The Latin in Gibson's Passion of the Christ?

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The Latin in Gibson's Passion of the Christ?

Postby Joe Geranio on Wed Oct 05, 2005 3:54 am

I took Latin and the spoken word was always interesting to me.

What were your thoughts on pronuciation in Gibson's passion of the Christ? Did you find it believable?

Like I was taught in classical latin, not ecclesiatical that the "C" in Caesar was a hard K sound..........so the word Caesar would have sounded very close to the German Kaiser?


Quid est veritas, Pilatus dixit

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Latin 'Passion'

Postby Aldus Marius on Wed Oct 05, 2005 6:49 am

Ave, Gerani...

The only reason I was even considering seeing The Passion of Christ was for the opportunity to lean back, close my eyes and listen to someone besides myself speak Latin like it belonged to them. But then I saw stills of the Legionaries in their gear (something I do know something about)...and they were so ridiculously inauthentic that I didn't think the Latin could be any better. I can mutter Bastard Latin at home, and it's free. >({|;-)

So I can't be much help on what it actually did sound like in the movie; I never saw (or heard) it to judge. I may have been wrong; it happens...but at least I didn't have to look at those soldiers.

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Postby Primus Aurelius Timavus on Wed Oct 05, 2005 2:44 pm

I read a review of the movie that stated that a Classicist was brought in to train the actors playing soldiers in camp Latin. He had to fight the actors' tendency to fall into using Italian accents, but felt he was successful. Interestingly, the actors enjoyed what they had learned so much that they kept using Latin among themselves off the set!
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Postby Joe Geranio on Thu Oct 06, 2005 1:23 am

Ave,

Thanks for the comments, as far as any kind of Roman movies, I notice the statues of the emperors are sometimes 200 years off. I love one Roman movie I saw during the time of Augustus with a head of Nero in the backround. I understand your trepidation with the soldiers uniforms and gear.

I wish there was a Roman re-enactment group in my area! Have you heard of the Ermine street guard from England? They seem to have it together.

Multa Cum Amicitia

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Reenactor Societies

Postby Aldus Marius on Thu Oct 06, 2005 4:38 am

Salve iterum, mi Gerani!

Heard of the ESG?? --Gods and Saints, I've been all but worshipping them, along with the rest of the Ancestor-spirits; they are the granddaddies of us all!! Near as I can tell, they and the Gemina Project (in the Netherlands) started the whole Roman-era reenactment movement in Britain and the Continent, respectively. (Matthew Amt's XX Legion lit the fire in the US.) Before then, Roman reenactment was mostly a form of archaeological research, not for the public. It still serves that function; but the educational/interpretive groups far outnumber the strictly-scholarship types, and more and more of them are renting themselves out to television and movie studios. Why hire and equip a few dozen extras when you've got a 50-man "Legion" across town?

As for whether there's a Legion (of any strength) in your area...it would help to know where "your area" is; your Profile does not give a location. I have been maintaining a worldwide listing of Roman living-history societies since 1995 or thereabouts. It hasn't been updated in a few years; but you can see it on my site, the Roman Outpost (also celebrating its tenth birthday). Maybe you'll find something within a day's drive. We're getting popular! >({|;-)

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Postby Joe Geranio on Thu Oct 06, 2005 4:41 am

Marius,

Sorry, of course you have heard of ESG! I live in the San Francisco bay area

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(more or less) Bay-Area Legions

Postby Aldus Marius on Thu Oct 06, 2005 6:26 am

Firstfruits (from Matthew Amt's list, since it's current):

Legio X Fretensis
Robert W. Garbisch
2 Via Treviso Court
American Canyon, CA 94503-1445
(707) 557-4188
fireman_bob @ sbcglobal. net
http://myron.sjsu.edu/romeweb/ROMARMY/l ... ntents.htm
http://www.quiknet.com/~fifi/index9.htm

Legio IX Hispana
Sean Richards
3210 32nd St.
San Diego, CA 92104-4736
619-563-5700, pst M-F 7am-7pm
legioix @ pacbell. net
http://www.legio-ix-hispana.org

Legio IX Hispana -- NorCal chapter.
Marsh Wise
Foresthill, Calif.
varianus @ reenactor. net
http://www.reenactor.net/units/leg_ix_norcal/

Legio VI Victrix
25722 West Hammet Circle
Stevenson Ranch, California
91381-1315
http://www.legionsix.org/

Gaesatae
Kevin Beckham
San Jose, CA
408-272-2620
http://www.geocities.com/gallicmercenary


And no Stateside listing is complete without...

Twentieth Legion (est'd. 1991)
Period Covered: Mid-1st century AD
Region: Eastern US (Mid-Atlantic)
POC: Matthew Amt
Address: 317 Carroll Ave./Laurel, MD 20707
Phone: (301) 362-3574
E-mail: mamt@lrcm.usuhs.mil
URL: http://www.larp.com/legioxx/index.html

Get a hold of this person. He's the 'Go-To' for newbie Roman reenactors in America and their fledgeling units; he'll probably know something that I don't!

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Postby Cleopatra Aelia on Tue Oct 18, 2005 8:35 pm

Coming back to the original topic of this thread, I watched the movie "Passion of Christ" actually because I'm interested in languages (in general) and thought it an interesting idea to watch a movie using ancient languages like Latin and Aramaic.

When I heard the Romans speak it sounded to me like Italian. It was definitely no Classical Latin pronounciation, it was an Italian pronounciation. My friend who used to sing in a choir, said that in music Latin usually is pronounced in Italian because it's easier to sing. But why doing so in a movie??? :roll:
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Roman Re-enactment

Postby Cleopatra Aelia on Tue Oct 18, 2005 8:38 pm

Salve Josephe,

Joe Geranio wrote:I live in the San Francisco bay area


Too bad you're not living in North Germany, otherwise I would've recruited you for our Legion (LEGIO XXI RAPAX) - where I'm doing re-enactment as a gladiatrix - because the guys still need some more legionaries.
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Cleopatra from Hamburg

Postby Joe Geranio on Sat Oct 29, 2005 5:36 am

I am trying to translate a book by D. Boschung called "Die Bildnisse des Caligula", and it is no easy task. The Germans really know the field of Roman iconography and portraiture!!

Multa Cum Amicitia,

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