Si qui forte mearum ineptiarum
lectores eritis manusque vestras
non horrebitis admovere nobis
If, by chance, there will be readers of my foolishness,
your hands will not tremble to reach for my poems
Greetings! I’m Rachel (she/her), a librarian and semi-retired classicist based in the United States. I say semi-retired because although I no longer study classics in academia, Roman history and Latin literature still occupy a large percentage of my brain’s grey matter and I will never be able to leave them behind.
So what is this newsletter? Things you can expect to read about from me:
Roman history, especially the late republic and early empire
Latin literature and the translation of it1
Personal reflections on solitude, grief, and day-to-day life
In truth, the best description for this newsletter is probably “whatever I feel like writing”—right now it’s looking like a blend of (fun) educational essays, emotional processing, and a place to infodump about hobbies and reading lists. As of 2025, I am posting twice a month, except for the months when I only post once. Like I said, there aren’t really any rules here.
Above all I’m just here to have fun, and maybe to have a little emotional crisis that I can write about and share with strangers on the world wide web. If you learn something about a dead Roman or find something that resonates with you along the way—even better! I’m glad you’re here.
There is a sneak peek of this at the top of the page! The poem fragment is Catullus 14b; the translation is my own.
