Romanes eunt domus? (Idiot carving names on colosseum wall)

[vaud]

Appalling that it happened but it did make me think of a certain Monty Python sketch...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-6602978...

Anyway, what have the Romans ever done for us?

[Louis Balfour]

vaud said:

Appalling that it happened but it did make me think of a certain Monty Python sketch...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-6602978...

Anyway, what have the Romans ever done for us?

Ironic, when you consider that Rome is covered in ancient Roman graffiti. Romans have been doodling on public walls since there were public walls, and they haven't finished yet. Perhaps it was because Jonny foreigner was having a go that caused the outrage.

[ScotHill]

Ironically, John Cleese has cut the Latin graffiti section from the Life Of Brian stage show because he says people don't study Latin any more so they wouldn't find it funny. As long as you've studied at least one foreign language it would still be funny, i found it funny as a twelve year old who hadn't studied Latin. Shame he didn't cut himself, the miserable old ct.

[mac96]

ScotHill said:

Ironically, John Cleese has cut the Latin graffiti section from the Life Of Brian stage show because he says people don't study Latin any more so they wouldn't find it funny. As long as you've studied at least one foreign language it would still be funny, i found it funny as a twelve year old who hadn't studied Latin. Shame he didn't cut himself, the miserable old ct.

That's the best bit of the film! (And there are lots of good bits). I doubt if many people who saw the film originally had studied Latin either.

[XCP]

There's a stage show?

[hairykrishna]

Written solely by John Cleese I think. Going to be crap I suspect.

[Gary C]

People called Romanus they go the house ?

[defblade]

ScotHill said:

Ironically, John Cleese has cut the Latin graffiti section from the Life Of Brian stage show because he says people don't study Latin any more so they wouldn't find it funny. As long as you've studied at least one foreign language it would still be funny, i found it funny as a twelve year old who hadn't studied Latin. Shame he didn't cut himself, the miserable old ct.

He was exactly the same as the teacher I had for my 3rd year of Latin. I didn't go on to the 4th year.

(Walking around Rome being able to read a lot of the stuff chiseled onto the walls 2000 years ago was pretty cool, mind you)

[Ridgemont]

XCP said:

There's a stage show?

Yup. And Cleese has also removed the final song as well. Idle when asked about it didn’t sound impressed.

[GliderRider]

mac96 said:

ScotHill said:

Ironically, John Cleese has cut the Latin graffiti section from the Life Of Brian stage show because he says people don't study Latin any more so they wouldn't find it funny. As long as you've studied at least one foreign language it would still be funny, i found it funny as a twelve year old who hadn't studied Latin. Shame he didn't cut himself, the miserable old ct.

That's the best bit of the film! (And there are lots of good bits). I doubt if many people who saw the film originally had studied Latin either.

I've never studied Latin, yet it was one of my favourite parts too, and I would have thought John Cleese could easily have garnered feedback on what to include.
I wonder if cutting the scene was for a more practical reason, i.e. it could be a difficult scene to recreate night after night in a stage play?
Perhaps they could have shown Brian writing it once, turned the stage lights off, then projected the 100 repetitions or whatever it was across the set as the sun came up?

[XCP]

Ridgemont said:

XCP said:

There's a stage show?

Yup. And Cleese has also removed the final song as well. Idle when asked about it didn’t sound impressed.

To save royalties perhaps. Still, something to add to my 'to do' list....

[Pieman68]

GliderRider said:

I've never studied Latin, yet it was one of my favourite parts too, and I would have thought John Cleese could easily have garnered feedback on what to include.

I did, to GCSE level, and as far as I can recall the lesson is gramatically correct

Now write it out 100 times before dawn, or I'll cut your balls off

[mac96]

Pieman68 said:

GliderRider said:

I've never studied Latin, yet it was one of my favourite parts too, and I would have thought John Cleese could easily have garnered feedback on what to include.

I did, to GCSE level, and as far as I can recall the lesson is gramatically correct

Now write it out 100 times before dawn, or I'll cut your balls off

It is also a great impersonation of my erstwhile Latin teacher, although he was only about 5 ft tall. The most scarey little guy I ever encountered. Perhaps they were all like that!

[donkmeister]

defblade said:

ScotHill said:

Ironically, John Cleese has cut the Latin graffiti section from the Life Of Brian stage show because he says people don't study Latin any more so they wouldn't find it funny. As long as you've studied at least one foreign language it would still be funny, i found it funny as a twelve year old who hadn't studied Latin. Shame he didn't cut himself, the miserable old ct.

He was exactly the same as the teacher I had for my 3rd year of Latin. I didn't go on to the 4th year.

(Walking around Rome being able to read a lot of the stuff chiseled onto the walls 2000 years ago was pretty cool, mind you)

Caecilius est in horto. Quintus EST in atrium.
Salve, Grumio!
'right, Landlord?

I've been to Pompeii a few times over the years and you'll always find at least one British grammar school alumnus stood outside the house of Caecilius

As to the news; I don't think it was a case of "foreigners did it, therefore grrr...", it's a global outage (albeit minor as it's hardly like they killed someone). Remember the public outrage when ISIS were carrying out the senseless destruction of human history simply because it predates the invention of their god? I'd be upset if someone has been scrawling/carving the walls of Salisbury Cathedral, Beamish or Vindolanda, and I suspect a lot of Italians would be too.

[Biggy Stardust]

donkmeister said:

Caecilius est in horto. Quintus EST in atrium.
Salve, Grumio!
'right, Landlord?

I've been to Pompeii a few times over the years and you'll always find at least one British grammar school alumnus stood outside the house of Caecilius

Is that Lucius Caecilius Icundi? Got a dog called Cerberus? I read about him.

[donkmeister]

Biggy Stardust said:

donkmeister said:

Caecilius est in horto. Quintus EST in atrium.
Salve, Grumio!
'right, Landlord?

I've been to Pompeii a few times over the years and you'll always find at least one British grammar school alumnus stood outside the house of Caecilius

Is that Lucius Caecilius Icundi? Got a dog called Cerberus? I read about him.

That's the one. The bane of many a school child, but remembered fondly later (hence the character of Grumio, named for Caecilius' slave, in Plebs).

[ScotHill]

The only Latin we knew was the bit when Gloria was sick in the van after a heavy weekend.

[XCP]

ScotHill said:

The only Latin we knew was the bit when Gloria was sick in the van after a heavy weekend.

This deserves a

[XCP]

I quite like the story of the Victorian general who sent the message 'peccavi', having captured Sind in India. Benefits of a classical education and all that...

[mac96]

XCP said:

I quite like the story of the Victorian general who sent the message 'peccavi', having captured Sind in India. Benefits of a classical education and all that...

Was the point not also that he had been instructed not to, so it has a double meaning? Too clever by half!