With Covid sweeping the board in the annus miserabilis that was 2020, it was a welcome relief to partake in the first Otago University Senior Classical Studies Quiz for the decade this past Tuesday night.

Six Columba College teams were in attendance, battling for supremacy against the likes of Logan Park, Bayfield and Otago Boys’ in a contest more fraught than Actium in 31 BC. With easily the best team names of the night (Duck Duck Zeus, Livy la Vida Loca and Julius Scissor) Columba’s moniker dominance transferred to the final reckoning. 

Described by one contestant as “the most exciting panic attack I’ve ever had,” there were a paltry 10 points between 1st and 13th place, with Columba’s own ‘Fast and the Furies’ (Lily Ferro, Izzy Gallagher, Caitlin Hopgood and Maggie Huang) becoming princeps (‘First citizens’ for the less Latin-inclined among you) for the evening and etching their names into college history, ensuring that the trophy resides on Highgate for a fourth consecutive year. 

Third place went to Year 11s Weiyi Dong, Bethan Hughes, Mabel Lee and Zitong Zhang (known collectively as ‘The More Juno’) – a simply remarkable effort, given that Classical Studies doesn’t start until Year 12 at Columba. 

A Herculean ‘bene factum!’ to all contestants, whose eagerness for the subject made for a highly entertaining, educational and arête-filled evening.