Taking the Measure
of the Ancient World
*Almost exactly forty years ago, I was in my last term at a Scottish public
school on the shores of the Firth of Forth,where the climatewould have
madethatofDurham,bycomparison,seempositivelytropical,andtheboys
werepreventedfromfreezingonlybybeingpermanentlyoccupiedinplay-
ingrugbyfootball.But,fundamentalasrugbyfootball(‘‘rugger’’incommon
language)wastotheideologyoftheschool,evenIwassurprisedwhenthe
then head boyapproached me, and said in despairing tones: ‘‘Millar, I get
depressed sometimes.There aresomepeople in this school who think that
ruggerisjustsomethinglikeLatin,whichyouneverthinkaboutexceptwhen
you’redoingit.’’
Idonottellthisstoryinordertomockmyownorigins.Foronething,
inaworldwherewecanbetoldbyourprimeministerthatthereis‘‘nosuch
thingassociety,’’thevaluesof‘‘teamspirit’’andmutualresponsibilitywhich
Loretto really did instil now seem less self-evident, and more important,
thantheymighthavedone.Secondly,when,withtheonsetofthesecond
infantilismcommontomiddle-agedgentlemen,Icamebackyearslaterto
watchinginternationalruggermatches,Irealisedthattheheadboyhadbeen
right,on one side at least: wehadjust played and played,without actually
thinkingabouthowthegamemightbeplayedbetter.
So,thirdly,mighthehavebeenrightalsoinimplyingthatLatinwasalso
somethingwhichonetendedjustto‘‘do,’’andthatwedonotalwaysaskour-
selveswhatoursubjectis,whatitreallyamountsto,orhowareweorour
pupilsmightbestapproachit?ThisistheopportunitywhichIwouldliketo
*PresidentialaddressattheClassicalAssociation,Durham,April,Proceedings of the
Classical Association():–.