2011 Freshman Trip Itinerary

(Please note some very minor changes to April 12/13, mainly involving the swapping of Colosseum and Capitoline Museum.)

Saturday, April 2

• 7:30am - All students arrive at Phoenix Sky Harbor
• 10:20am - Depart Phoenix

Sunday, April 3 - Athens: Acropolis Museum

• 5:30pm - Touch down in Athens
• 6:30pm - Arrive AthenStyle guesthouse
• 7pm - Dinner, Athens stroll

Monday, April 4 - Athens: Day-trip to Mycenae, Epidaurus

• 9am - Mycenae: Ruins from the land of Agamemnon and Menelaus 
• 1:30pm - Epidaurus: Home to the ancient world's perfect theater

Tuesday, April 5 - Athens: Acropolis, Agora, National Archaeological Museum

• 8am - Acropolis: The defining landmark of Ancient Greece
  
• 10:15am - The brand new Acropolis Museum
• 1:30pm - Agora: The center of Athenian democracy
  

Wednsday, April 6 - Athens: Day-trip to Delphi

• 11am - Delphi Ruins: We will follow in the footsteps of the many kings a visit to the oracle in search of advice...
• 8pm - Return to Athens

Thursday, April 7 - From Athens to Naples

• 10:30am - Depart Athens
• 11:30am - Arrive Rome, catch chartered bus to Tivoli
• 1pm - Hadrian's Villa: The most opulent villa of its era, though sadly raided over the years.
• 6pm - Arrive Villa Vergiliana

Friday, April 8 - Naples: Pompeii, Oplontis, Vesuvius

• 9am - Pompeii: A city buried alive by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 and one of our best glimpses into life in Ancient Rome 
• 12:30pm - Oplontis: Emperor Nero's wife's villa, this boasts some of the best preserved frescoes from the era
• 2:30pm - Mt. Vesuvius: We will climb to the top of the mountain that punished Romans but rewarded historians...

Saturday, April 9 - Naples: Herculaneum, NAM, Sibyll's Cave

• 9am - Herculaneum: Though less famous than Pompeii, this is still a rich site, offering us another perspective on life in Ancient Rome - in this case, the perspective of an affluent town.
• 11:30am - National Archaeological Museum: Houses the richest finds from Pompeii, Herculaneum, and other ancient sites in the region
• 1pm - Free afternoon in Naples

Sunday, April 10 - Naples: Capri

• Full day in Capri, including visits to Villa Tiberio and Arco Naturale

Monday, April 11 - Rome: Hadrian's Villa, Vatican

• 8:30am - Depart Villa Vergiliana 
• 9am -  Cumae Acropolis: Ruins of a Greek colony in Italy, upon which our villa was later built
• 11am - Sibyll's Cave: The entrance to Hades?  Perhaps...
• 3:30pm - Arrive Vatican Apartment
• 4:30pm - St. Peter's Basilica: A short, ten-minute stroll from our apartment takes us to the pope

Tuesday, April 12 - Rome: Colosseum, Forum, Palatine

• 8am - Shop for lunch in Campo dei Fiori
• 9am - Palatine Hill: Romulus founded Rome here, Augustus ruled from here, and many other emperors followed
• 10am - Roman Forum: The heart of the Roman government for many years
• Picnic lunch in Circus Maximus
• 1:30pm - Capitoline Museum: The collection is massive. We will focus on the frescoes and stuccoes that tell the story of Rome and the tombstones that reveal a great deal about Roman religious beliefs
• 3pm - Free time in Field of Mars

Wednesday, April 13 - Rome: Capitoline, Trajan, Borghese

• 8am - Colosseum: We who are about to die salute you!
• 10am - Trajan's Column: Set in the Imperial Forum, this is one of the most impressive monuments from the ancient world
• Noon - Capuchin Crypt: Bones, Bones, Bones
• Picnic in Borghese Park
• 5pm - Borghese Gallery

Thursday, April 14 - Rome: Morning Options, Afternoon in Field of Mars

• Morning - Students will choose morning activity.  Options include the Vatican Museums, Villa Tiberio in Sperlonga, Etruscan tombs in Cerveteri, the Villa d'Este in Tivoli, or Ostia Antica
• Afternoon - Walking tour of remaining Roman highlights in Field of Mars, including Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Capuchin Crypt, and Trevi Fountain after dark

Friday, April 15 - Arrivederci Roma, Hello Phoenix

• 11:30am - Depart Rome
• 8:40pm - Arrive Phoenix

9th Grade Trip - Blog Index

Want to relive the 9th grade trip to Italy and Greece?  To make it easy, I've compiled links to all of the blog posts here:

Day 1: Arrival, Sperlonga, Capua
Day 2: Pompeii and NAM
Day 3: Herculaneum, Oplontis, and Cuma
Day 4: Capri
Day 5: Underworld, Rome
Day 6: Ancient Rome
Day 7: Epigraphs and Sarcophagi
Day 8: Villas and Vias
Day 9: Colosseum, Bones, and Michelangelo
Day 10: Flying to Greece, Delphi
Day 11: Epidaurus, Mycenae, Athens
Day 12: Acropo... what?

Day 13: At the Airport

We're all at the Athens Airport, preparing to board. Loading in 5 minutes, take-off in 45 minutes, and then a whole lot of flying. And yes, all 16 kids made it to the airport.

See you in Phoenix around 9:40pm!

Dave

Day 12: Acropo... what?

This post was written by Taylor Coleman:

This morning we walked our way up to the Acropolis. As we arrived at the Acropolis we found out that it was closed due to strikes, but it will be back open again tomorrow (the day we leave!). So, the two tour guides (Taylor and Jake) had to give their presentations around the Sacred Rock and inside the Acropolis Museum. The museum was staggering because it holds all of the ancient artifacts of the from the original Acropolis. For example, on display it had the original statues of the Temple of the Erechteion which was the main place of worship for the ancient Greeks.

Later, we visited Socrates's prison, where he died after being forced to drink poison. From that point we took a small hike where we could see all of Athens and the Aegean Sea. And, we took a break to play catch with the frisbee for a little bit. After that, we walked our way down to the Agora which was the political center and marketplace of Ancient Greece. We only had half an hour there before closing so we were rushed to get through the site.

After a break we had our final group meeting where we had three questions to discuss: 1. What have we read in class that explores what it means to be human, 2. What have we heard on our trip that explores what makes us human, and 3. What have we seen on the trip that explores what makes us human. Essentially, it was a review of both the trip and 9th grade Humanities.

This being our last day on the trip and in Athens, we had to pack early for the flight tomorrow. We had about 4 hours of free time to walk around and shop. Some of us went back out after dinner to shop and walk around the city.

Day 11: Epidaurus, Mycenae, Athens

This post was written by Sam and Robert:

Today we started out with a long bus ride to Epidaurus. We spent the majority of the time sleeping with one stop for food and water on the way. Epidaurus was a huge, ancient theater that has great acoustics; you can hear a person talking at normal voice from the top row. It is also able to seat over 20,000 people. Mr. Labonte read a passage from the Illiad with most of the students sitting at the top row and we were able to hear him. We then took a few minutes to look around the temple that was in the area before we departed for Mycenae.

When we got to Mycenae we found out we only had 30 minutes before it closed, which made presenting a challenge. Robert Backer first talked about the history of Mycenae which was very interesting. It was founded in 3000 BC and was overrun by the Dorians in 1100 BC. Then the awesome Sam Ettenson talked about the Lions Gate which is a giant slab of rock that has two lions on it and weighs around 12 tons. Then the cool Robert Backer talked about the Grave Circles and told the story of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. The awesome Sam then talked about the Palace of Mycenae which was the largest in Greece at the time. Then, the awesome Sam talked about the Cistern which was where they stored water in case of a drought.

Then we left for Athens and the girls had a thumb war over Robert which was very entertaining to watch. On the bus ride we also had to write recomendations for next year's students for their presentations. We then got to the hotel and got settled in our rooms; shortly after that, we went to dinner. Our group consisted of Sam, Robert, Nathan Landau, David Guido, Jordan Reichlin, and Dave Whitson. We had dinner and we tried to see if Sam, Robert, and Nathan could finish the two stuffed burgers we had. We all finished them somehow. We then came back to the hotel and wrote this blog.

Day 10: Flying to Greece, Delphi

This post was written by Jacob and David:

This morning was a rush. My (David's) room was woken up by Arron's sci-fi music, while Mr. Labonte woke up the rest of us early to get ready to leave for the airport. After arriving by train at the airport, everyone was freaking out about whether their bag was going to fit the length requirement; of course, 3 people's bags were too big and had to be checked. The flight took two hours, during which most of us slept. Those who were awake, though, had a really cool ride, because almost the instant we were in the air we were over the ocean and saw islands the whole way.

