Today is the Ides of March, the day in 44 B.C. when a group of Roman senators assassinated the emperor, Julius Caesar.

Like Brutus, late last month four students from Elgin High School killed while wearing togas, albeit in the comedic sense, presenting a skit at the Illinois Junior Classical League North 44th Annual Convention in Tinley Park.

The spoof of ancient times had Dylan Bloomquist as a two-timing Romeo murdered by the ladies in his life, played by Emma Marston and Sarah Schmerber, with narrator Erin Dunne joining in the mayhem.

The skit was part of a weekend of "appreciation for the (Latin) language and culture with some fun and goofiness thrown in, too," said teacher Matt Sparapani of St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago.

The convention, with more than 300 students in attendance, also offered proof that although Latin is a dead language, there's plenty of scholastic interest in studying it.

At St. Ignatius, Sparapani said about a third of the 1,360 students there take the subject. In Naperville there are 350 Latin students between the two public high schools. At Barrington, there are 150 high school students taking the language and another 150 in the middle schools.

Numbers have been on the rise for more than a decade, Sparapani said, spurred by pop culture and films such as Gladiator , Troy , the recent battle flick 300 , the HBO series Rome , and even the Harry Potter books, where the spells are cast in Latin.

"There's an attraction to mythology, and Latin is the key that unlocks that door," said Sparapani. "It's also a solid foundation into the English language."

As such, there is evidence to support that Latin students tend to do well on ACT and SAT tests, said Elgin High School's veteran Latin teacher Lanetta Warrenburg, as "there's a fundamental connection between Latin and thinking skills. Then again "Latin students love to learn," said Warrenburg.

At Elgin High School, 25 students are studying Latin, including Chase Riddle, past president of the IJCL. Warrenburg implied there might be more takers but for budget cuts and scheduling conflicts that lead to quite a few dropping out of the program.

From Elgin Academy, 13 students came to the convention with instructor Lyle Roebuck, among them freshman Madeline Stone.

"I study Latin because I love words. It's cool to be here at the convention around other people taking the same language," she said.

"I'm fascinated by the history," said classmate Josh Leong.

That history includes the poetry of Catullus and Ovid, subversives who ruffled the feathers of the ruling class, Roebuck said. That some of these poems offer practical advice for picking up girls only adds to their appeal to teenage boys, Roebuck said.

Still, there's a geek factor to a Greco-Roman gathering, and the convention did include a certamen (a classics-themed quiz game); a coloring contest; elections; and testing.

There also was a crafts competition where winners included an intricate tile mosaic of birds; a wooden crossbow; and a Roman greeting card which offered the hope that "the entrails of your pig, ram and bull indicate good fortune."

Keeping it quid pro quo, though (or at least a bit Belushi), there also was a costume contest and a G-rated Roman banquet, for which Elgin Academy's Sara Kokkelenberg wore a toga with an anachronistic Lion King flair to it.

The theme for the weekend was Carpe diem, quam mimimum credulum postero (Seize the day, trusting as little as possible in tomorrow). Yet, anyone who has worn a sheet to a party can tell you, more fitting would be the Latin class pun Semper ubi sub ubi (Always wear underwear).