Staff Spotlight: Michael Bull, Head of Classics

When did you join Merchant Taylors'?

September 2024

Tell us about your subject. What excites you about it? How did you get into it?

I went to a very small and antiquated prep school in Cirencester (Roman Corinium) where the Headmaster was an old school Latin and Greek teacher, who valued the Classics and humanities ahead of a more modern and mainstream education. I started Latin at 8 and Greek at 10, so by the time I left for my Senior School in Year 9 I was already reading Vergil's Aeneid and Caesar's Gallic Wars, whilst my new classmates had barely met the present tense of 'amo'. I loved the logical puzzle of unpicking Latin and Greek word order and felt huge satisfaction in analysing word endings to arrive at a correct translation. But that was only half the story: learning the languages was the gateway to accessing the foundations of western literature and society.

I loved being able to read and analyse works of art from over 2,500 years ago and discover depth of feeling which echoed modern society. As I arrived at University, I began to realise the full scope of the world of Classics; from Art to Archaeology, Literature to Linguistics, Philosophy to Philology there were untold areas to explore and broaden my horizons. What excites me about Classics is best summed up in the Socratic idea that "The more you know, the more you realise you know nothing."

What are you most proud of outside of your work at school?

Of course, I'm legally and morally bound to say my family, especially my two children Erica and Frankie. Aside from that obvious answer, I would say completing various ridiculous sporting events for charity over the last decade or so. I ran the Rome Marathon and the London Marathon (three times) in the early 2010s raising money for Lupus UK, as well as cycling from Lands End to John O'Groats and running the Cotswold Way.

I always wanted to complete an Iron Distance triathlon before my 40th birthday and the Covid lockdown of early 2021 provided an ideal opportunity to train from home whilst also teaching online lessons. I stuck to a 30-week training plan, completing 222 training sessions, totalling 236 hours and covering 2900 miles overall. I had never put that much energy and effort into anything in my life (imagine what grades I could have got at school and university if I had...) and I felt a strange sense of calm and confidence on the day of the race as a result. It was also a hugely important event for my family, as I was raising money for the charity CALM in memory of my cousin Sam.

What did you study at A-Level?

Maths, Further Maths, Latin, Classical Greek, as well as AO level French.

What piece of media would you recommend and why?

'The Wire' (HBO TV Series) - The most exquisitely structured, scripted and acted TV series full stop. It is centred around the Baltimore Police Department and each series focuses on a different aspect of society. I once met lead actor Dominic West at a parents' evening but didn't cover myself in glory. That's a story for another time though.