After landing, we immediately noticed some of the differences between Greece and Italy. In particular, Greece seemed much more mountainous. A chartered bus picked us up at the airport and we immediately started driving for Dephi - a very long drive. Once there, we visited the Oracle, where people got advice from the god Apollo. Dave told us that fissures in the earth brought up gases right to the oracle's spot and likely produced hallucinations. Finally, we made it to the hotel, a very nice and calming place, and then had dinner and a 45 minute conversation, while there were dogs barking and children crying right beside us.. Overall, it was a tiring but good day. It ended with my (David's) group scaring ourselves by talking about the Shining and Quarantine. It really freaked all of us out.

Day 9: Colosseum, Bones, and Michelangelo

This post was written by Hunter.

First we went to the Colosseum. We got there about 15 minutes early and we waited outside of it until we were allowed to enter. Being there when it first opened allowed us to see it almost empty. After an hour at the Colosseum we all got on to the metro and headed to the Capucchin Crypt, a church where they put the skeletons of the priests that lived before. There were four to five rooms covered with bones in an artistic design. After that, most of us continued on to the Vatican Museum.

The group that I was in saw many sculptures (dating from the ancient to the renaissance periods) which were all throughout the museum. Best of all, we saw the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo.

This being our last day in Rome, we all headed home early to pack for Athens (all hoping our flight won't be canceled). After we pack and have our meeting we will eat dinner and then, as a group, make one last visit to the Trevi Fountain.

Day 8: Villas and Vias

This post was written by Makhayla:

I woke up this morning weary-eyed, and the first thought that crossed my mind was: Hadrian's Villa. Today was the day when Michelle and I served as tour guides. And, instead of having two hours to get ready to go we only had an hour. This made the morning slightly more hectic than usual. Even though there were a few bumps to our morning routine, everything worked out for the best. Nathan was kind enough to prepare a lovely breakfast for the group. He made scrambled eggs and there were also croissants, yogurt, cereal, and fruit. After cleaning up, we all scurried around doing last minute tasks before departure.

All in all, I have to say that we did a pretty good job with staying on schedule. After leaving the apartment, we walked down the street where we then loaded onto the bus. As far as transportation goes, today was an easier day than the last three days. We had a chartered bus which picked us up and dropped us off at Hadrian's Villa, which is located on the outskirts of Rome. Even though we were about ten minutes late this morning, everything worked out because instead of taking an hour to get to the villa it only took about twenty minutes. Since we got there at about 8:30 and Hadrian's Villa didn't open until 9:00, we had about half an hour to relax at small cafe which was right next door to the villa.

Right as we were getting ready to enter Hadrian's Villa, it began to sprinkle. Luckily that only lasted for about ten, fifteen minutes. Michelle and I began the tour right inside of the main entrance, where we introduced the group into the main background of Emperor Hadrian and his Villa. From there we went from the Pecile, to Canopus, to the Piazza D'Oro, to the Maritime Theater. We then finished with a leisurely stroll through the Vale of Tempe.

After our peaceful tour of Hadrian's Villa, we loaded back onto the bus and we headed towards the village which surrounded the Villa d'Este. Here we split up into small groups and departed for lunch. The village had several cute cafes along with a few fancy restaurants. Afterwards we all met up next to the shopping area of the Village where we then walked to the Villa d'Este.

While we were at the Villa d'Este we did not have a tour guide. That was because this was meant to be a site where we could stroll around and explore the beauty of the villa. Here we found many waterfalls and gardens. It was nice to be able to walk around and explore all that the villa had to offer.

Our visit to the Villa d'Este was followed by a long walk along the Via Appia which eventually led us back to our Apartment. While walking, we decided to stop at a beautiful field where we had many options. Most of the group played a game called "Ulta ball" which they made up. The rest of the group either walked around the open field or socialized while taking several pictures. Everyone truly seemed to enjoy themselves.

By the time we got home it was about six oclock. We then had about an hour to hangout, do laundry, shower and do anything else that needed to be done. At approximately 7:00 everyone broke up into small groups once again and ventured out for dinner and desert. Everyone then returned home and spent a good chunk of time journaling and getting ready for tomorrow. We finished off the day by having a group meeting where we discussed the day's activities.

Today was a very busy day and everyone is excited to see what is in store for tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Makhayla A. Rose =)

Day 7: Epigraphs and Sarcophagi

This post was written by Michelle:

As we near the half-way point of the trip, most of us have become accustomed to the mile-upon-mile walking we do on a daily basis. We all excitedly arose this morning at about 7:30, give or take, looking forward to all the new adventures this day would bring. After everybody got themselves together, we headed to the packed kitchen to make our Nutella filled breakfast (we were previously spoiled with all of the luxuries of Villa Vergiliana, and their delicious breakfasts).

We walked to our first stop today-the Museo Nazionale (wearing our most comfortable shoes of course). Here, we were introduced to Epigraphs. When faced with the question "What is an epigraph?" the teachers asked us to break down the word with the parts of it we knew. Because epi means after, and graph means writing, we determined it meant after writing, or a tombstone with a story. We explored various mind blowing sites through the museum, which showed us just how much the ancient Romans valued these so-called "epigraphs."

After we finished with the museum, we realized the time had come for the much built-up Scavi Tour (after exploring the depth of the gorgeous Vatican). We split up into two groups, and entered the separate country of the Vatican City. Our group was introduced to our tour guide, who was slightly intimidated by our "animated" conversation. We entered the area below the Vatican, and we were surprised to see what was there: ancient Roman tombs (Necropolis). The bodies were put into sarcophagi, which literally means flesh eater because the flesh of the bodies was eaten away. The tombs started out being built for the poorer parts of society, and moved on to the middle class. Our tour guide stressed the change and the development from the poorer to the richer tombs. The tour was definitely information packed, and one interesting tid-bit is that when a man was buried in a tomb, and he was removed from the tomb, his face was scratched off of the statue which showed who was located there.

The tombs then started to transition to religious purposes. We were shown the thought-to-be tomb of the great Saint Peter (the tour guide left us with the mystery of where his bones were actually located, because they actually were not located in the tomb). It turned out, Peter's bones had been moved, and later recovered. The most impressive site which we saw in my opinion at the Scavi Tour had to be the ancient bones of Saint Peter which give us a direct connection to God.

We all exited the building, both blown away, and relieved to be out of the small hot area. This was the part of the day which we had all been hoping for: Our free time in Rome! Everybody agreed that we needed food first, and then we all wanted to take a trip to the large Piazza Navona. We ate at one of the most fancy Italian restaurants we have seen so far in Rome, Where 2 delicious courses were consumed (that's a lot of food). All of us then took the short walk to the Piazza, where there were many street artists to entertain us, and a caricature artist, who sketched Jake, Sarah, and me. After a very relaxing afternoon in beautiful Rome, we took the bus back to the apartments, and just chilled at home for a while. A few of us went out for dinner around the block, and came home to be faced with the writing of our own epigraphs. Today could be looked over as an informative, and relaxing, satisfactory day: tomorrow will be thoroughly awaited.

Day 6: Ancient Rome

This post was written by Arron Long-Lewis:

Anybody who enjoys history must learn to use their imagination, this was certainly true today. As we woke up at 7:00 AM, (or a tad bit earlier for some) we ate a quick breakfast and made our way down to the Palatine Hill from our apartment. According to the myth of Romulus and Remus, the Palatine hill was the hill on which Rome was founded on by Romulus. It is also where Aeneas was welcomed to Italy by king Evander in the other famous founding myth. Because of the hill's significance, many emperors have built palaces and planted gardens on the hill. Many great ruins are left of places such as the palace of Domitian, a rather gaudy and over-the-top palace that is only smaller than Nero's palace. The remains of the baths of the emperor Septimius Severus can also be seen as well as a series of temples like the Temple of Apollo.

As we walked down from the Palatine hill, we came to the Roman forum. Once the heart of ancient Rome, the Forum served as a place where many goods were exchanged between people and many political and religious events were held. The oldest building in the forum is known as the Temple of Saturn, built in 498 BC and renovated twice. This building served as the treasury for the State Repository and was also a place where written laws were kept. The main reason the building was constructed however was for the reason that the Romans wanted to thank the god saturn for their prospering economy and agriculture. According to a lesser known myth, Saturn was descended from the Titan Cronos who was banished by Zeus and would later become the first king of Italy. Besides the Temple of Saturn, the forum also boasts two triumphal arches and the senate meeting house as well as many other religious buildings tied to myths.

