Classics Day III Set for Oct. 22
A few of the participants for the third Classics Day festival marched throughout campus to promote the event during Homecoming weekend, pausing for a photo on the steps of Wallace Hall.
MONMOUTH, Ill. – The classical world will come to life at Monmouth College’s third annual Classics Day festival on Oct. 22.
The festival will be held from 1-4 p.m. Oct. 22 on the Quad, in the center of campus. The inclement weather site is the Huff Athletic Center. Classics Day is open to all ages and is free of charge.
“Joining us this year will be 180 or so high school students and teachers from around the state, thanks to a high school Latin conference that Monmouth-Roseville is hosting that day, and to a bus that the College’s admissions department has provided to students and teachers in the Chicago area,” said Assistant Professor of Classics Robert Simmons, who chairs the department.
What they all will experience is the world of ancient Greece and Rome, brought to life.
“They’ll see this distant culture come to life,” said Simmons. “They’ll get to see the Olympics brought to life. They can see soldiers from the ancient world and see their different techniques of engaging with opponents. They can take part in gladiatorial combat. They can put on clothing that was appropriate to the ancient world, and we have many other exhibits and booths like this where people can come to understand the classical world with the sort of vibrancy that most people have to take just from reading or seeing still images of them.”
The inaugural Classics Day received the 2015 Award for Outstanding Promotional Activity in Classics from the Classical Association of the Middle West and South.
While celebrating many aspects of ancient Green and Roman culture, this year’s event will also include some aspects of ancient Japanese culture and Native American culture.
“They’ll see this distant culture come to life,”
– Robert Simmons, classics professor
A small group of volunteers helped make the first Classics Day a success in the spring of 2015, but classics faculty decided that creating a class dedicated to making the event work would be a good idea for future celebrations.
“Taking on this class has allowed me to take on a leadership role that I didn’t really expect,” said Gabrielle General ’17 of Skokie, Ill, who has been involved with all three Classics Day events. “It gives you this nice little push to realize what you can do … It helps you learn how to communicate to others what you need to get done.”
For a list of events and times of main demonstrations, see the Classics Day Festival page on Facebook. For more information, email Simmons or call 309-457-2378.
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