Rivka Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 When I first studied ancient history I was ten or eleven. I fell in love with everything about Ancient Greece. I still love Ancient Greece. At that opinionated early age I decided that I hated the Romans because their culture was just a ripoff of Greece's. :lol: And many years later, even after a full course in Greek and Roman humanities in college... I still kind of feel that way. Rome does not excite me. Well, we just wrapped up a very exciting in-depth immersion in everything Greek. My daughter fell for Greek mythology in a huge way (helped along by read-alouds of the Percy Jackson series) and has been reading everything she can get her hands on and pretending Greek gods and goddesses 24/7. Our front walk is decorated with chalk drawings of gorgons, and I've seen more block and Lego temples than I can count. It's gotten to the point that my husband has banned mythology discussions at the dinner table. Now we're supposed to move on to Rome. But she came back from a playdate with another SOTW kid saying "We listened to some of Rome in Catherine's car, and it was not what I was expecting. It's so violent. Romans loved killing." Soooo... we've got twelve chapters of Ancient Rome coming right up. Please inspire us. What do you like about Roman history and culture? What should we read? What projects would be fun for us? Can you convince me that Roman culture was not just a dumb violent appropriation of Greek culture? I am willing to discard my preconceptions if it will just make our summer with the Romans more enjoyable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 It just so happens I'm in the middle of printing out this e-book I bought yesterday, on sale for $1.00. 82 pages. http://teacherexpress.scholastic.com/ancient-rome Unfortunately it does not allow me to save the PDF on my computer - I'm allowed 3 download attempts, so I went ahead and printed it, even though I'm not sure when we'll use it. The chapters are: Rome over time Roman Society The City of Rome Daily Life Children's Lives in Rome A Closer Look: Pompeii Activities include making a battering ram, making a toga, making a model of a Roman mansion from a cereal box, making Roman candy, etc. I think it looks kinda fun, and I'm not a person typically into these sorts of activities :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 You're kidding, right? Well, dh is a total Rome nut and I admit that helped me. Also, there's some Roman re-enactors who do a deal in PG County soon so maybe that would excite you guys for a day trip? We just had so many great building project things for Rome. We made a model Roman road out of real materials. And we bought a few Rome Playmobil sets. Oh, and we did a working model aquaduct (just add water). And there were so many good books. We loved the Detectives in Togas. The kids' favorite thing, which they still talk about all the time is the day we did the trip to the "Roman baths." I steamed the bathroom and we did the cold, the hot, the tepid and the steam room. There was oil. And scraping. And in between there were grapes and nuts in honey and little Roman-y snacks. And books (the baths had libraries in them). And naked wrestling (honestly not that different from regular bathtime with my boys). They LOVED IT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Lulu* Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 We made an aquaduct when we studied ancient Rome. It was one of the kids' favorite projects ever! OP- your post made me laugh because DS#1 said basically the same thing about Rome ripping off Greece when we moved from one civilization to another. I just tried to focus him on how every society builds on those that have come before, and, consequently, we spent most of our time and energy on how Rome built upon the things taken from Greece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 "We listened to some of Rome in Catherine's car, and it was not what I was expecting. It's so violent. Romans loved killing." You clearly don't have a boy. Mine would be saying "Romans are so cool! They are violent and kill everybody!" :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deniseibase Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Maybe I'm the only Doctor Who fan, but all I can think of is Amy Pond saying, "I love Roman history. Invasion of the HOT Italian guys." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Maybe I'm the only Doctor Who fan, but all I can think of is Amy Pond saying, "I love Roman history. Invasion of the HOT Italian guys." Oh yeah, we kicked off Roman history by watching the one in Pompeii! "It's volcano day!" I like how Donna tries to say "Veni, vidi, vici" to the merchant and he thinks she's Welsh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ester Maria Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 LOL, maybe Purcell's Dido and Aeneas to accompany literature (just make sure to draw a note on how it is represented in the cultural codes of another culture, etc.). Lots of works of art that thematize Aeneid - it has been really dealt with in art. We LOVE Ovid. Especially if you do Latin, Metamorphoses are just superb. We did read-alouds of Ovid ad nauseam, both in Latin and Italian. Tristia and Epistulae ex ponto are also nice to use in literature. We did a lot of art when we studied Rome at those ages. You may not be able to physically take your children to the relevant places, but make sure to study Pompeii (where the eruption managed to almost literally "block" in time many things related to Roman everyday life - by the way tie studying Pompeii to