see this happen to me, and I do not want it to happen to the SVR. It is no part of my mission here to make anyone feel unwelcome, and if I have done so I apologize. But there are protocols to be observed anywhere on the 'Net, and customs that have arisen, and it is very wrong for someone who hasn't learned the houserules first to try to make the place into his own idea of what it ought to be.
So join us, Alexander; and share your research; and answer private mail privately, and don't put Greek words in a letter to a man who has already told you he doesn't know any, and remember, always, that most of those around you are Romans, and here to talk about Rome. With such small courtesies can you make your presence here enjoyable to all, and not incidentally mend fences with a certain Wolf who has still refrained from Biting you.
In amicitia et fide (In friendship and faith),
Last edited by
Aldus Marius on Wed Aug 20, 2003 1:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
Aldus Marius Peregrinus.