MONMOUTH, Ill. — Classics professor James May, the provost and dean at St. Olaf College, will deliver the 23rd annual Bernice L. Fox Classics Lecture on March 3 at 7:30 p.m. in Monmouth College’s Wells Theater.

Entitled "Reconstructing and Rowing on the Trireme Olympias," the lecture is free and open to the public.

In 1990 and again in 1993, May was of 170 rowers who powered the trireme Olympias, a replica of the ancient Greek warship, around the Aegean Sea. In his talk, he will discuss the history of triremes in the ancient world, the project to construct a ship according to ancient design and his experiences aboard Olympias.

May, who earned his Ph.D. in classics from the University of North Carolina in 1977, is the author of many articles on Cicero, classical rhetoric and Latin pedagogy, as well as a book entitled "Trials of Character: The Eloquence of Ciceronian Ethos." He earned bachelor’s degrees in Latin and English from Kent State University.

Established in 1985, the lecture honors the late Bernice L. Fox, who taught classics at Monmouth from 1947 until 1981. The goal of this series is to illustrate the continuing importance of classical studies in the modern world and the intersection of the classics with other disciplines in the liberal arts.