Scott Wallace- Rome 2019

Arriving and Settling In

       The trip started on July 1st with a flight from Nashville to Newark and then a flight from Newark to Rome. I was picked up by one of the wonderful teachers Allison, and we rode together from the airport to the city where the school we were staying at was. The school was called St. Stephens and had a really nice courtyard in the middle with many classrooms and dorms surrounding it on multiple stories. Everyone was split into two groups, Pollux, the group for younger Latin students in high school, and Castor, for the older kids who were going into their senior year or into college. I was a member of Pollux and was fortunate to have some really great teachers like Liz, Greg, and Chris. The first day we went to the Circus Maximus where we learned about the events that were held in the arena and read some Latin. The really neat part about the school was that it was very centralized in the city, so we were only a 5 minute walk to the Colosseum and Capitoline Hill.

A Look From the Middle of The Forum

        After the first day and unpacking and settling in, the trip truly began. Most everyday for the first half of the trip consisted of 3 hours of classtime in the morning at the school, a lunch break, a visit out to a site that related to our classroom discussion, a break, dinner, and then a meeting to talk about the day and wrap-up. Our first day of this awesome schedule included us talking about the Capitoline Hill and the key ideas surrounding it, and then actually GOING to the Capitoline Hill to see it in real life which was one of the coolest aspects of the trip. Whether it was walking under the Triumphal Arches or standing where Caesar was killed, the whole day was really awesome and interactive. Throughout the next couple days, we spent more time in the classroom and then going out to some great sites including the Baths of Diocletian and some really neat museums that mainly consisted of statues of Roman myths or busts of distinguished Roman characters.

Enjoying Rome

A Beautiful View of the Via Appia

        The next eight days, the group followed a pretty similar format to the first couple days, involving seeing some really cool sites and learning new things about them in an interactive way. On our fifth day, we took a day trip on a nice bus out to Ceveteri, a city on the shore that had many ancient Etruscan tombs. We went to these tombs and were given free time to explore them and learn about them, and after that we went to the beach. The beach was incredible and I would have to say Ceveteri was one of the highlights of my trip. The next day was a really great day as well because we got to visit the famous Via Appia. In the morning, we talked about the use of the Via Appia for trade and transportation as well as how there are grand tombs aligned next to the road stretching for many many miles. We walked along the Via Appia, making me feel like a true Roman, and visited some of the biggest and grandest villas ever constructed by Romans. We walked along the Via until we reached a Catacomb site, the Catacombs of St. Sebastian. Here, we took a tour of the catacombs, a burial place underground for the dead, and it was really awesome to learn about their history while we were actually in it. Of course the next day was the day to visit the Colosseum. We read Latin together as a group in the Colosseum and this was surely one of the highlights of my trip.

The Fountains of Villa d'Este

         Moving through the trip, we took another beach day to a town named Sperlonga. Before heading out to the beach, we took a tour of a small museum with some really neat statues including a grand one of Poseidon. This beach was also a really great time and I'll never forget it. The next day was a trip to Hadrian's Villa, where we walked around and learned all about its different aspects with the knowledge of our group leaders. Hadrian's Villa was a true display of the imbalance that sometimes occurred in Roman history between the rich and the poor. This same day, we went to my favorite site of the whole trip, the Villa d'Este. Here, we learned about its history and previous owners, as well as its famous fountains that attract millions every year. The next couple days involved going to the Vatican and all of its museums which was really neat, The architecture of the Vatican and pretty much all of Rome itself was really a site to marvel at and it never grew old. We were given free time at the Vatican, which was the time where I and two of the friends I had made journeyed to the top of St. Peter's Basilica to get an awesome view.

The Trip Coming to a Close

A Great View From The Last Day

        The last four to five days consisted of less time in the classroom and more time exploring and seeing Rome. These last few days involved going out to Ostia, visiting the Parthenon, going to the Villa Borghese, a museum that had some of the coolest paintings and what was easily my favorite museum, the Spanish Steps, and the Jewish Ghetto. We learned about the culture of the Jewish Ghetto, which was really neat, considering all of the hardships they went through and how they all stayed united through difficult times. The very last full day was really a special day. We visited the Palatine Hill where the Vestal Virgins stayed, and went up to a really neat viewpoint to talk about some of the Modern Italian History. Up at this nice viewpoint, we came together as a group and all shared an excerpt of Latin that we had read throughout the trip that meant something to each of us. This was a really nice bonding experience for the whole group and we capitalized on the opportunity by going to a nice dinner together before going back to St. Stephens that night.

The Arch of Titus With a Full Moon Behind on the Last Night

        The trip had a few unique aspects to it that really made it an interesting, interactive, and memorable experience, First, we read lots of Latin about a site while we were actually at that site. This teaching strategy made me a better Latin student, as we got to study grammatical structures as well as learning about Roman history at the same time. Although it was tough translating some of the Latin, it was definitely a great experience. Second, we were split into groups within Pollux, where we were given a Roman myth that we had to create a skit out of. We performed these skits in front of all of the directors of the Paideia group as well as many college students. This was a really great aspect of the trip, as we got to make new friends within out groups while having fun and learning about Roman mythology. Another neat aspect was the advisory groups. These were groups we met with at the end of every day to look back on the day but to also talk about any personal concerns and to create new friends. I enjoyed this part of the day because everyone could be honest with each other in a small group.

Thank You

          Thank you so much for yet again another opportunity to visit Rome. I had a really good time and made some new friends whom hopefully I can keep in touch with throughout these next few years. I have learned so much more about the language of Latin, as well as the history or Rome as a whole. This experience could not have been made possible without the Wilson Family and I thank you for granting me the trip of a lifetime.