SALVETE, DISCIPULI! XAIPETE, MATHETAI! GREETINGS, STUDENTS!

 As many of you know, I retired from the classroom in 2017. I still keep very busy as the Secretary-Treasurer of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South (CAMWS). I am still giving papers at professional meetings and am traveling a lot with my wife, Anne, especially to visit grandchildren (three so far).

I WANT YOU to do several things:

1. Share a Sienkewicz Memory. Some of you have already contributed to a Memory Book prepared by Emma Vanderpool ’17, but there are many lacunae.  Please don’t be one of them! Sit right down and email your memory to me at tjsienkewicz@gmail.com and I will add it to the book.

2. Own a book from the Sienkewicz Classics Library. Rather than sell my books, I have decided to share them with YOU! Please feel free to stop by my office sometime and take what you want. The shelves are already being raided, so don’t wait. I would be glad to inscribe a book (or two or three) for you.

3. Attend the 2019 Fox Classics Lecture. A good time to get your book(s) is at the 2019 Fox Classics Lecture, which will take place on Monday, February 18, 2019, at 7:30 P.M. This is Presidents’ Day, a national holiday, so perhaps you can get away. The lecturer is someone you might know and the topic lots of fun:

Hercules Politicus in Art: The Mythic Hero as Political Role Model from Alexander the Great to Vladimir Putin

Thomas J. Sienkewicz, Capron Professor of Classics Emeritus, Monmouth College
Political leaders from Alexander the Great to Vladimir Putin have often identified themselves with the Greco-Roman hero Hercules in various media. This broad historical survey includes identification of Roman emperors, Medici rulers, American presidents and other prominent figures as Hercules in such media as coins, painting, sculpture, and editorial cartoons. These representations are analyzed and the associations with Hercules explained.

4. Attend the 2019 Cena Classica. If you come for the lecture, you are also invited to attend the annual Cena Classica, hosted by the Classics Department. The cena is an authentic ancient Roman meal with no New World foods (like tomatoes potatoes, chocolate etc.). Please make your reservation early if you want to attend the cena. Ideally the college would like to know three weeks in advance if you are coming, so there would be enough food. (We might even be able to arrange some of the traditional Sienkewicz deviled eggs, which are made only with authentic Roman ingredients.) Just email me at tjsienkewicz@gmail.com to make your reservation.