in one way or another, trying to get

what we want heard into the world.

In a way, so did the poets of then
and today. That is the poets true
nature
When many people hear the word
poet, they think of Longfellow and
Frost, even Shakespeare, but not
many people think of who really
were the first poets in the world.
Now Im sure that the Cro-Magnons
had rhyming games, trading off
ghrrs and nhrrs for a good laugh
as they killed dinosaurs, but one of
the first peoples or civilizations who
capture the beauty of words, and
who had people whos whole liveli-
hoods were dependent on words,
were the Romans. Yes, the Greeks
had many great minds, but the
Romans were the ones who began
to refine what the Hellenistic age
started. Poets in that time were not
just poets, wordsmiths of the day so
to speak, but instead were also
philosophers, statesmen, lawyers,
orators, political theorists, constitu-
tionalists, and even consuls. As you
can see, this list ranges from all
forms of government jobs to civil
service workers. The poets back
then were not chained to their desks
and forced to write couplets. Their
nature lay in their way with words,
their passion for communication, be
it on paper or through the airways.
So what did this mean for poets that
did not have great renown? Did they
simply give up and not try, or did
they strive to do more with their
lives? As seen in the Shakespearean
play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar,
poets were most often ignored, and
sometimes even killed, such as
Cinna the Poet, more of which you
will find later in the Newsletter. Was
this Shakespeare's way of bashing
the way the Roman and Elizabethan
governments seemed to just throw
off men of the written word? Maybe.
But I think that if you look closely
enough, and see the real reason for
this, youll come out of the other
side not just well informed, but also
a better thinker.
Most all of see ourselves as writers,
A Poets True Nature
Romes Inspiration
Many people have studied old poet-
ry that talks of great quests in olde
English, and many of us have heard
of the tales written by Virgil and
Ovid. Not many people have looked
into the inspiration behind the poets
and their writings.
Most of the writings that have sur-
vived through the ages was about
mythology and epic wars. Why
would men that spent their off time
orating and philosophizing deep
thoughts spend most of their work
on myths? Some people think that
its because those who became
famous and had their works pub-
lished were helped through temples
and religious factions, so most of
the poets work was about religion,
but that is not the main reason.
The average poets religion, or wor-
ship, was not dedicated to one of
the gods of the Parthenon, but one
of the 9 muses. When they would
write poetry, they would invoke the
name of one of these Muses, and
inspiration would flow out the Muse
and into them.
Now one interested in mythology
might ask where did the Muses
inspiration come from? According
to tradition, the Muses would draw
inspiration from the spring of Heli-
con like water from a well, then
impart what they found from the
holy waters to the humans. And
thus came Romes inspiration.
Rome Then and Today
5/30/2014 Volume Vii, Issue III
Who was Cinna the Poet?
Did you Know?
Roman History
Did you know that
throughout Roman
History, there were
over 75 Emperors?
Did you know that
Romans were consid-
ered Ancient Masters
of Architecture?
Did you know that
Roman Baths were
day to day life?
Did you know that
Roman culture has
lasted for more than
2,040 Years?
Inside this issue:
Musing About Muses 2
Case Studies about
Writing
2
Education of the
Educators
3
An Every-day Roman
Poet
3
Who was Cinna the
Poet?
4
Who were the Muses? Were they
the thing that gave us the word,
to muse? Or did they only give
inspiration to the Roman and
Greek poets? To answer that
question fully, lets start with a
story.
Although the great god of light-
ning Zeus was married to Hera,
the goddess of marriage, that
didnt mean that he was always
faithful. One day he decided to
have an affair, one of many, with
the goddess of memory, Mnemos-
yne, and although none of the
details of this affair were divulged
to the rest of the gods, (and even
if they were, the memories of that
information was probably wiped
clean by Mnemosyne), the thing
that everyone did know was the
children they had. All nine of
them.
Now these children apparently
werent given birth to normally.
They were brain children, and had
the gifts of the brain as well. As
they were being raised, they all
were given the job to inspire the
arts and promote the sciences
that men were slowly but surely
advancing in. They were also the
entertainment at every banquet in
Olympus, and sang for the immor-
tals when they were summoned,
although the immortals were not
the only people they sang for.
Sometimes they would sing for
the great heros that had died
valiantly, such as Achilles, the
fallen hero in the Trojan war.
Although they were said to have
the mind as similar to each other
as you do with yourself, that did-
nt mean that they were com-
pletely identical altogether. Each
one had their own area of exper-
tise, the place where they exceled
at, and the place that they were in
charge of. The beautiful Callio-
pe was the muse of epic poetry,
while on the other hand Clio was
the muse of history. Erato was the
muse of love poetry, hence the
name begotten from the root
word eros, and Euterpe was the
muse of music. The sad Melpome-
ne was the muse of tragedy and
Polyhymnia was the muse of sa-
cred poetry, and would be in all of
the temples rituals, even if the
ritual wasnt made for her. Terpsi-
chore was the muse of dance, and
Thalia was the muse of comedy.