From the Forum we move on to the Capitoline Museum and see many works of art including the original statue of Marcus Aurelius and of Romulus and Remus with the she-wolf. However, the first thing we did was to see the Hall of the Horatii and the Curiatii; where the battle between the triplet sets took place. We then moved on through the Hall of Hannibal, Tapestries, Emperors, and finally, Philosophers. When we finished with the museum we went walked to the final two monuments of the day. The first monument was Trajan's Forum which he built to replace the Forum we saw earlier today and to show off his military exploits. Trajan had this place built between the years of 107-113 AD, and when it was new it looked even better and much more grand than the first Forum. Trajan's column, which is located inside of the Forum is also considered one of the greatest sculptural artworks of all time. The friezes themselves are incredibly detailed and show some of Trajan's greatest battles. As we walked out of the Forum, we had an unexpected visit to the Vittorio Emanuele the Second monument. While this building is grand and is a great tourist site because it is the location where the Italian unknown soldier is buried; Italians despise it because it was built under Mussolini.

Day 5: Underworld, Rome

Hello Readers!

Today was our last day at the Villa Vergiliana (sadness) so it was goodbye to Naples and hello to Rome! I'd say the most prominent switch seen so far from country-side to city is the most important...FOOD! When staying at the Villa not only were we provided with food at basically all times without ANY problems but it was the most scrumptious food imaginable (can't top homemade Italian!).

Last night for dinner we split into two decently sized groups. One dined at a ridiculously cheap, killer pizza parlor-type place and was back in time to disperse and organize around the apartment whereas the second group had some pretty darn impatient and hungry children who just plopped down at the the first cafe/restaurant in sight. I don't want to say it but yeah, I was in group 2.

Seriously, the easiest way to win in Italy is just to scream louder than your opponent. But when you try to rationally order salad 10 times in 3 different languages and end up finally eating the equivalent of vinaigrette on paper and brick-like white nougat, you're in trouble.

They thought it'd be amusing to charge us a decent sum for this delicious meal. Group 1 Cost: approximately 10 Euros. Group 2 Cost: 17–25 Euros. Yummy.

Before the food and the frustration however was there a slightly darker (meant in both ways) place on our agenda. It was my 3rd time in a different place in the world going to where-else but HELL! Commonly referred to as the Sibyll's Cave, an adorable, elderly, VERY ITALIAN man led us through with not just scorching hot lanterns (Szarrah had to test that one out...on me) but TORCHES. Not only did this huggable Italiano lead us into this large, ancient cave in the middle of the woods (note: giant, breathtaking lake surrounded us. The cave we went into was at one point used by Roman armies to get troops from one side of the lake to another.) but his loyal friend, Napolitano did as well.

Yes, Napolitano as in Strawberry-chocolate-vanilla ice cream.

Want to guess why we loved N so much?!?!! Well, it might have been because he was yet another adorable Italian dog but he also made sure that, when walking down exactly 25 steps that you didn't fall into a giant pit of water, sat to show you that there was a 5 foot roof, and was just an excellent cuddle buddy as we sat on the cold cave floors while we read our elegies before crossing just a sketchy "bridge." After seeing some ancient "graffiti"/markings such as symbols for christianity (fishy! cross! palms! whoa.), fertility (certain...organs..."We're going to see a lot of skin in Italy."-Mrs. Tyma), and ancient writing did we progress to this obscenely awesome bridge. Going two at a time, we SLOWLY crossed the water that some Romans believed would lead to the underworld, creeping on a rickety, rotting bridge that TayTay might have possibly slipped on. Have no fear, parentals, it was both legal and I'd say 97% safe...Don't quote me on that though! This was done in order to experience not just some adrenaline but to really get close to where in the olden days people thought was where their loved (or hated) ones would go when they passed.

As a side note, kudos to everyone's elegies. Even more kudos because I don't think anyone cried, although some of us DID come dangerously close. RIP to all these were written for. We all got out of hell alive with only a few minor cuts and bruises before we hopped on a bus for the 3hr. trip to Rome. En route, we stopped at THE BEST gas station on the way - without a doubt as European as it gets with it being 2 stories with a restaurant, 2 cafes, grocery aisle and HARIBO. Michelle MIGHT have found "some" candy. That was a riveting experience.***

Even better was our WALKING TOUR. We started off in small groups, checking out the Spanish Steps, pretty fountains, and a cute tea shop. Then we moved on to the Trevi fountain, got MORE gelato, went to about 5 stunning Piazzas, the Pantheon (ohmygoshohymygoshohmygosh), the Prime Minister's house, and the Circus Maximus, totaling up to God knows how many miles. My fancy new shoes saved my life. Only in Europe would they have, get this, HEELED SNEAKERS.
We had quite a few new experiences today with some of our group members riding the bus and metro for the first time...that was a party!

Programming Note

Our first day in Rome ran a bit long! Look for the blog post tomorrow...

Dave

Day 4: Capri

This post was written by Wasnaa and Victoria:

Today we woke up (as usual) but had a little different schedule than usual. We all loaded on the bus and took it to a harbor where we got to get on a BOAT!!! The boat took us to the island of Capri where we took everyone on a very long walk through the island to see the sites of Palazzo a Mare, Via Tiberio and Villa Jovis where we made our speeches.

Everyone LOVED the walks, especially going uphill. Villa Jovis was very big and high up - talk about living on a cliff! After visiting the ruins we went back down, where we met and broke up into smaller groups depending on what you wanted to do. There was the option of hiking, eating and walking around, or shopping. I (Victoria) went with the group that went to eat. The food was DELICIOUS and soon after we went back to the dock and got to walk around. I (Wasnaa) went shopping halfway up the hill with my friends and when we were done shoping we went to eat, and then we headed back down to meet with the rest of the group. The third group got to go hiking and saw a lot more gorgeous ruins, with tons of stairs. They took lots of beautiful pictures. After we all regrouped we got on the BOAAAT and took it back to the harbour where we loaded back onto the bus and headed to Villa Vergiliana.

Day 3: Herculaneum, Oplontis, and Cuma

This post was written by Jordan and Nat:

Oplontis is an amazing place. It is a Roman villa that has some of the most amazingly preserved frescoes. The frescoes fill the rooms completely and are really beautiful. The colors are amazingly well preserved. Many of them are closer to perfection than anyone could have hoped for and we spent nearly two hours walking around to look at them. Cuma includes a small entrance to hell. We went there and then hiked up the mountain to the Temple of Apollo. Herculeanum was another ancient city much like Pompeii. It is much smaller and was a very interesting place to visit and view the mosaics.

Day 2: Pompeii and NAM

This post was written by Sarah:

Hello parents! I know if you are like my parents you have been refreshing this blog like crazy so I shall try to write fast. Today we went to Pompeii, Emilie and I (Szarrah) were the first tour guides there. And let me tell you, planning a whole tour throughout a city of originally 20,000 is pretty hard. You get there and it looks nothing like the picture in your head. Luckly, my amazing map skills saved us and ensured we got to see all the cool places we wanted everyone to see.

We next went to the museum. You were literally looking at GIGANTIC statues that looked so real I thought they would get up and move. They were so detailed you could see their veins. Then we just chilled in Naples with gelato. It was GREEATTT.

The defining moment of the trip for me today was when I woke up. I got up at 7 and woke up my room mates. We got dressed, packed our day packs, and were getting ready to head downstais when Michelle looked at the clock. NOT 7, but 4. AM.. ya I will never live that down.

OXOXO, Sarah

p.s. HI MOM

Day 1: Arrival, Sperlonga, Capua

This post was written by Nathan Landau:

Hello readers, This is the first day of the 13 day long 9th grade class tip to Italy and Greece. It all started at around 4:30 am where just about everyone one in the class showed up at Sky Harbor Air Port and even though it was early, everyone was exited and ready to go. We walk through check in and security and boarded our first plane to Atalanta with no problems. The plane ride went by quick and before long, we were in Atlanta waiting to board our flight to Italy. That flight was a lot longer and was also over night. Which made it necessary to sleep. However, I believe most of us were not too successful at that task. After about nine and a half hours on that plane, we loaded ourselves on a bus were we were taken to Sperlonga which is the former home of Emperor Tiberius's villa. Tiberius was the second emperor of Rome who did just about nothing to expand and develop Rome. In fact for about the last 10 years of his life he spent his entire time away from Rome, in his villa. Which is one reason why that villa is so extravagant and important. After we departed from Sperlonga, we headed over to the town and the Gladiatorial museum of Capua. This was the second largest arena in Rome were many famous battles were held including Spartacus's revolt, which originated in that arena. It was also a housing ground for the Carthaginian military when Capua opened its doors to them. We shortly left there and headed to a small villa via the bus. We are all tired and anxious to see what the rest of the trip has in store for us.

Hello, visitors!

