Annual Ludi Romani Event and a Dedicated Space Help Classics Program Level Up

Started by a high school teacher in the state, the Utah State University version of Ludi Romani is part reunion, part awards ceremony, and an overall unifying event that brings together a cast of characters. Literally. Participants, made up of current students, alumni, faculty, and their families, sign up to play various Roman gods — among other things — and spend the evening enjoying a role-playing game akin to Dungeons & Dragons. The “Ludi Romani,” Latin for Roman games, are an engaging evening of pretend murder, real mystery, and plot intrigue that happen annually inside USU’s Nelson Fieldhouse.

Different gods have powers to speed up gameplay, battle characters, revive characters, and sell items needed for the game. And on Friday, April 18, 2025, close to 70 people lined up at the Fieldhouse in Logan clad in robes with improvised laurel garlands, carrying plastic swords, and many with their similarly clad kids in tow.

“It's honestly the amount of interplay between classics and people that I enjoy the games for,” said one student attendee. “There [are] so many like-minded individuals. There's people that I should know for networking reasons and know for friendship reasons, and so many that I already know that it's always a comfortable atmosphere, even as we're creating a chaotic sort of game that no one fully understands until it's over.”

Professor Mark Damen was also dressed for the part, the part of emcee, and as he presided over the crowd in a full tuxedo, he paused to recognize graduating seniors and thank supporters of students in the Classics program — a minor enthusiastically offered through USU’s Department of History.

Earlier that same day, the program celebrated the grand opening of its new Classics and Ancient Cultures Laboratory with the untying of the Gordian Knot, a reference to a legend in Ancient Greece and something Damen said was intended to take the place of a ribbon cutting. Numerous alumni were on hand to share what the program had meant to them in their day and what they hoped the new space would mean for current students.

“I've been in academic advising and in student services for almost 20 years now. And I tell students all the time, it's not the facts you learn — because in this department
and in this program, you learn some awesome, awesome facts — It's not the facts you learn that help you. It's the skills,” said Dan Allred, a program coordinator for USU Online. “I've been paying my way with the communication and the research and the analysis that I did, all the papers that I wrote, and everything else.”

Allred was among several alumni to express their adoration for the program and its faculty and the skills they had carried into their careers. Others were just thrilled to know that students would have another space to create community.

“When I found out about this space, I dropped on the floor and died crying because I would have loved to have had this space,” another alum said.

The newly refreshed space on the third floor of USU’s Old Main building features comfortable chairs for reading and gathering, alongside tables and chairs that can be arranged for classroom and club meetings. There are also plans to add additional computer workstations.

And those same alumni and students came out in support of the program and enjoyed a dinner together before the games began. Then it was time to switch from conversations with friends and family to a cutthroat game of winners and losers. The 2025 Ludi Romani event started with a call to action in the style of “let’s get ready to rumble,” and rumble they did!