Urania was the muse of astrono-
my, and her name is where the
planet Uranus got its name from.
As you can see, each one was
slightly different in aspects, but is
revered by completely different
people.
The Muses werent all sing-songy,
happy-go-lucky all the time,
though. When they got angry, the
got angry, and their sensitive spot
was when someone said that they
could sing better than them. Actu-
ally, it wasnt even that. If some-
one even asked them for a duel in
some sort of art, the person usu-
ally was left blinded, mute, and an
amnesiac. Ask poor old Thamyris.
Well, if he could speak, he would
tell you. Or maybe the nine
daughters of Pierus. Just go up to
your local magpie or finch. Thats
what they got turned into when
their father boasted about them.
So be careful when around the
Muses. The people of the arts can
be feisty. The Muses remain with
us even today, as the daughters
of Mnemosyne, giving us inspira-
tion, wit, and charm.
So that is who the Muses are.
Although they dont have exten-
sive historical and mythological
backgrounds for each individual
Muse, that was not the point of
their creation. The reason why
they were created was, in my
opinion, to make a resemblance to
all of the arts, and so that not one
art could over do or out do anoth-
er. The creation of the Muses was
a balancing act, and apparently it
worked well. We can see how both
the Greek and the Roman culture
advanced faster than most ancient
cultures, for both were related to
and worshiped the Muses.
So who are the Muses? Is it the
name of a rival magazine? Is it
the search for inspiration from
desperate poets in the ancient
days? Or were they just a good
story? I guess that decision is up
for you to decide.
familiar with.
To the left we can see some of
that Classical Latin on a stone
tablet. This form of recording
would have been reserved for
people who either had something
that had to be passed around to
many different provinces or one
that would have to last through-
out many years, such as govern-
ment documents.
The things that we read in college
The ancient Romans were not the
only people and culture to be
master crafts of the word, but
they were distinct for having a
language, Latin, that shaped most
of the Romantic languages today.
The beauty of Rome was that the
main language that was spoken,
the vernacular of the time, was
actual Vulgar Latin, a dumbed
down version of what we have to
learn in school, and what was
written was the formal Classical
Latin that some of us are all to
class and have studied as normal
people, on the other hand, would
have been via paper and ink,
something similar to what we use,
just not as refined in method. The
poems that have lasted through-
out the ages, such as Virgils or
Ovids great works that we have
in our libraries today. That is how
they greats would send their
works to others, and thats how
they, in turn, sent their crafts to
people like us.
Musing about Muses
Case Studies about Writing
Page 2
Who was Cinna the Poet?
The Nine Muses por-
trayed in a gay man-
ner, painting done by
Giulio Romano
...they all were given
the job to inspire the
arts and promote the
sciences that men were
slowly but surely
advancing in.
A Stone Tablet with Clas-
sical Latin inscribed on it
The way that poets and writers
would have been educated in the
ancient Roman world would have
been extremely similar to that of
the Greeks. But Im sure that
most of you dont know the
Greeks method of teaching either,
so Ill describe both of them for
you.
To be educated was to be
wealthy, and that was why the
people being educated were in
that position. Because they held
the world in the palm of their
hands.
The students could have been
either boy or girl, although they
might not have been taught to-
gether, and they were usually
taught by Greek slaves or teach-
ers of Rhetoric. The teachers
would teach individuals as tutors,
or extremely small classes, such
as three or four. The teaching was
not free, and was more of a status
than a blessing, because the peo-
ple who got it never really used it.
The peasants would pick up the
education they needed on the job.
The education was not just a one-
size-fits-all, type of deal, but it
had different layers to it. The first
was Moral Education, then Littera-
tor, then Grammar, then Rhetor,
then Philosophy. To reach Philoso-
phy was to dedicate your life to
knowledge. The word Philosophy
means love of knowledge and
that is what you had to have. That
is how Romans and Greeks alike
were taught.
The Education of the Educators
An Every-day Roman Poet
rarely ever wore togas in public.
Those were considered very high
to do and stately, and would only
be worn to banquets or very for-
mal and noble outings. They
would be the equivalent of a fancy
dress on a woman or a tuxedo on
a man. Not something that you
would be wearing on the street.
What Romans usually did wear
was tunics, which looked like this.








Although not always red, that was
the basic gist of the everyday
clothing that they wore. People
who would work for guilds would
usually wear a patch that located
what and whom they worked for,
so yes, poets would have their
own individual patch also.
So what else did the everyday
Roman poet do in his spare time?
Since the Roman work day was
only six hours, a poet would have
after lunch to lounge, eat, social-
ize, think, listen to debates, be
inspired by the beautiful country
side and many more things to fill
his spare time. Work for him
officially started in the morning
and ended in the afternoon, so
what he did with the rest of the
time was fair game after that.
Since Being a poet inclines that
the poet was educated, and edu-
cation means wealth, the overall
economic standard and status of
poets were quite well to do, so
that means that they were not
exempt from enjoying the colise-
ums gladiator fights and the Cir-
cus Maximus. But what did their
family life look like?