Pliny, kids often find that cool), Roman architecture present today in Rome, from Forum to Pantheon. Caesar is generally boring for girls :D, but Cicero and Catiline's plot is much better. Read the beginning of In Catilinam Oratio Prima, she might like it. Rome is GREAT for studying the transformation of theatre! Especially comedy, you might enjoy reading one Plautus with your kids and talk about how theatre became a fully fledged secular form in Rome. Oh, and include Horace's Exegi monumentum... (III-30) where he talks about how awesome he is. :tongue_smilie:My kids LOVED it and learned it by heart. Talk about Roman religion, its different and more institutional nature than that of the Greek model; of Etruscan influences (I know a good RAI documentary about that, but I suppose you do not speak Italian, right? :(); of vestal virgins; of emperors and the degradation of empire; late antiquity is an EXCELLENT topic - from Christianity onward how the Roman culture changed. Hmm... does that help at least a bit? Those were some of the things my kids liked that age, but then again we did a lot of summer field trips, which may not be everyone's option... but my kids defintiely thought Rome was cool, only "barbaric" (read: violent). :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Read up on the city of Bath and the excavations there. This chemical engineer thinks that it's pretty darn impressive that at a remote, distant outpost of the Roman empire they were able to install technology that still, 2000 years or so later, effectively handles large quantities of hot, corrosive water solutions. If I were studying Rome, I would probably focus primarily in two areas--the technologies of their roads, aqueducts, and public buildings, and the decisions and the basis of the decisions that they made regarding how best to conquer, manage, and rule distant lands full of non-Roman citizens. Those are their most interesting and impressive aspects, and leave a great deal of room for discussion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 You're kidding, right? Well, dh is a total Rome nut and I admit that helped me. Also, there's some Roman re-enactors who do a deal in PG County soon so maybe that would excite you guys for a day trip? If you mean Roman Days at Riversdale, that was May 14-15. We planned to go on the day that we wound up flying to Memphis instead. We just had so many great building project things for Rome. We made a model Roman road out of real materials. And we bought a few Rome Playmobil sets. Oh, and we did a working model aquaduct (just add water). And there were so many good books. We loved the Detectives in Togas. The kids' favorite thing, which they still talk about all the time is the day we did the trip to the "Roman baths." I steamed the bathroom and we did the cold, the hot, the tepid and the steam room. There was oil. And scraping. And in between there were grapes and nuts in honey and little Roman-y snacks. And books (the baths had libraries in them). And naked wrestling (honestly not that different from regular bathtime with my boys). They LOVED IT. That sounds so hilarious and awesome. (The naked wrestling is what tipped me over the edge.) Did you have different baths set up in different bathrooms, or did you just keep refilling? I wish you'd been blogging when you did SOTW 1, because I'm sure it would inspire me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usetoschool Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 We are just finishing up Rome and am with you on the raspberries to the Roman society. We were just having a discussion this morning as we read about yet another Roman leader who was a crazy/violent/dictator. However, since it must be learnt, here are some of the things we used that helped us focus on the achievements of the Romans: Tools of the Ancient Romans - which has a lot of projects, a LOT of projects mixed in with the history including mosaics and frescos if she has an artistic bent Evan-Moore History Pockets Rome Antics and City by David Macaulay Augustus Caesar's World Kids Discover - Pompeii History News: The Roman News What do we Know About the Romans by Mike Corbishley and whatever projects or ideas we can scrounge up online or here. I would not recommend reading Famous Men of Rome if you already have a distaste for Romans. Or, if you want to validate your dislike, then dive right in ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 If you mean Roman Days at Riversdale, that was May 14-15. We planned to go on the day that we wound up flying to Memphis instead. Darn it. Yes - I was thinking it was in early June. :( We went last year and it was a lot of fake fighting, weaponry, varied Roman armor, catapults, etc. As well as some other activities about Roman food, cooking, money, etc. We had fun and as we left, Mushroom said, "That wasn't what I expected." I was like, "What did you expect?" "I thought they'd be building a road or something. I mean, they're Romans!" Yeah, I feel like we did the Romans to the hilt. They were fun. But we focused on the building and architecture more than anything else. And Roman numerals and things like that. Oh, and we don't have a second bath so we just kept refilling. In between was all the reading, eating and, of course, wrestling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 They were terrific engineers! They were terrific administrators/empire builders.... For the later period, we ADORE Rosemary Sutcliff's books! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 How about a Roman feast? