Happy new year from Classics for All! With the new year just beginning, we are looking forward to bringing Classics to more young people across the country. We hope you enjoy reading about our progress.
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We are launching a brand new weekly quiz for our Classics buffs and newbies alike. If you would like to add a Classics-themed crossword to your weekly routine, sign up below to the quiz mailing list.
Starting from 15 January, every Thursday afternoon you’ll receive an email with a quiz question, kindly provided by Julian Morgan from his book Classical Puzzles.
The questions are hosted on an external site which you will have to sign in to, providing a name (it doesn’t have to be your legal name – this is just how you will be named in our monthly leader board.
Sign up here to receive our puzzles - every Thursday.
About the author of Classical Puzzles:
Julian Morgan has been writing puzzles for more years than he can remember. Under the alias Aenigmatifex he works as a member of the O Tempora! Latin crossword setting team for The Times newspaper and is also the puzzle master for the ARGO magazine from the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, for which he writes crosswords in Ancient Greek. Julian worked as a teacher and Head of Classics for many years in the UK before his secondment by the Department for Education to the European School of Karlsruhe in Germany. He was the UK partner in the award-winning CIRCE Project from 2003 to 2013. As an author/publisher based in North Yorkshire, he distributes the Imperium Latin course and a wide range of other titles, many of them puzzle books written around classical, Yorkshire or literary themes. He gives talks and tuition in both Latin and Greek to the motivated, is the interactive display designer for the World of James Herriot in Thirsk and works as an external Baccalaureate examiner for the European Schools.
School of the month: Reigate College, Surrey
Reigate College is a state sixth form which enrols students from a large geographical area, covering Surrey, West Sussex and South London. The college has taught Classical Civilisation as an A Level option for more than a decade. And, with our training and support, they introduced ancient languages too, teaching both Latin and Ancient Greek through a Classics club.
They are now proud to be a sixth form with better attainment than local independent schools and students regularly progress to some of the top universities in the country. They currently have three Classical Civilisation classes, and every year at least 10 students go on to study Classics at university. This year, they were proud that one of their students went to study Classics at Oxford.
As that student enthused, ‘I love how supportive and encouraging the department is beyond the curriculum, they’re always ready to talk about any part of the classical world – I don’t think I would have got my Oxford offer without them!’
You gave a total of £122,291.25 (including Gift Aid)!
With these funds, we can now support more than 100 schools with training and curriculum resources over the coming months. We will help inspire the next generation of students like this pupil at Acland Burghley School: ‘I love Latin because it is complicated and interesting. I really enjoy it. Latin makes my day better.’
Thank you to everyone who donated or encouraged others to do so.
Watch: Arcadia at The Old Vic
Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia will be on at The Old Vic from 24 January – 21 March 2026.
‘In a country house, two centuries apart, genius unfolds. A teenage prodigy discovers the mathematics of the universe, as the adults around her fail to hide their passions under reason. In the present day, scholars chase the ghosts of that same household – seeking truth, proof and perhaps each other. Witty, moving and flirtatious, Sir Tom Stoppard’s masterpiece is brought thrillingly to life by acclaimed director Carrie Cracknell.’
Read: Pleasure boats described by Strabo found off coast of Alexandria
Excavations by the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM) have discovered a 35-metre-long pleasure boat off the coast of Alexandria.
The ancient city was famed for its temples, palaces and 130-metre-tall Pharos lighthouse – one of the seven ancient wonders of the world – attracting tourists from far and wide. When Strabo visited he described similar pleasure boats to the one recently discovered:
“These vessels are luxuriously fitted out and used by the royal court for excursions; and the crowd of revellers who go down from Alexandria by the canal to the public festivals; for every day and every night is crowded with people on the boats who play the flute and dance without restraint and with extreme licentiousness.”
Along with Strabo’s writings, the Palestrina mosaic (below) also depicts pleasure boats in Alexandria. But an actual boat has never been discovered before. The boat had been lying under only 7 metres of water and 1.5 metres of sediment for more than 2,000 years.
Archaeologists have several theories on how the boat came to its resting place on the shore, which you can read in depth in the full Guardian article here.
Listen: It's All Greek (and Latin) To Me
Join Armand D'Angour (Professor of Classics at Oxford University) and Jimmy Mulville (Comedy Producer, our Chairman and lifelong Classics devotee) as they explore stories and quotes that are familiar through their use in our everyday lives.
Ever said 'Carpe Diem!' or heard about the 'Oedipus Complex'? Ever really thought about where that quote comes from or what the Oedipus Complex really refers to? Let Armand and Jimmy tell you where these originated, what they actually mean, and who wrote them.