03-11-2010, 04:36 PM
Salvete, amici.
I grew up in southern and central California. I moved out to South Carolina for college, and but for a two-year stint teaching in the Pacific, I never left. I don't recall where my interest in Rome originated. As a teenager, I recall being fascinated by David Macaulay's City, but I was homeschooled through much of elementary school, so I'm sure the interest goes back before then. In fact, now that I think of it, I know that Richard Halliburton's fabulous Complete Book of Marvels (a gift from my aged sire) had a major influence on the early development of my imagination.
My father (fifty-four years my senior) also introduced me to the mini-series Masada when I was a boy. It's still one of my favorite TV productions of all time, and a must-see for everyone interested in the Roman military. Peter O'Toole, Anthony Quayle, David Warner, and Barbara Carrera. What more can I say?
In high school I visited Rome with my family, but a much more influential experience for me was a visit to the Roman ruins at Bath in the summer of 2001. I went through with a friend, and was fairly underwhelmed. On the way out, I picked up a book in the shop that detailed the history of the excavations there. I was sucked in. I bought the book, and after poring over it for forty-five minutes on a bench outside (to my friend's chagrin), I went back through a second time. How different an experience it was! I understood what I was seeing! It came forcefully home to me that I was, though many feet underground, walking on the Roman surface. It was like time travel.
By the time I began Ph.D. studies in Renaissance Lit in 2003, I had developed a well-nourished desire to know Latin (both for classical reasons and because of my professional focus on Renaissance literature). I shared that desire with the graduate director, and she made some calls and got me into undergrad classes. Since then I've expanded my education in the classics and in Roman history and archeology in fits and spurts. I have a wide-ranging interest in military history that draws me from time to time to various eras. This is the second forum I've joined. I've been an on-and-off presence at http://myArmoury.com since 2007.
I learned of this site via the website for Legio VI Ferrata Fidelas Constans, a reenactment group here in South Carolina. I'm putting my pinky toe in, as it were.
I'm here primarily to interact with and learn from people who love the things that I love.
I teach English and Latin in a Christian high school.
I grew up in southern and central California. I moved out to South Carolina for college, and but for a two-year stint teaching in the Pacific, I never left. I don't recall where my interest in Rome originated. As a teenager, I recall being fascinated by David Macaulay's City, but I was homeschooled through much of elementary school, so I'm sure the interest goes back before then. In fact, now that I think of it, I know that Richard Halliburton's fabulous Complete Book of Marvels (a gift from my aged sire) had a major influence on the early development of my imagination.
My father (fifty-four years my senior) also introduced me to the mini-series Masada when I was a boy. It's still one of my favorite TV productions of all time, and a must-see for everyone interested in the Roman military. Peter O'Toole, Anthony Quayle, David Warner, and Barbara Carrera. What more can I say?
In high school I visited Rome with my family, but a much more influential experience for me was a visit to the Roman ruins at Bath in the summer of 2001. I went through with a friend, and was fairly underwhelmed. On the way out, I picked up a book in the shop that detailed the history of the excavations there. I was sucked in. I bought the book, and after poring over it for forty-five minutes on a bench outside (to my friend's chagrin), I went back through a second time. How different an experience it was! I understood what I was seeing! It came forcefully home to me that I was, though many feet underground, walking on the Roman surface. It was like time travel.
By the time I began Ph.D. studies in Renaissance Lit in 2003, I had developed a well-nourished desire to know Latin (both for classical reasons and because of my professional focus on Renaissance literature). I shared that desire with the graduate director, and she made some calls and got me into undergrad classes. Since then I've expanded my education in the classics and in Roman history and archeology in fits and spurts. I have a wide-ranging interest in military history that draws me from time to time to various eras. This is the second forum I've joined. I've been an on-and-off presence at http://myArmoury.com since 2007.
I learned of this site via the website for Legio VI Ferrata Fidelas Constans, a reenactment group here in South Carolina. I'm putting my pinky toe in, as it were.
I'm here primarily to interact with and learn from people who love the things that I love.
I teach English and Latin in a Christian high school.
David J. Lohnes
Upper School English and Latin
Southside Christian School
Officium nos vocat!
Upper School English and Latin
Southside Christian School
Officium nos vocat!