Dartmouth Events

Latin Students Celebrate A New Publication

Students, alumni, and friends will gather on April 13 to celebrate the publication of Lives of the Popes: Paul II.

Friday, April 13, 2018
4:30pm – 6:00pm
Bartlett 201
Intended Audience(s): Faculty, Postdoc, Staff, Students-Graduate, Students-Undergraduate
Categories: Clubs & Organizations, Lectures & Seminars, Workshops & Training

Students, alumni, and friends will gather on April 13 to celebrate the publication of Lives of the Popes: Paul II, a book that was co-authored by ten students in Latin 28 with their professor Thomas Hendrickson. The book is a commentary on Platina's biography of his nemesis, Pope Paul II. Its aim is to enable intermediate-level students of Latin to read the text in its original language by providing a running glossary and grammatical commentary on every page, as well as background information on fifteenth-century Rome and on Latin in the Renaissance.

The work began two years ago, with each student in the class taking responsibility for a portion of the text. The student and alumni  co-authors are Aki Berman, Pascal Croak, Daniel Gridley, Sebastian Herrera, Jinmyoung Lee, Graham Rigby, John Robinson, Gabriela Sommer, Kent Ueno, and James Whittemore.

The book launch party will take place Friday, April 13 in Bartlett 201, the space known to many as AHRC, from 4:30 to 6:00. Prof. Hendrickson will be there and we hope that many friends of Classics will come by to toast this wonderful achievement.

The book is part of the New Books by Dartmouth Authors display in the King Arthur Flour Café in Baker-Berry Library.

From the publisher’s website:

Pope Paul II arrested a prominent group of humanists on charges of conspiracy and heresy. They were imprisoned in Castel Sant'Angelo and tortured before ultimately being released. One of those humanists, Bartolomeo Platina, later wrote a Lives of the Popes that became the definitive history of the papacy for hundreds of years. The work included a Life of Paul II, which Platina used as an opportunity to defend himself and humanism— and to attack Paul II. It is a remarkable work of literature, in which the main conflict in the story plays out between the protagonist and the author himself. For Latinists interested in exploring Renaissance literature, there are few better introductory texts than Platina's Life of Paul II. The narrative is animated by the controversies stemming from the rediscovery of Classical literature, including issues such as republicanism, homoeroticism, and debates about the immortality of the soul. Platina's Paul II also introduces readers to key Renaissance institutions like the Papal Curia and the Roman Academy. This edition aims to enable intermediate-level students of Latin to read the text in its original language. There is a substantial introduction that provides background on fifteenth-century Rome and on Latin in the Renaissance, as well as new research on the constitution of the text. The Latin text includes a running glossary and grammatical commentary on every page.

The book is part of the New Books by Dartmouth Authors display in the King Arthur Flour Café in Baker-Berry Library.
 


 

 

 

 

For more information, contact:
Carol Bean-Carmody

Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.