On Oct. 30, the Latin Club held its monthly meeting during Highlander Time Flex to discuss Latin history and Latin Honors Society application guidelines.

As Halloween is approaching, the club officers, named consuls, gave a presentation covering the sinister aspects of Rome. These topics ranged from Lemuralia, a festival for exorcising ghosts of family members, to the Vestal Virgins and sacrificial killing. It was emphasized that the Romans shunned human sacrifice, which is often regarded as akin to ritualistic murder, their preferred method of sacrifice.

“Today’s presentation about spirits and ritualistic murder was fascinating,” sophomore Sarah Li said. “It was spooky and helped us get into the Halloween spirit.”

However, gruesome practices are just one example, as Latin is a language that is rich with connections. The Latin language is significant because it lays the foundation for many other languages, such as English, Spanish and French. For instance, the English word ‘fortunate’ comes from fortuna in Latin, meaning ‘luck’.

“Even if you don’t want to go into medicine or law, learning Latin greatly helps your understanding of English from another perspective when it comes to not only vocabulary, but also grammatical structure of the language,” consul John Kirk said.

Next month, Latin Club will hold its annual gladiator battle, a hallmark event in which students spar against each other using pool noodles. This activity is meant to emulate the gladiator experience in Ancient Rome.

“The gladiator fight in Latin Club is so fun,” sophomore Melissa Freson said. “Latin Club is great, always good times there.”