Cicero European Latin competition, cicero europa, certamen in concordiam europae regionum omnium, european latin students, ciceroeuropa

"A Competition to promote Harmony in all areas of Europe"
The name CICERO is an acronym in Latin, and you can see the translation of it in italics above. This is an innovative competition organised by teachers of Latin in several different European countries for their 6th form students, illustrating that Latin provides a worthwhile and valid reason for young people to interact with each other across their national boundaries.

Teachers in other countries are invited to contact the organisers if they would like to join us. The competition in each country can be as large or small as you wish.

UK RESULTS WERE ANNOUNCED AT THE AGM AND CONFERENCE OF THE JOINT ASSOCIATION OF CLASSICAL TEACHERS ON 16 MAY 2009.

This year's UK competition took place at Cranleigh School in Surrey on 21st March - a most enjoyable event!

We are extremely grateful to all our sponsors for their financial support - without them we could not run the competition. Please download the programme to see details of our supporters as well as photos and timetable of the day. More can be seen on the SPONSORS page of this website.

There were over 300 competitors in France in 4 centres - Paris, Strasbourg, Avignon and Nancy. Belgium had 61 competitors and Italy 68.

Click here to download a short video message from some competitors in Spain. (This is an .mpg file)

Under the patronage of the Right Hon Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

Sebastian Coe is our patron in the UK for the 2009 competition, and we also have the support of Gail Trimble and Boris Johnson (see below). See the UK sponsors page for a complete list, which includes Federico Mayor Zaragoza, former Director-General of UNESCO.

The following video was recorded at last year's competition and it provides a good explanation of CICERO's aims as well as showing the enthusiasm of the participants.
UK 2008 video

"Listen!"
to Boris Johnson, London's Mayor and former President of the Joint Association of Classical Teachers, who has sent us this personal message of support and encouragement. You can see more celebrity sponsors and details of prizes here.

PLACE
Cranleigh School, Horseshoe Lane, Cranleigh, Surrey, GU6 8QQ.

ENTRANTS
6th Form (Years 12 - 13) students of Latin may enter both sections of the competition.
6th Form students of other Classical subjects (Classical Civilisation, Greek, Ancient History, Archaeology) may enter the Mythology section of the competition.

COMPETITION - enter one or both sections.
Language test : 1 hour 30 minutes.
Translation into English (using a dictionary) of a Latin prose text on a subject relevant to modern society (eg ideas of politics, government, citizenship ...)
You should bring your own dictionary : pocket or intermediate size. The passage will be taken from ANY Latin prose author.

Cultural test : 1 hour.
Questions on 'The World of Odysseus' (Ulysses is his Roman name) : Classical and later versions of the story and depictions in art, music, theatre ... through the ages, and some of the archaeological background.
Suggested links for you to research in preparation for the competition. Please use these as a starting-point only - you may want to find more.

(follow the links on this webpage for more ideas - and also look at the list of links on the French page!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odysseus

http://www.mythweb.com/odyssey/ simplified story of the Odyssey!

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~loxias/odyssey/odyssey.htm a game where you can pretend to be Odysseus.

http://www.davidclaudon.com/Iliad/epic.html good study notes on the whole Epic Cycle

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/odyssey

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeric_Question the 'Homeric Question' - who was Homer? the oral tradition.

http://archaeology.about.com/od/homericquestions/Archaeology_and_Ancient_History_of_Homers_Trojan_War.htm

http://www.theoi.com/greek-mythology/heroes.html

http://www.theoi.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer

The best way to see a lot of art, both ancient and modern, on Odysseus and the Trojan War is to do a Google Image Search, putting in the particular characters and places you want to see.