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 The kids' favorite thing, which they still talk about all the time is the day we did the trip to the "Roman baths." I steamed the bathroom and we did the cold, the hot, the tepid and the steam room. There was oil. And scraping. And in between there were grapes and nuts in honey and little Roman-y snacks. And books (the baths had libraries in them). And naked wrestling (honestly not that different from regular bathtime with my boys). They LOVED IT. Oh goody! We are just about to start Rome too and I am totally stealing this idea!! That and the Doctor Who episodes :lol:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaichiki Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 How about a Roman feast? We ate a Roman-style lunch the other day and my kids insisted they HAD to eat lying down. The "funny" 12 year old suggested I get a bucket for everyone to puke into. Gee, what a great time. Ha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critterfixer Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 You clearly don't have a boy. Mine would be saying "Romans are so cool! They are violent and kill everybody!" And drawing gory pictures to illustrate the narrations. My two are going to love Rome. I agree about focusing on the architecture and infrastructure projects that the Romans created, many of which are still standing and still functional today. I don't think it's a bad thing to use the problems that Rome had with maniacal leaders, spending excesses and over-aggressive conquests, coupled with hiring barbarian mercenaries to illustrate how a civilization can fall apart, almost literally at the seams. I plan to discuss things like this as we get to the Romans here in the next month or so, but honestly, I know full well that what they are going to remember is the gladiators. Boys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 Caesar is generally boring for girls :DThank you! Dd15 almost quit Latin because so much of Artes Latinae 2 was Caesar. I don't even think she'll eat caesar salad anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5wolfcubs Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 Time to start learning Latin! I hope to start my younger ones on I Speak Latin this fall! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 (edited) Roman women had some mighty fine hairdos. Here's a few pics: http://housebarra.com/EP/ep04/08romanhair.html You could also make a sarcina to carry her stuff around in. The Romans weren't totally ripping off the Greeks, anyhow. They were also ripping off the Oscans, I think it was. Many of the legal and craftsmen terms in Latin came from them. Rosie Edited May 24, 2011 by Rosie_0801 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoforjoy Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 I'm so with you. I love ancient Greece; ancient Rome, not so much. I think a lot of my issue is that, while I love The Iliad and The Odyssey, I absolutely loathed reading The Aeneid. I think my DS will enjoy all of the warfare, though, so maybe that will help me get through it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiobrain Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 (edited) See, I am the opposite. I have always adored Rome. I have always been lukewarm about Greece. Although Greece has its interesting bits, there is something arresting and amazing to me about Rome. Its evolution. Its devolution. It is just so ridiculously over the top. Rome also nurtured some things that could not have ever existed without its unique qualities. I watched I Claudius when I was a little kid. I reread the books every few years, I read all sorts of books set in Rome, I loved the series that was on HBO (even though the 2nd season was a bit overly smutty). So, I can't tell you anyway to make it exciting for you, you have your preference just like I do (I am not excited about doing Greece, the first half of this year). Just don't let your ambivalence or dislike rub off on your kids. They might enjoy it without you trying very hard. I also think the "rip-off" label is unwarranted. Rome embraced and assimilated things that they respected and thought were good. Isn't that better than just conquering and crushing? They respected Greece. Gaul, not so much. ;) I often think how the world might be very different if Caesar had not been assassinated. Lastly, if you have ever been to Rome, you might change your mind a bit. It is so amazing. Walking through history, from ancient to modern is just awesome. Their buildings were insane and colossal. Fragments of the past are everywhere. The Pantheon is the most amazing structure I have ever been in. It is all quite mind boggling. Edited May 24, 2011 by radiobrain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ester Maria Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 Lastly, if you have ever been to Rome, you might change your mind a bit. It is so amazing. Walking through history, from ancient to modern is just awesome. Their buildings were insane and colossal. Fragments of the past are everywhere. The Pantheon is the most amazing structure I have ever been in. It is all quite mind boggling. Yes, YES! Finally! Somebody understands me (esp. the bolded)! :001_wub: To quote Carducci: e tutto che al mondo è civile, grande, augusto, egli è romano ancora. All things civil, great and august in the world still Roman (to the present day). