Cicero trilogy by Robert Harris

Ah, that sad feeling at the end of a terrific read. What a great accomplishment by Harris. Cicero's life ends sadly, but what a life. If I could give this six stars, I would.

I took Latin in high school and we "translated" Cicero and Caesar and Virgil. Amazingly, I managed to get through four years without realizing that Cicero and Caesar were alive at the same time . . . and were deathly (literally) enemies. No idea that Cicero was present at the death of Caesar.

A few observations on teaching. Fairly early in my career, the idea of linking the study of history and literature came to the front. I thought, and think, it's a great idea. So when I taught sixth graders American History, we read historical fiction to go along with the history. Pretty obvious.

Then, toward the end of my career, this became verboten. "Reading" texts turned into short, mainly non-fiction, booklets whose topics jumped all around. They were fine, but what a hodge-podge . I remember hiding The Ornament Tree, Johnny Tremain and the like from visiting classroom administrators! I remember a cartoon (New Yorker, maybe) entitled Modern Education. A kid is sitting at this desk reading Mad magazine. But tucked inside the Mad magazine, where his teacher can't see, is Tom Sawyer.