In Ancient Rome, the father (or
head of the house hold) ruled over
everything, and everyone was
part of one family, be he slave,
wife, or poet. Some families were
rich enough to own entire provinc-
es, or even entire guilds. Since
poets were well educated, they
were usually well off in the stand-
ards of family houses and guilds.
So that was the day in the life of
an every-day Roman citizen, alt-
hough there were many more
aspects than that. The Roman
Baths, Theater of Pompeii, and
To be a poet back in ancient Rome
was not to be a god, or even to be
a scoundrel. The poets society
was simply another guild, another
group of people trying to make
the world a better place, and they
just happened to do it through
their words. Although not many
records were kept on the lives of
individual poets, or even the aver-
age poet, most scholars assume,
and I say its safe to assume also,
that poets in Roman society be-
haved just like everyone else did.
But what did every one else act
like?
Most men in that age would start
their day off with a meal, not
unlike modern western civilization
today, and then begin their long
days work. The clothing that they
wore was not like the picture to
the far right, in fact, that picture
is a terrible representation of a
Roman poet. Most, if not all, peo-
ple did not where laurels on their
head, even if it was the common
crown of a victor, and even the
victors rarely wore them in public.
The men who didnt win wore on
their head nothing, maybe hat to
keep off the sun, but nothing that
would stick out of the crowd.
Another thing that this drawing
did a terrible job of is that romans
Page 3
Volume Vii, Issue III
A Bronze Statue of a Roman
Girl being taught
...poets in Roman
society behaved just
like everyone else did.
But what did every one
else act like?
A completely wrong
picture of a Roman
Poet
Three students, or discipuli, being taught by their teacher
1 On Muk Lane, Shatin, Hong Kong, SAR
503 Gatewood, High Point, NC, USA
2093 Martin Road, Greensville, OH, USA
790 Le Darvine, Pusnatin, Russia
Phone: 884-336-3452
Fax: 273-234-6879
Email: leecliff3452@gmail.com
Where we got the knowledge that we have given to you
"Helvius Cinna." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 24 May 2014. Web. 05 June
2014.
The Murder of Cinna, the Poet: Monroe E. Deutsch: The Classical Journal, Vol. 20, No. 6 (Mar.,
1925), pp. 326-336
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Poets and Teachers in Julius Caesar." Shmoop.com. Shmoop
University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 05 June 2014
"The History of Ancient Rome and Its People." History of Ancient Rome and the An-
cient Roman People. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 June 2014.
"Muse." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 06 Jan. 2014. Web. 05 June 2014.
Rome Then and Today
Several outside sources say that Cinna was
killed on one of the following nights of Antonys
speech, but his death was not why Shakespeare
put him in the play. Why would Cinna be the
one who was shown to be killed by the crowd
and not anyone else? Why did it have to be
Cinna?
Because Shakespeare wasnt using Cinna as a
person but more of an ideal. Cinna, although
historical in fact and nature, was more of the
representation of what his trade was, and what
his trade meant to the Roman society. When
the crowds came back and went to find all of
the conspirators, they did not care who they
were killing, making them worse than animals.
When they went as far as to kill a person of the
written word, they broke all humane reasons to
go out and find fitting vengeance. They were
simply in a blood rage, trying to kill as many
people as they cared to kill. Shakespeare was
using the poet Cinna as a symbol of how the
crowd had lost all reason when they went out
and followed Antonys reasoning.
Another thing that Shakespeare could have
been doing was not only slamming on the angry
plebians in the mob, but also the cultures of
Introduced to us in the Shakespearean Tragedy
and History Julius Caesar, Cinna the Poet in
some peoples eyes was the definition of a minor
character. Only shown to us to explain the un-
rest of the crowd after Mark Antonys speech,
the poet was killed because he shared the same
name with Cinna the Conspirator. But who was
really this masked man who died for something
that was not his own?
Helvius Cinna was a poet just like any other in
the time of Rome. His life was nothing out of
the ordinary, and his works inhibited not much
attention from the outside world. His Magum
Opus, or his lifes work, was an epic poem
called the Zymrna. The Zymrna is a poem about
the creation of the spice Myhhr, and, as the
story goes, how a woman named Lady Symrna
(or Myhhra) was turned into the tree. Although
the story itself is not well known throughout
many mythological circles, and the poem is as
rare as the myth, scholars today still considered
Helvius Cinnas Zymrna as a well written piece
that earned its merit not through luck but by
hard work. Helvius Cinna is hypothesized to be
the person whom Shakespeare wrote about, the
person who was killed by the mob in the third
act of Julius Caesar.
Rome and Elizabethan society, where men of
the written word were looked down upon and
ignored. Shakespeare could have been saying
why not kill us if you are going to ignore our
words, for words are all weve got to give to
you.
Cinna the poet was a herald throughout all of
the ages to remember the men of rhetoric and
written word, and to heed what they say with
caution.
Who was Cinna the Poet?
When in Rome...
Were on the web
forgotthecheese.wordpress.com
Cinna the Poets Bust