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 Well the obvious is to continue with Rick Riordan's Hero of Olympus series. The Last Hero is an awesome book. I was a Roman Demi-god for Halloween last year. :D Learn Latin, easier than ancient Greek. Have a toga day at school. I never really picked sides as a kid, oh wait, yes I did. I preferred Egyptian history to anything Greek or Roman. Rick Riordan's got that covered too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted May 24, 2011 Author Share Posted May 24, 2011 Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. You guys are awesome. :D Focusing on architecture and technological accomplishments is a great idea. I think my husband, the former engineering major, would love to build an aqueduct and a Roman road. And we will definitely, absolutely have to have a Roman Baths reenactment with the soaking and the oiling and the scraping. I have Detectives in Togas for a read-aloud (or possibly independent reading), and I just got a book by Lynne Reid Banks from the library to pre-read for suitability. It's called Tiger, Tiger and it's about two tiger cubs brought to Rome: one to fight gladiators in the Coliseum, and one to be a pet for Caesar's daughter. We are planning to start a bit of Latin when we start first grade next week, so maybe that will also increase enthusiasm. Maybe I'll start calling her Prima, as is proper for an oldest daughter. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaichiki Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 My dd just really starting thinking about the reading we're doing today. She wanted to know *why* those people liked to see the gladiators kill each other? She really couldn't understand why people would be so entertained by the pain and death of others. (She now doesn't like learning about Rome at all.) Eh. Her brothers think it's great. :001_rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhg Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 When I first studied ancient history I was ten or eleven. I fell in love with everything about Ancient Greece. I still love Ancient Greece. At that opinionated early age I decided that I hated the Romans because their culture was just a ripoff of Greece's. :lol: And many years later, even after a full course in Greek and Roman humanities in college... I still kind of feel that way. Rome does not excite me. Well, we just wrapped up a very exciting in-depth immersion in everything Greek. My daughter fell for Greek mythology in a huge way (helped along by read-alouds of the Percy Jackson series) and has been reading everything she can get her hands on and pretending Greek gods and goddesses 24/7. Our front walk is decorated with chalk drawings of gorgons, and I've seen more block and Lego temples than I can count. It's gotten to the point that my husband has banned mythology discussions at the dinner table. Now we're supposed to move on to Rome. But she came back from a playdate with another SOTW kid saying "We listened to some of Rome in Catherine's car, and it was not what I was expecting. It's so violent. Romans loved killing." Soooo... we've got twelve chapters of Ancient Rome coming right up. Please inspire us. What do you like about Roman history and culture? What should we read? What projects would be fun for us? Can you convince me that Roman culture was not just a dumb violent appropriation of Greek culture? I am willing to discard my preconceptions if it will just make our summer with the Romans more enjoyable. I laughed out loud when I read that thread title. That would make a good book title. NOt much help here as we're not even in K yet....but had to comment on that thread title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkgumby Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 It just so happens I'm in the middle of printing out this e-book I bought yesterday, on sale for $1.00. 82 pages. http://teacherexpress.scholastic.com/ancient-rome Thanks for that link! What a deal for $1 - we're going to use that this fall! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 I loved learning about ancient Rome. I loved it so much I voluntarily took 3 years of Latin in high school. You could study the gods prior to the Greek assimilation. They had different beliefs, that everything had an "anima" or spirit and they would ask permission from things and people before they used them. For example, they would beg the anima of a chair's permission before they sat down. They also kept altars to their ancestors. Ariel really enjoyed watching the BBC documentaries Colosseum - A Gladiator's Story, about the only recorded gladiatorial fight (even I learned some stuff!) and Pompeii - The Last Day about the eruption of Vesuvius. They are both re-enactments, so they were more interesting to her than a historian just talking about it. Oh, and one thing I loved about my Latin 1 class was there was a Roman naming ceremony. The new students received little bags of gifts (we had little fun-size candy and peanuts) and their Roman names on their "naming day." Boys were traditionally named on the 7th day after birth and girls on the 9th, so on the 7th and 9th days of class everyone got their names. It was neat to see what everyone's name was. I still use mine as my screen name here. :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauracolumbus Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 You could also include the geography of the Roman empire. Bring in the story of Cleopatra--there's an adult biography out about her now that is supposed to be good. Minimus is about a Roman camp found in Britain--it's based on an actual archeological camp--so you could bring in a discussion of archaeology. I have a Roman nut in my household and we're more Romaphiles than Grecophiles here. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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