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Gonzalez Lodge:
Apostle of the Classical Tradition

BERN.\RD R. CRYSTAL

''//' ^ ALLIA est omnis dixdsa in partes tres . . .". For the vast
(I -^rj- majoritx- of educated Americans the opening \x-ords to
^s,^__J-l Caesar's Gallic Wars epitomize their Graeco-Roman
heritage. The traditions of Greece and Rome are held in sacred
memory when they speak of their debt to d-ic past, but few of them
in this century hax-c imbibed at the font of classical culture in the
manner of their forebears. Until the end of the nineteenth century
Greek and Roman studies were the foundation of our academic
training, yet toda\' \x'e pay but lip service to this great store of
knoxvlcdge which nurtured so many past genetations. We refer
to democracy, genuflecting to the icon of the Greek city-state,
"cradle of our foriu of government," or wc boast of our legal sys¬
tem, vaguely recalling the ancient Roman codes. In centuries past
educated individuals not only rex-ered their classical past but also
understood its depth and breadth.

Gonzalez Lodge, steeped in the traditional classical background,
chose to bear the message of Greece and Rome by becoming a
professor of cla.ssics. He devoted his life to promoting the classical
curriculum but unfortunately he struggled for a then already mori-
bimd cause. Perhaps in his oxvn quiet way, however, he has passed