Accademia Vivarium Novum

The Academy Vivarium Novum (or Accademia in Italian) in Rome is the only college in the world where students can spend one or more years immersed in Latin and Ancient Greek. These languages are spoken both in and outside of the classroom.[4] The academy is directed by Luigi Miraglia, who according to the New Yorker magazine "speaks Latin more fluently than almost anyone else alive".[5]

Accademia Vivarium Novum
The Accademia Vivarium Novum
Location
Rome

Italy
Coordinates12°41′20.9″N 41°48′25.5″E
Information
Established1998 (1998)[1]
FounderLuigi Miraglia[2]
LanguageLatin
PublicationVivarium Novum Academy Editions[3]
Websitevivariumnovum.net

The Academy Vivarium Novum was founded with the intent to preserve the tradition of Renaissance schools, their teaching methods, and the vision of the world that such an education fosters. Closely influenced by the history of the Jesuit Order and the Legionaries of Christ, it wants to induce a rebirth of the humanities[6] based on the belief that dignity (dignitas hominis) may be attained only by continuous self-examination.[7] The students of the Academy Vivarium Novum aim to achieve a comprehensive grasp of the Latin and Ancient Greek languages.[8]

History

The name Vivarium Novum recalls the proto-humanistic community of Cassiodorus, Theodoric's magister officiorum. Vivarium was a place where liberal arts and lofty aspiration coincided; at the same time it evokes the isle of Vivara located in the Bay of Naples, where the idea of a school prepared to offer an advanced education to future generations was first conceived.[8]

During the 1970s, Miraglia was still a student of the Italian Liceo classico and frequented the summer Latin courses organized by the Italian ecologist Giorgio Punzo in the Vivara island, in the Gulf of Naples. The latter was a former student of the Jesuit Order and influenced Miraglia in his conception of a Latin school organized in a somesort of modern monastic life.[6]

The academy has been also a long-time project of the Istituto per gli Studi Filosofici (Italian Institute of Philosophical Studies) located in Naples and directed by the Italian lawyer Gerardo Marotta.[6]

During the 1980s, it took place an articulate series of seminaries to better define the project and its first steps. In 1995, it was founded the Latin school of Montella, thanks to the support of Giovanni Pugliese Carratelli and of Giovanni Miraglia with which Marotta had collaborated for 35 years.[6]

In 2016, the seat was definitely transferred in Frascati after some years of problematic relationships with the Legionaries of Christ.[6] The academy chose to implement a monastic-like way of life in respect of which the internal rules forbid any form of smoke and alcoholism, reserve to students and professors the covering of the cost of board and lodging plus an additional reimbursement of scholarly expenses, make mandatory for anyone to speak exclusively in Latin, to wear and behave with sobriety and moderation in any circumstance of his life.[6]

Academic year

The main programme offered by the Academy, which is held from the beginning of October up to the end of June, mainly aims to provide male students with a strong experience in the domain of the Humanities. The subjects of the courses are principally Ancient Greek philosophy, Latin literature, Renaissance literature, Ancient Greek language and literature and Roman History. The course of History of poetry and ancient prosody combines ancient verses with music, in order to explain their metrical structure in a more efficient way.[9] The choir of the Academy, Tyrtarion (from the names of Tyrtaeus and Arion), has already become well known in the domain of Latin and Greek poetry.[10][11] Despite the curriculum being taught in classical languages, the programme's aim is not the mastery of the Latin and ancient Greek languages for their own sake. Rather, these languages are thought of as instrumental in understanding the most significant aspects of the western world's literary, philosophical, and historical legacy, and how it has been shaped by them.[12] Pupils from sixteen to twenty-five years of age are admitted to the Academy; every year, an application process is organised in order to receive scholarships and be admitted to the Academy for one year. Room, board, classes and didactic materials are all provided free to recipients.

Summer course

In order to fund these scholarships and to foster effective methods of teaching Latin and Greek, the Academy and the Mnemosyne Foundation organise each year an intensive Summer Course of Latin. This course lasts exactly eight weeks, from the end of June to the middle of August, and aims to bring students to the easy reading of the classics without any previous knowledge. The course is divided into two modules of four weeks, and is open to everyone.[13]

Publishing house

In order to achieve the best and fastest results in teaching Latin and Greek, the Academy has developed a new methodology which is today considered among the most effective in the world.[14][15] The Academy is considered one of the main promoters of the so-called direct method for the teaching of ancient languages, which is based on the textbook Lingua Latina per se illustrata, of the Danish author Hans Ørberg, and on an adaptation and extension, for Ancient Greek, of the English book Athenaze. Both are published and distributed in Italy by the Academy, and have been adopted in many schools all around the world. Notably, the publishing and distribution of these books is entirely non-profit, with all profits providing scholarships to worthy male students.[16][17]

Tyrtarion

Tyrtarion, or the Tyrtarion choir, is the band and choir of the school Accademia Vivarium Novum. It is lead by Eusebius Aron Tóth, the Tyrtarion choir aims to illustrate and preserve ancient poetry, literature, and music. The choir is known for its restoration of Latin and Ancient Greek poetry.[18] The name Tyrtarion was established in 2010 from the joining of the names of the poets Tyrtaeus and Arion.[19]

Tyrtarion performs classical, baroque, and Renaissance music. Usually, they perform the works and poems of ancient Roman and Greek poets such as Homer, Gills Orphicae, Lucretius, Carmen, Virgil, Horace, and Pliny.[20]

The musicians and singers of the band and choir are made up of the students from Accademia Vivarium Novum. The most notable people of the crew include: Eusebius Aron Tóth, founder; Alexander Feye, composer and violinist; Philippus Marins, composer and guitarist; and Georgius Shakhov, composer, singer, and drummer.

Videos

See also

References
  1. "La nostra storia | Edizioni Accademia Vivarium Novum". vivariumnovum.it. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
  2. "Dean Luigi Miraglia of Accademia Vivarium Novum Visits Yenching Academy of Peking University-Yenching Academy of Peking University". yenchingacademy.pku.edu.cn. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
  3. "La nostra storia | Edizioni Accademia Vivarium Novum". vivariumnovum.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-03-01.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-11-16. Retrieved 2011-06-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. Mead, Rebecca (17 Sep 2001). "Latin lover; can a classicist's plan to revive a dead language save Europe?". The New Yorker. p. 107. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2011. Alt URL
  6. Angiola Codacci-Pisanelli; Alessandro Penso (February 4, 2020). "In collegio con i nerd dell'umanesimo che parlano in latino da mattina a sera". L'Espresso (in Italian). [87C63 Archived] Check |archive-url= value (help) from the original on February 5, 2020.
  7. "Our mission | Accademia Vivarium novum". vivariumnovum.net. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-03-01. Retrieved 2011-06-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-12-15. Retrieved 2014-12-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. "Tyrtarion". YouTube. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  11. "Students at Vivarium Novum Perform Sonnets from 'Hymn to Diana' - Video on NBCNews.com". Retrieved 3 March 2019 – via www.nbcnews.com.
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-12-15. Retrieved 2014-12-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2014-12-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. "Self-Access Centre Database". Resources.clie.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-12-15. Retrieved 2014-12-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-12-15. Retrieved 2014-12-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. "Edizioni Accademia Vivarium Novum". Vivariumnovum.it. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  18. "Aditus | Tyrtarion". tyrtarion.net. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  19. "video".
  20. "Aditus | Tyrtarion". tyrtarion.net. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
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