Welcome to the Tesseract School's 9th grade Humanities class blog. We'll be posting updates from the road on this site as we travel through Italy and Greece. You can see our daily itinerary here; each night, a different student will be responsible for summarizing the day's activities. Anticipate the first report being posted by 1pm on Sunday (Phoenix time).

Everything below this post is related to normal class activities and probably of little interest to you. But, you're more than welcome to explore what we've been up to this year.

Check back often for new posts!

Updated 4/10, 6am - We are all sitting at the gate. Some were searched more thoroughly in security than others! But most are getting caffeinated and wired for the flight. Apologies in advance to all other passengers on the plane.

Journaling and Blogging

While on the trip, you will be required to journal daily and blog once. Expectations are as follows:

Journaling: On a trip like this, with a packed itinerary and surrounded by friends, it can be really hard to make the time to write. However, anyone who has traveled can tell you that the travel journal ends up being the most sacred memento from the experience. I've had trips on which I didn't write down my daily experiences; I really regret this now, as the memories have ebbed over the years. The journals I do have, however, keep those trips remarkably fresh in my mind.

A good trip journal generally involves two steps. First, over the course of the day, jot down things that you see, that you hear, that you smell, etc. These can - and probably should - just be fragments, a quick list of specific details. The greater specificity, the better. Try to get exact quotes from people, the precise wording on signs, the historical details the tour guides provide. This is one of the reasons for the little journal we gave you - it's easy to carry during the day and allows for quick bulletpoints.

Then, that evening, go through your list of details and try to assemble them into a narrative. Your story will be much richer because of the specifics that you have to plug in. We have given you some journaling topics in your daily itinerary to get your wheels spinning, but you're free to write about the things that interest you.

Your journal is private; we're not going to make you turn it in. But, we are interested in seeing what you have written, so when you return to Tesseract we will ask you to select three different entries - using whatever criteria you wish - which you will then type up, edit, and polish until they fully capture the story you're looking to tell. These three entries will be worth 30 points.

Blogging: On the day you are assigned to blog, you will be responsible for providing a complete summary of the day's events. This certainly includes a description of all major sights that we visited. In addition, though, you are welcome to include personal stories, random encounters, and other general hilarity. Try to capture the tone of the day, the feeling of being on the road, and also to integrate your voice into the piece. In other words, this shouldn't be a dry summary of facts. Make it interesting.

The challenge with this sort of writing is balancing the personal details with the historical ones. If you're not sure what this looks like, there are all sorts of websites devoted to travel writing that you could check out before you go. I've posted accounts of my recent trips in Turkey and Central America, and for all their flaws they may give you some idea of how to navigate between history and your story.

Rome Forecast for Sunday

High of 60 degrees. 30 percent chance of precipitation.

Seats

Phoenix-Atlanta

Seats were assigned by the airline. Do I care if you trade amongst yourselves? No.

40A - Hunter
40B - Wasnaa
40C - Nat
40D - David

41A - Sam
41B - Jacob
41C - Ms. Montanez
41D - Ms. D'Onofrio
41F - Michelle

42A - Emilie
42B - Jordan
42C - Robert
42D - Mr. Labonte
42F - Arron

43A - El Jefe
43B - Taylor
43C - Nathan
43D - Victoria
43E - Sarah
43F - Makhayla

Atlanta-Rome

39A - Jordan
39B - Robert
39C - Mr. Labonte
39D - Michelle
39F - Arron
39G - Sam
39H - Jacob
39J - Ms. Montanez

40C - Ms. D'Onofrio
40D - Hunter
40F - Wasnaa
40G - Nat
40H - David

41A - El Jefe
41B - Taylor
41C - Nathan
41D - Victoria
41G - Sarah
41H - Makhayla
41J - Emilie

Vatican Museum / Borghese Gallery

Thanks to the following for indicating their preferences on the blog:

Michelle
Arron
Sam
Nathan
Jordan
Nat
Hunter
Jacob
Makhayla
Wasnaa
Victoria
Sarah
Emilie

Taylor, David, and Robert - please write your preferences in a comment on this post.

Looking Backward, Looking Forward

A few quick notes on the final, in case you were curious:

• Ms. Tyma and I were careful in dividing up the grading to avoid situations in which we would assess the same question differently on different exams. To that end, I was responsible for grading the first five IDs and she took the other five. I graded the Aeneas essay and she graded the Rome essay. I graded all of the lit terms. The other sections, obviously, were more objective than subjective, so it didn't matter who graded them.
• On the IDs, we decided that out of the 3 points available for each one, we would give half a point for each of the five Ws and then give the remaining 0.5 for particularly good work in any of the five areas. In a couple of cases, one of the fine Ws was not clear or important, so we adjusted the grading accordingly.
• On the roots, it was pretty clear that a lot of people were close on roots without getting them entirely correct. So, in order to be consistent, we decided that if the person was within one letter of the proper root, we would give credit. If they weren't, we would not give credit.
• Total points on the test added up to 98, so we gave everyone two free points to bring the total score to 100.
  
• When we hand back the tests either this week or next, we encourage you to add up the points for yourself and make sure that our math was right. We're also happy to meet to address any questions you have about it.

And now, the weeks ahead:

• I mentioned last week that revised elegies were due Monday, but I didn't do a particularly good job of reminding y'all of that after the final, so I'm going to relax that deadline. Get the latest revision to me this week. Of particular importance - many of you made marginal changes on your first rewrite. If you continue to be in the position of telling, not showing, consider identifying your favorite 5-10 lines, cutting the rest, and then rebuilding around those lines. I know it feels terrible to delete work, but poetry often operates like that. Also, make sure that you review assignment requirements.
• I am also going to ask every group to make a round of edits to their handout. Each group was in a slightly different position in terms of what needs to be done. For some, it's a matter of polishing. For others, serious revision is required. I would also like these by Friday. I will be holding off grading these handouts until the revisions are received.
• Tomorrow (Monday), Ms. Tyma and I will introduce the Emperor assignment, which will require each of you to research and then develop a profile of a specific Roman emperor. The emperor card will be due end of class Tuesday and will serve as the foundation for our short overview of the Roman Empire.
• Finally, in Writing Lab this week you will all begin planning your tour guide presentations in earnest. Your goal should be to make a lot of progress on this during the week, especially if you want your spring break to be a real break.

Reading through that list, it should be clear that, despite it being the first week after final exams, you all need to keep your engines revving. You can count on Writing Lab time on M/Th and class time on M/T, but everything else will have to be done at home.

Don't get discouraged or overwhelmed. Do what it takes to maximize your productivity. Break this down into individual tasks that you can knock off, one at a time. Remember - all of this work right now will make the trip much more memorable and valuable once we make it to Italy and Greece.

Also be aware, though, that the last week before departure - April 5-9 - will be hectic. You'll have the normal school work to deal with, baseball players will have four games, you'll have packing and last-minute shopping to deal with, and you'll be wrapping your head around the fact that you'll be away from home and stuck with all of us for two weeks. It'll be hard. Do everything you can to make that week more manageable for you.

Even if it means doing some work over spring break.

I know, I know. That seems unjust, if not immoral. But, having spring break one short week before two weeks in Europe makes it more of a luxury than a desperate need. If you could take one day out of those nine days of vacation and be really productive, you could make that last week much, much easier.

Think about it...

Finally, you'll probably want a book for the trip. Why not read something kind of relevant? Here are a few options that come to mind:

• I, Claudius by Robert Graves - Considered the best work of historical fiction based in ancient Rome, Graves writes this as the autobiography of Emperor Claudius. It begins with Augustine and moves through the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Meticulously researched, it offers a great look into the early Roman Empire.
• Sprezzatura: 50 Ways Italian Genius Shaped the World by d'Epiro and Pinkowish - 50 short chapters on important people and developments in Italian history. It starts in the ancient era, with pieces on the Roman calendar, Roman law, Julius Caesar, and more. But, it tracks Italian contributions from there all the way to the near-present, with chapters on St. Francis, Michelangelo, Garibaldi, and Ferrari. With sections ranging from 5-10 pages, it's an easy travel book, as you can read in short spurts without having to worry about losing the narrative flow.
• Basilica: The Splendor and the Scandal: The Building of St. Peter's by R.A. Scotti - A fascinating story of the building of the Vatican's basilica, in which many of the great figures of the Italian renaissance are featured. If you're interested in architecture, the renaissance, or the Church, this is a great, highly readable option.
• Excellent Cadavers by Alexander Stille - Easily the best book I've read on the Italian mafia. As much investigative reporting as it is historical non-fiction, this book is vividly written and the high drama Stille builds might actually get your heart beating.
  
• If you want to read something by an Italian writer, my favorite is Italo Calvino. Some of his works can be difficult to unpack, but The Non-Existent Knight and the Cloven Viscount are fun fantasy stories. Invisible Cities is brilliant, and certain to be unlike anything you've read.
  

