Rewriting History

The Cambridge Latin Course, a story-based education in Latin for schoolchildren, has been revised to incorporate the viewpoints of women, non-whites and, of all things, the enslaved majority. In previous editions, slaves were depicted through the eyes of their masters and illustrations appeared to show an all-white empire; while female students complained that the female characters were inadequately developed and insufficient in number. The new edition even has the nerve to reflect, if you please, recent scholarship in such matters as the gladiatorial games, which have been simplistically perceived as a primitive blood-sport but are now seen more in line with the martial values of Romanitas. While the editors stoically await the inevitable squeals of indignation from the culture-war tribespersons, it is to be hoped they will take due pride: there can be few nobler manifestations of the anti-Boris than a woke Latin course.