Greek and Latin (the Classics) surround us everywhere in Florida and the U.S.A. The word
Florida is Latin for "a land of flowers". The motto of the State of Florida is Latin: IN
MORIBUS CIVIUM SALUS RE PUBLICAE ("in the ethics of the citizens lies the health of the State").
The Classics belong in the education of every American. They contain a unique fund of
stimulating and important ideas, exercise mental skills and the imagination, sharpen awareness
of the complexities of a nation's culture, and underlie America's most cherished institutions
and values. Classics are fundamentally civilizing. For these reasons, Classics support the most
basic goal of education in America, to produce knowledgeable, productive, and thinking
citizens.
American education strives to produce knowledgeable and concerned citizens. In a democracy,
public education is especially charged with this responsibility; this is its foundation and
justification. The democratic process depends on a citizenry actively engaged in the pressing
issues of the day with a critical judgment informed by social, political, and cultural
perspectives. Because of American's unique historical roots and because of the preoccupation
of Greek and Roman civilization with issues of political and moral choice, the Classics are a
valued component of this educational task.
For example, the historical development of ancient Rome extensively and naturally parallels
that of the United States. Both began as an amalgamation of immigrants; both had capital
cities on inland rivers; both were first ruled by kings, who were replaced in republican
revolutions; both rapidly extended over wide geographical expanses, absorbing new peoples;
both gradually extended civil rights and the vote to additional groups; both survived civil
war; both changed rapidly from a rural to an urban economy, producing similar economic
distress.
The legacy of Greece and Rome can be viewed from two traditional points of view. On the one
hand, Classical works comprise an ideal to which subsequent creative works in western
civilization refer. In this way, Milton is always to some extent looking over his shoulder at
Vergil and Homer; Shakespeare and Stoppard scan the horizon for Aeschylus and Terence; Baldwin
nods to Plato; Rodin feels sympathy with Phidias. This view reinforces the Classics as the
first statement opening the Great Conversation of western culture. It is important for
students to catch a glimpse of this continuity, since they in turn will continue this lengthy
and ancient dialogue.
On the other hand, classical works are not valuable simply because they are the earliest
works in the field. They are in no sense primitive. Indeed, their intrinsic merit is their
perennial freshness and challenge. A great deal of excitement and pleasure lies dormant in
these ancient texts and artifacts, waiting to come alive anew in the mind and imaginations of
the young.
Greek and Roman culture touches every aspect of American life. It underlies our literature,
our art and architecture, our political ideals, our values, and our sense of history. This
connection between ancient and modern runs so deep that every American citizen must be given
the means to understand it. Not just factually, but with the critical judgment and imagination
to put it to use. To attain this goal, the Classics should be solidly represented in the
State of Florida.
The study of Classics is intended to instill in the students a sense of dignity, some
understanding of the laws of nature and society, mastery of a set of technical skills which
permit assumption of a vocation viewed as useful or creative, appreciation of the historical
forces that sculpted society, the capacity to appreciate beauty, and the motivation to
participate in a creative enterprise, and the capacity for serenity and honesty, charity and
civility.