Study Guide

Posted here because Makhayla asked nicely...

PART I - Vocab: You will be expected to know all words from Units 7, 8, and 9 - including stems and challenge words. As a friendly reminder, here is the complete list:

Unit 7: Domus, Dominus, Dormio, Dormire, Dormivi, Somnus, Lavo, Lavare, Lavi, Vestis, Domicile, Domestic, Domain, Domineer, Dominion, Dormant, Somnambulate, Somnolent, Ablution, Deluge, Divest, Investiture, Travesty, Vestment, Vested, Major-domo, Lavage, Demesne, Lave, Duenna, Lavabo

Unit 8: Coquo, Coquere, Coxi, Voro, Vorare, Voravi, Mel, Mellis, Sal, Bibo, Bibere, Bibi, Poto, Potare, Potavi, Ludo, Ludere, Lusi, Allude, Carnivorous, Collusion, Concoct, Cuisine, Delusion, Elude, Herbivorous, Imbibe, Mellifluous, Potable, Potion, Precocious, Saline, Voracious, Desalinate, Bibber, Illusive, Illusory, Interlude, Ludicrous, Postlude

Unit 9: Caput, Capitis, Cerebrum, Facies, Frons, Frontis, Affront, Capitalist, Capitulation, Cerebral, Cerebration, Confront, Decapitate, Deface, Efface, Effrontery, Facade, Facet, Precipice, Precipitate, Recapitulation, Cap-a-pie, Capitation, Per capita, Cerebellum, Cerebral cortex, Cerebral palsy, Facing, Prima facie, Frontispiece

PART II - Greek/Roman Gods: Early this semester, you were given a list linking the Greek and Roman names for many prominent gods. These are worth knowing, so we will test you on the most prominent pairings on this exam. The gods you need to know are listed below; you will be asked to match names on the exam.

Jupiter/Zeus
Juno/Hera
Minerva/Athena
Mars/Ares
Venus/Aphrodite
Phoebus/Apollo

PART III - IDs: You will be required to identify a number of historical events, figures, and terms. All possible ID subjects are listed below. A successful ID will cover the who/what/when/where/why.

Romulus
Remus
Faustulus
Amulius
Sabine women
Cacus
Aeneas
Dido
Anchises
Etruscans
12 Tables
Patricians/Plebeians

PART IV - Literary Terms: Define the following terms and provide an example of where we have seen them. Don't just name the story - describe how the specific term is used by the author and for what purpose.

Personification
Foreshadowing
Elegy
Founding myth
Allegory

PART V - Essays: You will be asked to write several essays of varying length, though all relatively short. Essay topics may focus on the following areas:

• The relationship between Aeneas and the gods
• The government of the Roman Republic - from beginning to end
• The stages of the Roman Republic
• The success of Augustus
• Daily life and leisure in Ancient Rome

Monday Homework and Rome Museums

Reminder - for Monday, please visit the Daily Life database and find at least one article to read on gladiators and/or Spartacus. Then, write a 1-2 paragraph summary of that article on your group blog. Be sure to include the title of your selected article and the author.

Click here to be directed to the Daily Life Database. Username is tesseract and Password is tesseract.

Also, a reminder - I will need to hear from you over the next week or so if you have interest in visiting the Vatican Museums and/or the Borghese Gallery. If you're curious about what each collection includes, check out the following links:

Vatican Museums

• Collections online - see 30 of the highlights
• Sacred Destinations - a great overview of the collection
• Reviews - opinions on the museums from other tourists

Borghese Gallery

• Official Site - includes pictures of many highlights
• Virtual Tour - another good overview of the collection
• Reviews - opinions from tourists
  

March Homework Schedule

Week of March 1-5 - Connecting the Myth and the History

• Monday, March 1 - Tour guide notes
• Tuesday, March 2 - Vocab, Unit 9
• Wednesday, March 3 - Work on elegy/poster
  
• Thursday, March 4 - Elegy rewrite AND analytical poster
• Friday, March 5 - Nothing

Week of March 8-12 - Daily Life and Leisure in Rome - Working, Bathing, Killing

• Monday, March 8 - Slavery/Gladiators - Read one article from Daily Life database and write a 1-2 paragraph summary on your group blog
  
• Tuesday, March 9 - Slavery/Gladiators (Homework TBD)
• Wednesday, March 10 - Daily Life (Homework TBD)
  
• Thursday, March 11 - Vocab Test, Unit 9 in Writing Lab /Leisure Activities (Homework TBD)
• Friday, March 12 - Service Day

Week of March 15-19 - Exam Week (Schedule TBD)

• Monday, March 15 - Tour Guide Handout Due
  

Week of March 22-26 - Roman Emperors

Week of March 29 - April 2 - Spring Break

Week of April 5-9 - Final Trip Prep

April 10 - Depart for Italy

The Capitoline Museum

One of our stops in Rome will be the Capitoline Museum, a great museum located atop the historical Capitoline Hill. The highlight, to me, is the Conservators' Apartment, which is lined with fantastic frescoes, telling the history of Rome. One fresco is devoted to the Rape of the Sabines, which we already discussed in some detail. The first room, though, is named after one of last night's readings, the Horatii and the Curiatii. A large version of the picture is available here.

Questions for Today's Reading for 9r

1) Augustus gains power in Rome at the conclusion of the 3rd Stage of the Roman Republic, which you examined in your distillation paragraphs yesterday. How did Augustus bring stability back to Rome? Why was he able to gain power and hold it for so long? Why was he successful, when Marius, Sulla, Pompey, and Julius Caesar all failed?

2) The Rape of Lucretia is an interesting story on its own, but it is also an allegory. Read the last paragraph very carefully. What might the events described in that paragraph represent? To put it another way, what larger historical events in the Roman Republic is Livy alluding to here?

3) What values are promoted by the story of the Horatii and Curiatii and why would Augustus want to emphasize them after the last 100 years of the Roman Republic?

Please submit responses on a sheet of paper with proper MLA heading.

Distillation Paragraphs

In class, I outlined what I identified as the first two stages of the Roman Republic - Internal Stabilization/Italian Expansion (509-275) and Mediterranean Expansion (275-129). Your assigned readings over the last two days (9-16 and 33-41) deal with the final stage. In class today, and continuing tonight as homework, I would like you to distill those readings into summary paragraphs, highlighting the key elements of the 3rd stage (129-27).

To make things easier (or perhaps harder), I am going to restrict your sentences. For each section of the reading, you may only include the following amount of sentences:

Packet 9-16
From the Gracchi to Augustus - 2 sentences
Rise of Marius - 2 sentences
Marius, Saturninus, and Veterans - 1 sentence
Social War - 1 sentence
Sulla - 2 sentences
Pompey - 2 sentences
Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar - 1 sentence
Clodius and His Gangs - 1 sentence
The Civil Wars - 2 sentences

In addition, you must integrate one sentence for each of the primary sources you read into the proper part of your summary.

Here are the specific expectations:

• Do not exceed the sentence restrictions or skip any of the required sections. You should finish with exactly 21 sentences
  
• At most, you may use short quote fragments, but certainly not full sentence quotes
  
• Wording should be your own; quotes should, of course, be cited
• Choose a name for this third stage of the Roman Republic and include this as the title
• Content assessment will focus on what you include AND what you omit. In other words, you must choose carefully which details are most significant and demand inclusion in your summary. If you miss important details, that will be counted against you
• I'm looking for cohesive paragraphs, not a series of individual sentences. So, make sure the ideas flow smoothly from one sentence to the next
  
• Please turn in a hard copy, double-spaced and thoroughly proofread. Have an MLA-style header (Your name, my name, class name, date - all single-spaced)
• You may work alone or in pairs. Your choice.
• Due beginning of class tomorrow; poor use of class time today will be counted against your grade.]
  

