Christopher (the Classicist) writes to The Times
April 1, 2009
As well as featuring in the Arts pages for his current
Royal Opera House double-bill of Virgilian and Ovidian operas by
Purcell and Handel, Christopher is also to be found on the Letters page,
tackling a Ciceronian witticism.
In response to an article by Philip Howard (The Times,
April 3), in which 'O fortunatem natam me Consule Romam' is rendered 'O
congrats, Rome, on being conceived when I was consul',
Christopher writes:
'Sir, Rather than the prosaic translation of Cicero's awful jingle (O fortunatam natam me Consule Romam, April 3) I prefer the more monitory one we chanted at school: "O happy fate for Rome to date/ Her birthday from my consulate".' (The Times, April 6).
Christopher went on to study Classics as well as Music at Pembroke College, Cambridge.