What use is Latin? Is the language of Cicero as no more than a heap of ruins, something to remove from the curriculum? In this sustained meditation, Nicola Gardini gives us his sincere and brilliant reply: Latin is, quite simply, the means of expression that made us—and continues to make us—who we are. Paying tribute to the works of Virgil, Lucretius, and Caesar, Gardini shares his deep love for the language and warmly encourages us to engage with a civilization that has never ceased to exist, because it's here with us now, whether we know it or not. Even without a single lick of Latin grammar, we can discover how this language is still capable of restoring our sense of identity, with a power that only useless things can miraculously express.