Homework Schedule - February Part II

Homework Schedule

Week of 2/15 - 2/19: Origins of Rome

• Tuesday - Vocab Unit 8 and Elegy Rough Draft
  
• Wednesday - Read Packet 1-8
  
• Thursday - Read Packet 31-33

Week of 2/22 - 2/26: From Republic to Empire

• Monday - Packet 9-16
  
• Tuesday - Packet 33-41 (Pick 7 sources)
  
• Wednesday - Distillation Paragraphs
  
• Thursday - Packet 27-31, 17-22
  
• Friday - Vocab Test
• You will have Writing Lab time on Monday and Thursday to work on your Tour Guide notes
  

Italian words so far

Buongiorno - Hello
Ciao - Goodbye / Hello
Grazie - Thanks
Per favore - Please
Si/Non - Yes/No
Mi piacere - I would like...
Mi dispiace - I'm sorry
Scusi - Excuse me
Non capisco - I don't understand
Dov'e il bagno - Where is the bathroom?
Mi chiamo - My name is...
C'e - There is / Is there...?
Destra - Right
Sinistra - Left
Quanto costa - How much does it cost
Aperto/Chiuso - Open/Closed

1 - Uno / 2 - Due / 3 - Tre / 4 - Quattro / 5 - Cinque
6 - Sei / 7 - Sette / 8 - Otto / 9 - Nove / 10 - Dieci

Rome Maps

Linked below are maps that I used, will use, or probably should have used in class related to our discussions of the growth of Rome:

• Ancient Etruria - The Etruscan kingdom in the 6th century BC
• Ancient Italy - Situates the Etruscans, Latins, Greeks, and very early Romans
  
• Hannibal's invasion of Rome - Follows his route from Spain through Italy
• Early growth of the Roman Republic - Through 285 BC
  
• Expansion of the Roman Republic - From 200-100 BC
  

If you thought it was bad that the school could see your Skype transcripts...

...it could be much, much worse!

Also - big congratulations to the boys basketball team for making it to the playoffs in their first season. Ultimate starts on Monday!!

And finally - JK Rowling has been accused of plagiarism!!!

Blog Feedback

Over the weekend, I reviewed your three blogposts from the last week - Hercules/Cacus, Seven Hills of Rome, and Ovid/Tibullus. You'll receive individualized feedback from me, but here are some general comments:

1) Even in a blog post, you should be sure to include all necessary information, starting from a position of specificity. So, for example, your Ovid paragraph would have been well served to start with something like: "In Ovid's "Elegy for Tibullus," the Roman poet follows the third type of elegy, moving from grief to profound unhappiness." By starting off with a sentence like that, I immediately a) identify the author, b) identify the work, and c) identify my interpretation. Similarly, your hill paragraph should have begun with something like: "At the height of Rome, the Palatine Hill served as a base of power for several major emperors and also functioned as an important religious site." Again, this sentence fulfills several objectives: 1) it identifies the hill, 2) it identifies the era you're concerned with, and c) it highlights the two critical aspects of the hill during that period.

2) Please get the spelling of authors, characters, and historical figures right. I saw many different spellings of Tibullus and there's no excuse - you have it on the sheet right in front of you.

3) If you quote a work, the quote needs to be exact. People were sloppy in this regard. Also, if you are only citing one work of poetry within an essay, the only thing you need to include in parentheses at the quote's end is the line number. For example - Ovid offers some hope in his final stanza, when he notes that "Elysium's vale will be Tibullus's home" (60). Take note - only the number is included in parentheses, the end quote precedes the parentheses, and the punctuation comes after.

4) Also on the subject of quotes - if you use a quote, you MUST discuss the quote. You can't simply drop in a series of quotes and consider your job to be done. Keep these ground rules in mind - Never open a paragraph with a quote, never end a paragraph with a quote, and never have consecutive quotes.

5) On the Hercules/Cacus paragraph, check out Sarah's post for an excellent example of what I was looking for. Many people neglected the instructions, specifically - "I just want you to list unique details here." Sarah does that quite successfully. As for the second part of the prompt, Makhayla does a nice job of honing in on potential implications of Livy and Ovid's different stories.

6) I'm surprised that many of the Hill paragraphs still do not have a) citations (which were required in the assignment) or b) a sharper focus on their assigned era. Many people go well outside of their time period. Arron's is one of the stronger posts (I won't mention the one sentence where he goes outside of his assigned era).

7) People interpreted Ovid's elegy in a variety of ways; arguments for all three structures of elegy were expressed. The main problem I encountered here, though, was one that I warned specifically against - over and over again, people fail to refer to the last stanza. The exception to that, however, is the people arguing that this is an example of grief => consolation, for which that last stanza seems to be a strong example, as exemplified by Victoria.

Greece and Our Trip - Updated 3/25

In case you have not been monitoring Athens, no worries - checking for news from Greece has been a part of my daily schedule for the last two months. The economic downturn has hit Greece harder than most other Western countries. Over the last month in particular, the EU's response to Greece has been a subject of high drama. The EU has made it clear that any assistance to Greece will be dependent upon the country's ability to impose harsh austerity measures. Those include significant cuts in pay to civil servants, the loss of jobs for others, and a
significant reduction in social services. Many Greeks have not responded to these moves with docility and restraint. Instead, there have been riots in Athens and, to a much lesser degree, Thessaloniki. In limited cases, these have resulted in violence.

From a distance, this news can be unnerving to follow, especially when keeping the safety of your children in mind. And, of course, safety is the over-riding concern for us in planning this trip. Know that we will not stick to our current itinerary if we feel it exposed your child to any danger.

After discussing the issue with Mr. LaBonte for the moment, we have decided to take a wait-and-see approach. With historically rare exceptions, these sorts of riots burn hot but expire quickly and It would be unusual for them to still be percolating a month from now. Additionally, it is important to note where the riots are taking place. We will stay in Monastiraki neighborhood in Athens, near the Acropolis. The riots, however, almost exclusively occur around government buildings and, to a lesser extent, universities.

The primary reason for a wait-and-see approach is that our plans are flexible. In other words, should circumstances demand it, we could modify our itinerary relatively late in the game to ensure the safety of your kids. We will continue to monitor developments in Athens on a daily basis as we move through March and early April.

Given that all of my experience leading student trips - and with travel in general - has accrued over the last decade, that experience has inevitably included learning how to deal with the potential hazards of traveling in uncertain times. This said you have my assurance that we will not expose your child to any undue risk and that you will have the opportunity to fully review and comment on the planned itinerary prior to our flight.

I inquired with our hostel in Athens about the current conditions and received the following response:

"The area around the hostel is very safe and is not near any of the protests which you may have seen on the news. I personally have not seen or heard anything here at the hostel and I too have seen the news reports and I am quite surprised when I watch it that it actually happened here because I never see or hear anything.

"So I can assure you that you will be very safe at the hostel and the sites surrounding the hostel, the protests you have viewed are situated in one small area not near any sites and we will mark this area on a map for you in the case of another protest so you can avoid this area."

While the hostel clearly is operating from a position of self-interest, these comments have been reinforced to me by others in Athens.

Hopefully this note eases any concerns that you may have and I encourage
you to contact me if you have any questions about our plans.

Freshman Trip Money and Valuables

Establishing a recommended budget for food and incidentals in Europe is actually one of the more complicated components of the trip. There is a great deal of variation between people. Some eat a lot, some very little. Some are happy with simple food, spot bargains, and enjoy cooking; others grab the first thing that looks good, oblivious of the price, and place importance on dining in quality restaurants. As a result, the total expenses for two students may end up being very different. To be safe, we are setting a budget on the upper end of the spectrum. But, we will also outline the process by which we arrived at the figure here, so that you can modify the numbers as you see fit.

First, here is an overview of meals already included in the trip cost:

Greece: April 3-6 - Breakfast included
Naples: April 7-10 - All meals included (including breakfast on the 11th)
Rome: April 11-14 - Breakfast included

Or, to put it another way, students will need money to buy the following things in the following places:

Greece: 3 lunches, 4 dinners, snacks (4 days)
Naples: Snacks (4 days)
Rome: 4 lunches, 4 dinners, snacks (4 days)

So, all told, students are responsible for 7 lunches, 8 dinners, and 12 days of snacks, excluding flight days. We are budgeting 7.50 euros/day for snacks. That is generous, of course. For some perspective, a bottle of Coke will run anywhere from 1 to 3 or 4 euros (supermarket vs. at the Colosseum). A gelato will run from 2 to 5 euros (though it's pretty easy to get a satisfying 2-3 euro gelato). A cappuccino costs 1-1.5 euros at the bar, more for a patio seat.

We are budgeting 10 euros/lunch. A burger/fries/coke generally falls in the 7-8 euro range. Pizzas start around 5-6 euros for a Margarita and increase in price as the toppings are added.

Finally, we are budgeting 15 euros/dinner. This meal has, perhaps, the greatest potential range. If a group decides to hit the supermarket and then cook dinner, a really satisfying meal can end up costing 3 euros. Some restaurants have a set menu (antipasto, pasta, contorno, beverage) in the 10-12 euro range. Others require you to order by the dish and this can become expensive quickly. A 15 euro average allows for some nicer meals mixed in with some cheaper ones.

Add it all up and you have a ballpark budget of around 300 euros for food. Are there any additional costs? Not necessarily. To call home, if your student doesn't have an international cell phone (which is certainly not required), the purchase of a phone card would be necessary (5-10 euros). We will have internet access in our accommodations, but if a student wanted more time online, a visit to an internet cafe would probably cost around 5 euros. And then, of course, there are souvenirs. We leave that to your discretion.

