Italy Captivates Lynchburg Family

Dr. And Mrs. Robert B. Lloyd

To walk the streets of Italian cities where famed artists and scholars once lived and worked, was to turn a dream into reality for Dr. Robert B. Lloyd, department chairman and professor of classics, at Randolph - Macon Woman's College.

His wife, Angela, who teaches Latin at Seven Hills School, also shared that dream, along with their four young children, ranging in age from six to 13.

"We all fell in love with Italy," says Dr. Lloyd who had been awarded a Fulbright grant and was on a year's sabbatical from the college to carry on advanced research on a comparison of treatments of various themes in Augustan sculpture and in the "Aeneid" of Vergil.

The Augustan Age, which marked the reign of Augustus Caesar, the first Roman emperor, is considered the golden age of Latin literature. The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem reciting the adventures of Aeneas after the fall of Troy.

"After a lifetime study of the Augustan Age," continues Dr. Lloyd, "its sculpture, art, and literature, I finally had the chance to examine it all at close view. No detailed photo of sculpture or any art object can be the same as observance and study at first hand."

Prior to establishing residence in Rome where most of his research was conducted in the library of the American Academy and in various museums, Dr. Lloyd fulfilled another dream. He was assistant director of an eight - weeks classical summer school operated by the Vergilian Society of America at Cumae, near Naples.

While their four children stayed with relatives in the U.S., Mrs. Lloyd assisted him in the "enrichment experience" for teachers who plan to teach Vergil. The two weeks programs, in a series of four sessions, included lectures and at-the-site visits to Pompeii, Vesuvius, Naples Msem Museum and Greek temples in southern Italy.

AT SUMMER'S END the Lloyd children flew by jet unaccompanied to Rome to join their parents, and found themselves deposited in schools using the famous Italian Montessori system of teaching which is based on "delight in learning."

The somewhat progressive methods introduced by the founders permit more freedom and less rigidity than in conventional schools. Discipline is an important ingredient, but self - discipline is stressed.

Learning readiness is also a consideration in determining the individual child's progress from grade to grade.

Italian schools operate from 8:30 to 12:30, after which the students go home for the main meal of the day which is bountiful and eaten very leisurely by the entire family group, including the father who takes time off from his work day.

A siesta period, which may last as long as four hours, follows and is a time for leisure.

The home work load for students is usually heavier than in American schools, the Lloyds indicate, just as the subject matter is more inclusive and often more advanced.

While the children adjusted to their new schools and learned Italian, Dr. Lloyd participated in an "inter - country exchange program of lecturers," along with his intensive research schedule.

He lectured at four universities in Holland; namely, Groningen, Utrecht, Leiden and Amsterdam; in England at Reading University (where Randolph - Macon is planning to establish a Junior Year Abroad program), at Kent and London Universities, and at Coimbra, the oldest university in Portugal.

AS FOR MRS. LLOYD, her days were also an adventure in learning. She found the Italian

Italy

language, "really exciting," and admitted that her background in Latin was a help.

Part of each day was spent in shopping for fresh foods in the markets, standing in line endlessly, and dealing with the "terrible red tape which is everywhere--in the post office, banks, anywhere a ticket or pass was necessary."

She explained that while the Italian people are not generally credited with great efficiency or organizational ability, the government machinery has grown enormously, with a bureaucracy that makes for endless confusion.

In describing the Italian attitude toward our own government, Dr. Lloyd observed that while the Italian people and press (which is often left wing), oppose the war in Vietnam and accuse America of imperialism, they separate the government from the people.

Polite, kind, and respectful toward Americans, they blame our government and leaders for damaging policies.

The couple deplores the desire among many Italians to emulate things American in an effort to progress and modernize.

"One wishes they would, not," says Dr. Lloyd "especially when they seem to copy our worst aspects and characteristics. Their own way of life is so delightful that it seems a shame to have them change to any marked degree."

"Yes, I was sorry to leave Italy." Then she smiled and added philosophically. "But now that I'm back home, I'm glad to be here."

Dr. Robert B. Lloyd

Dr. Robert B. Lloyd, associate professor of classics at Randolph-Macon Woman's College, will address the Latin Section of the Tennessee Education Association at its annual meeting next Friday in Nashville, Tenn.

His topic is "Augustan Sculptural Monuments as Illustrations for the Aeneid."

Dr. Lloyd will discuss "The New Menander" at the initiation banquet of the Vanderbilt University chapter of Eta Sigma Phi, national classics fraternity the same day.

Dr. Lloyd has published more than 50 articles on various mythological subjects in recent printings of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. He has also written articles for The American Journal of Philology, Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, and Harvard Studies in Classical Philology.

He is a member of numerous classical and professional organizations and is vice president of the R-MWC chapter of Phi Beta Kappa and secretary of the college's chapter of the American Association of University Professors;

From 1959-62 Dr. Lloyd was chairman of the Latin Essay Contests for Virginia and he is presently serving as vice president and coordinator of the Latin Tournament. He is secretary of the Lynchburg chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America.