With the amount settled, the next issue to discuss is accessing it. We recommend two possible options. One approach is to provide your student with a debit card. Most major banks issue cards that work internationally (look for the Plus or Cirrus logo on the back). Make sure that your pin is only four digits. Finally, a week before departure, call the bank to inform them that the card will be used abroad; otherwise, their fraud prevention department will likely freeze the account. In addition to the card, it is advisable to provide your student with some cash, in case s/he has some problems with it early in the trip. $100 US could be easily exchanged at the airport en route to Italy, allowing for a smooth transition.

The other option is simply to bring all of the cash you will need for the trip. It would be quite unfortunate, of course, to lose 300 euros. However, given that the banks often zap each ATM withdrawal with a 2-5 euro service charge, it doesn't make sense to withdraw small amounts. So, regardless, you would probably be carrying 100-150 euros around at some point. Given the small gap between those figures, is the ATM card worth the hassle if your student doesn't have one already? Seems unlikely, but it's your call, of course. In either case, the student should have a money belt to allow for the secure stowage of that cash.

Finally, a word on valuables. We are not going to restrict students from bringing personal electronics, like iPods and handheld videogames. However, I strongly discourage it. Every trip I lead, one or two students leave their iPods behind as unintentional gifts to the locals; in Italy, prolific pickpockets add an extra layer of risk, beyond normal human forgetfulness. Beyond that, though, consider the extent to which those electronics will even be necessary. The students will always be around their friends, always have new things to talk about, and will have little time to just sit around and use the electronics. They'll have personal entertainment stations on the planes and bus rides are great opportunities for conversations. It's too easy to drop off into your own little world when you have those distractions available.

Seven Hills of Rome - Let's Try This Again

The story of Hercules and Cacus is said to have occurred on the Palatine Hill, one of the famed Seven Hills of Rome. During this class period, please examine one of those seven hills, focusing on three different periods:

1) The hill during the founding of Rome
2) The hill during the height of the Roman Empire
3) The hill today

In each case, look for important events that took place on or around the hill, as well as important buildings or other structures located on the hill. Using reliable sources (and please cite them, MLA style) type a description of the hill's history over the course of those three periods. The first class today will work alone or in pairs; all work completed should be posted to the blogs by the end of the period. The second class will continue and - hopefully - finish the work. Hill assignments are:

Palatine Hill: Makhayla, Wasnaa / Arron
Capitoline Hill: Emilie / Sarah
Aventine Hill: Nat / Sam
Caellan Hill: Taylor, Hunter / Michelle
Esquiline Hill: Jordan, Alessio / David
Viminal Hill: Nathan
Quirinal Hill: Victoria, Jacob / Robert

UPDATE: Things did not go particularly well yesterday. The second class was disheartened to find that much of the information left for them was either a - to put it kindly - minimal restating of the wikipedia intro paragraph or focused on the wrong time periods. I'm disappointed by the failure to follow instructions. Today, we'll shift to individual responsibility. Each person is now assigned one hill at one specific time period (with two exceptions - Emilie/Sarah will retain full responsibility for the Capitoline Hill and Nathan will retain responsibility for the Viminal Hall):

AT THE FOUNDING OF ROME:
Palatine Hill: Arron
Aventine Hill: Sam
Caellan Hill: Taylor
Esquiline Hill: Jordan
Quirinal Hill: Victoria

AT THE HEIGHT OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC/EMPIRE
Palatine Hill: Makhayla
Aventine Hill: Nat
Caellan Hill: Hunter
Esquiline Hill: Alessio
Quirinal Hill: Jacob

TODAY:
Palatine Hill: Wasnaa
Aventine Hill: Nat or Sam if they have time
Caellan Hill: Michelle
Esquiline Hill: David
Quirinal Hill: Robert

This is due - posted to your blog and proofread - by the end of class on Friday.

Hercules and Cacus

For today, you read three different accounts of Hercules and Cacus. In Humanities class later today, we'll discuss the greater significance of this story to the history of Rome. For now, I would like you to examine it from a strictly literary angle. Please write a response to the following two questions/prompts on your group blog.

1) What are the differences between the three accounts (Livy, Vergil, and Ovid)? Be very specific - every minor detail could be important. To be clear, I just want you to list unique details here.

2) Discussing each of the three accounts separately, what is the impact of the details told that are unique to that story? In other words, consider which details only Livy uses and the effect that those have on your understanding of Hercules and Cacus (and then repeat the same process for Vergil and Ovid). Also, consider the flip side - are there details omitted from that story that are used in the other two accounts? How is the larger message influenced by the inclusion or omission of those details?

Remember - there are no accidents. The authors chose which events to include and which to cut. Your job as an analyst is to consider the reasons behind and the impact of their decisions.

Artistic Portrayals of the Sabine Women

The Rape of the Sabine women is a pivotal moment in the mythical founding of Rome and the story has been retold over time in many different eras. In particular, it has been a popular subject for artists.

Look closely through the following works. Take time to contemplate each piece, looking first at the whole, then at specific details, and then returning to the whole. What is emphasized in each piece? What emotions are expressed? Which details are unique to each piece? How well does the work capture the story as told by Plutarch? Which is your favorite? Which is your least favorite?

Why do you think that this story has held such lasting value? What makes it a popular subject for so many artists? Think specifically of the broader allegorical value of the story - in other words, what larger ideas or themes could this represent in other eras and places?

1593 - Giovanni Bologna's sculpture - Angle 1 / Angle 2 / Angle 3

1637 - Nicolas Poussin - Full Painting / Close-Up

1640 - Giuseppe Cesari - Full Fresco (Sorry, poor quality; we'll see this one up close in the Capitoline Museum in Rome, though)

1640 - Peter Paul Rubens - Full Painting / Close-Up 1 / Close-Up 2

1799 - Jacques-Louis David - Full Painting / Close-Up / Detail

1963 - Pablo Picasso - Full Painting

Blog / Trip Assignments

Update #1: I've shuffled the deck with regards to the blog groups. The new assignments are:

Group 1: Arron, Michelle, Wasnaa, Jacob
Group 2: Sam, Mikizzle, Emilie, Nat, Taylor
Group 3: Robert, Sarah, Hunter, Jordan
Group 4: David, Victoria, Alessio, Nathan

Update #2: Tour guide assignments for Italy/Greece have been set. Student pairings are set in stone; you may trade the assigned site with another group, but that has to take place by the end of this week.

Arron/Nathan - Forum
Jake/Taylor - Acropolis
Hunter/Alessio - Colosseum
Sarah/Emilie - Pompeii
Victoria/Wasnaa - Capri
Makhayla/Michelle-Hadrian's Villa
David/Jordan/Nat - Herculaneum
Robert/Sam - Mycenae

End of Semester Reminders

Please Note:

• All late work is due by Friday
• Please review your Edline grade report *today* to see if any of your work is missing. I have graded and processed everything that has been submitted, so if you have a * in any category, you have to assume that I have not received it. The * will be changed to a 0 if it is not received by Friday
• Rewrites of the Athens-Sparta essay are also due on Friday
• Less important - your participation grade this week was based heavily on your in class blog assignment on Athens in the 4th century BC
  

Where JC and Oedipus/Greece Intersect

I realize that, for many of you, yesterday's performance of Julius Caesar was difficult to follow. It was unfortunate that we didn't have class time to set things up properly, but the relevance will become more apparent as the year moves on, since we will eventually deal with Caesar during the Rome unit. That said, there are some connections to be made right now, especially with regards to Greek tragedy and the political conflicts between Athens and Sparta.

In terms of tragedy, both JC and Oedipus struggle with fate. In Act I, Cassius challenges the notion of fate in a conversation with Brutus:

BRUTUS
Another general shout!
I do believe that these applauses are
For some new honours that are heap'd on Caesar.

CASSIUS
Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus, and we petty men
Walk under his huge legs and peep about
To find ourselves dishonourable graves.
Men at some time are masters of their fates:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.

The key part comes at the end of Cassius's excerpt. Fate, he says, is not the will of the gods, but a product of man's individual will. To put it another way, Cassius is essentially denying the existence of fate by saying that a man creates his own destiny.

As the play proceeds, Shakespeare plays games with fate, though, and seems to wrestle with to what extent this is man-made, and to what extent it is divine in origin. Is Caesar's death a matter of divine will? Before the final plot against his life is hatched, the prophecy is already declared - "Beware the Ides of March!" The conspirators are, to some extent, forced into action on that day out of fear that Caesar will be crowned before they can strike their collective blows. Did they create their own destiny, or were their actions scripted by the gods (and not just by Shakespeare)?

Following Caesar's assassination, as the civil war unfolds, the ghost of Caesar - which was an artistic choice by this production company and is not always present in performances of the play - seems to wreak havoc on the conspirators, overseeing their defeat and death. Was this doomed to occur because of fate? Or, is Shakespeare arguing something else - that immoral deeds only beget more immorality, that murder only leads to more murder and greater instability?

To draw the two works together, is the culminating downfall in JC a product of the gods, as is the case in Oedipus, or a product of the men involved in it?

Moving in a different direction - while Julius Caesar is identified as one of Shakespeare's tragedies, is it a Tragedy in the Aristotleian sense? If so, who is the tragic hero and what is his flaw? Is it Brutus or Caesar, or someone else altogether? What is the moment of anagnorisis? What is the lesson to be learned?

Finally, the central tension in JC is the division over how Rome should be ruled. Brutus and Cassius favored a Republic, with power dispersed among a larger group of Romans (to call it democratic would be misleading; it was, at best, an oligarchic democracy). Caesar, in aspiring to become an emperor - and being propelled towards it by the masses - was pursuing dictatorial power. While not a perfect parallel by any means, there are some comparisons to be made here between Brutus-Caesar and Athens-Sparta; indeed, the historical parallels proceed from these critical moments through to the modern day. The temptation is often strong to elevate the "good" leader to an all-powerful position from which he can rule effectively, especially when compared with the relatively disorganized governance of a diverse democracy - and all the more so during times of trouble. We will pursue this topic in much greater detail in the months ahead.

What thoughts did you have on JC?

First Semester Final Project

In our study of Ancient Greece, four figures have stood above the rest: Odysseus, Achilles, Socrates, and Oedipus. In this final project, your job is to imagine a conversation between three of them (your choice). The conversation will focus on the issues that have been critical to our examination of Greek history and literature: freedom, justice, and heroism. In crafting this discussion, you will thus review those essential topics through the viewpoint of that era's most renowned (real or imaginary) figures.

Your discussions should be loyal to the characters' views, though in some cases you may have to infer their beliefs on a specific subject. In each topic, think back on how it has come up over the semester so far and bring in relevant information from those parts of the curriculum. For example:

Freedom: What types of freedom are essential? (Be specific - speech, belief, etc.) What types of freedom are harmful? Who should be free and who shouldn't? How is freedom expressed through democracy? Would the people/characters you selected favor the Athenian or Spartan approach to rule - and, by extension, personal and political freedom?

Justice: Who is justice for? What is the purpose of punishment? Where do the ideas of Hammurabi, Solon, and Justinian intersect with your three chosen people/characters? What does it mean to be guilty or innocent? How would the characters feel about the Trial of Socrates?

Heroism: What makes someone heroic? What makes someone unheroic? Does it appear to be consistent throughout the Ancient Greek era or does it change? Remember - your job here is to present the Greek view of heroism, not ours.

To be clear - you do not need to construct a larger story or plot around this. Just create a discussion focused on these three issues. It is acceptable for you to just jump from one issue to the next, though there may be smoother ways to blend these together.

Specific requirements include:

• Write this as a play/dialogue

• Accurately identify all three characters' views on the three required issues. Use direct quotes from and other specific references to Homer, Sophocles, and the Trial of Socrates
• Through their discussion, establish a common understanding on what the three issues mean or involve. Where disagreements exist, you must have the characters work through them and find areas of agreement. Remember, this is a discussion - not single speeches by each character
• Make specific connections to examples of freedom, justice, and heroism in the course material. When possible, direct quotes to class readings are encouraged
• Integrate at least 20 vocabulary words from the first semester in your dialogue. Underline these words
• Follow all MLA rules

While this is a large assignment, it allows you to bring together the different material we have studied since I arrived (and a little before), making connections between the classical literature, historical events, and vocabulary. Upon completion, you will have created in that document a tidy summary of the class.

I am not setting a page limit. But, I find it hard to imagine that this could be accomplished successfully in less than three pages.

Monday's In-Class Assignment

We last looked at Athens in 399, when the Trial of Socrates took place. While the city-state would never again reach the heights it enjoyed in the previous century, it remained stable, independent, and culturally-rich for the next 61 years. In 338, however, the Macedonians took control of greater Greece, signaling an end to Athenian independence and democracy, along with the rise of Phillip II and his son Alexander (who quickly exhibited his greatness).

As we transition to a quick look at the brief but glorious ascent of Alexander the Great, I would like you to spend this class period identifying the key events between 399 and 338 BC. Working in small groups, please respond to the following questions with the most detail possible, in your own words. Keep a list of reliable sources and explain why you find each to be responsible.

1. What do you think were the three most important developments in Athens between 399 and 338 BC? These could be battles for power, political changes, economic problems, social developments, or anything else that strikes you as relevant.
2. What do you think were the three most important developments in Greece between 399 and 338 BC? (Sure, Athens is part of Greece, but look beyond Athens here.)
3. How did Macedonia develop from a semi-Greek backwater into the most powerful force in the west? What were the secrets of their success?

Work together to prepare one post. All group members should be involved in answering each question. In other words, I don't want you to divide the list of questions. Collectively prepare the answer to each one.

Oedipus the King

The full text of Sophocles's play, Oedipus the King, is available here.

Each night this week, I will post discussion questions for the day's reading in this post. Responses will be required in your group blogs before class starts the next day. I would prefer that you not read ahead (unless otherwise directed to do so in a nightly assignment) or look online for materials to help you answer these questions. Also, please do not read your peers' posts until you have completed yours.

For Friday, 1/8: Complete Both Part I and II

Part I: Pick one of the following three prompts to write about (200 words):

1) As the play concludes, Oedipus's transformation is complete. He has become, in his own words, "the mortal man the gods despise the most" (1593), a victim and perpetrator of his own fate. As we discussed in class, the fall of Oedipus raises a question of guilt - is Oedipus responsible for his actions, or do his efforts to escape his fate reflect innocence? The larger question, though, involves the issue of fate vs. free will. If you lack free will, can you ever be guilty or innocent of anything? Provide specific examples, from the play or your life, that support your opinion.

2) Greek art - and tragedy, in particular - typically serves to reflect and reinforce Greek morality. In other words, the plays communicate a message about what is good or bad, and what happens to those who violate social norms. What is Oedipus promoting and criticizing? Important: the easy and obvious answer is that the play is discouraging killing your father and committing incest. That's obvious. But, that's also advice that most people have little need for. What important lessons are present in Oedipus for the common person?

3) In class, I spoke about Aristotle's four elements of the tragedy, the last of which was catharsis. Describe the cathartic effect that the story of Oedipus had on you. Alternately, if you did not feel anything resembling the catharsis described by Aristotle, try to explain why it had no such effect upon you. Be specific in your explanation.

Part II: Foreshadowing Redux

After reading the prologue, I asked you to find examples of foreshadowing, which was a struggle for many of you. Now, go back to the prologue and find two examples of foreshadowing that you missed before. I promise - this will be much easier now. As before, quote those examples here and explain the connection briefly.


For Thursday, 1/7:

Between lines 880 and 900, Oedipus's life begins to unravel. The fate he thought he had escaped seems to have tracked him down after all. This moment of recognition - the Greek term for it, coined by Aristotle, is anagnorisis - is a central event in most Greek tragedies, the turning point in the unfortunate protagonist's life.

Reflect on an example of anagnorisis in your own life. Can you think of a time where you felt sure about something (whether about you, or someone else, or even something) only to have that image shattered. Tell this moment as a story - describe what you thought before, the moment of discovery, and the aftermath. What were your thoughts as you moved through the moment of recognition? 300 words minimum.

For Wednesday, 1/6:

NOTE: Hum 9r needs to do a little more reading tonight, up to the arrival of Teiresias on page 9.

1) I talked in class about foreshadowing. Please skim back through the prologue and identify three passages (three lines or less), quote them (and include the line numbers), and briefly discuss what future events they might anticipate. Remember, "there is Creon, he shall arrive here soon" is not foreshadowing. For examples of foreshadowing in (old) kids' movies, click here.

2) Oedipus's speech (starts line 249) offers an excellent overview of his sense of punishment. What does Oedipus propose with regards to the king's murderer and what does it tell us about his view of justice? He also mentions "fate" briefly in the speech. How, in your mind, do fate and justice co-exist? In other words, can you have fate and justice at the same time?

3) Identify at least three words you don't know and provide definitions. The definitions should be in your own words, re-phrased from the dictionary entries you reference.

4) Comment on at least one other person's post. Be constructive. You'll want to focus on question 1 or 2.

All told, your responses should probably total around 300 words combined (not 300 words for each question - 300 words total), excluding quotes from Oedipus and the definitions.