ANCIENT GREECE OR ROME NOTEBOOK ASSIGNMENT

 

THE SCENARIO:  The year is 2010.  A young Yale graduate student, a New Century alum,  is searching amongst the ruins of the ancient Greece or Rome .  Careful study has convinced him that a school once stood here.  Then, he spots it.  It's a little tattered but remarkably well-preserved given that it's some two thousand years old.  A  student notebook.  He gently opens the cover and is amazed at what he finds.  This, he realizes as he opens it up, is a major archaeological discovery.  It contains the  notes of a student from some two thousand years ago.  It includes both course materials organized by subject and includes also a series of more personalized doodles,  lists, drawings, diary-like musings, and student messages.  After years of diligent study, the fortunate researcher realizes the payoff is likely to be a photo and a cover article in ARCHAEOLOGY TODAY ( For a copy of that historic article, click HERE ).

 

THE MISSION: To put together the notebook as a way of introducing you to the worlds of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome.  The finished notebook should be approximately 15 pages long and should combine your own writing or typing with many added images.  Seven course subjects will be represented in the completed project: two core courses (Sociology and History) and five electives.  If you do this project with a partner, you can choose to do two notebooks, one on each Greece and Rome or a longer, more thorough notebook about one of the civilizations alone. 

 

THE PROCEDURE:

1)  Choose whether you are going to focus upon the Greek or the Roman world.

2)  Choose which five electives you want your student to study.  You may decide to do some preliminary research before deciding upon these courses.  Finding information on these subjects will involve using the general and specific internet resources listed below; conducting your own additional computer research; and using book resources that will be provided starting next week.  Elective possibilities include:

3)  The two core courses to be included in the notebook are Sociology and History.  Specific instructions for each of these courses are listed below.

4)  Research each of the electives and the two core courses.  For each of the electives, try to put together a couple of pages that  captures the essence of what you have learned and that imaginatively uses the school notebook idea.  I expect you to use your own words and would much rather that you have shorter but original entries than mere descriptions printed off the internet and pasted into your notebook.  Print off research materials and include them in your portfolio in a file folder.  I then will be able to see what research you did.

5)  Put together your research into a finished notebook format, organized by subject.

6)  Note that for many students throughout history, the social aspects of school life are at least as important as the formal curriculum itself.  Include  doodles; notes exchanged in class that then have been tucked inside the notebook; tickets from entertainment events; daily journal entries by the student; or any other miscellany you can think of.

7)  Include a Roman or Greek calendar at the beginning or end of the notebook.  For information about the Roman calendar, see .

 

SOME GENERAL RESOURCES

A.  ANCIENT GREECE

  NM CREATIVE IMPULSE: GREECE

The basic resource for an on-line college history course, this is an excellent start to place for researching Ancient Greece.

TEACHER OZ'S KINGDOM OF HISTORY: ANCIENT GREECE

HISTORY FOR KIDS ANCIENT GREECE

WWW-VL HISTORY: ANCIENT GREEKS

CLASSICS PAGES:  This is much stronger for Greece than for Rome.

 

B.  ANCIENT ROME

 NM CREATIVE IMPULSE: ROME

  As with its Greek counterpart, this is a superb site with extensive information.

ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE :  This site includes detailed information about Roman history and society.

TEACHER OZ'S KINGDOM OF HISTORY: ANCIENT ROME

HISTORY FOR KIDS ANCIENT ROME

WWW-VL HISTORY: ANCIENT ROME

NOVA ROMA : This site serves as the base for a virtual community of more than 1100 individuals dedicated to the "restoration of Classical Roman religion, culture, and virtues.

 

C.  THE ANCIENT WORLD

  A site devoted to ancient history from The Mining Company.

.

 

ELECTIVE COURSES:  IDEAS AND POSSIBLE RESOURCES

Note that I only offer random thoughts here and that you will need to engage in much additional research, using various search engines.  One possible search engine to use is .  This is also a good site for finding images.  Check through the general resources immediately above for possible information as well.

A.  ARCHITECTURE: My recommendation here is to combine a general discussion of architecture with a focus upon particular buildings and monuments.  For the Greeks, temple construction and the various types of pillars might be an appropriate topic for the former; for the Romans, you might look in at the layout of villas and also the technicalities involved in such structures as aqueducts.  Note that there is a certain overlap between this theme and that of Engineering.  If you choose to do both topics, you may want to focus in the Architecture section upon individual buildings and monuments.  Here is a list of some possible structures:

1.  GREECE

See the SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD site for information on these ancient architectural marvels.  Five of the seven wonders were Greek.

 

2.  ROME

Brief descriptions of numerous Roman monuments, including the Colosseum, the Forum, the Pantheon, the Circus Maximus, and the Catacombs, can be found at http://www.kent.wednet.edu/curriculum/soc_studies/rome/Rome.html .

 

B.  ART: For Greek art, vase-painting and sculpture are potential areas for focus.  Romans were particularly well-known for their mosaics.  You might want to consider continuing this study of mosaics up to the Byzantine Empire and the churches of Ravenna, even though it is somewhat out of sequence with the 2,000-year-old notebook framework.  See both NM Creative Impulse: Greece and NM: Creative Impulse: Rome for the applicable sections on art.  For an excellent site maintained by a professor of art history at Sweet Briar College in Virginia, see .

 

C.  ASTRONOMY:  For both the Greeks and the Romans, studying the heavens was connected to understanding fate and the meaning of life.  In Greek culture, Astronomy expresses the tensions between that society's interest in mythology and its developing commitment to science.    The topic should blend Astronomy and Astrology.  See my large coffee table book on the history of predicting the future.  For information on Greek Astronomy, a useful website can be found at .

 

D.  BUSINESS MANAGEMENT:  This is a very open subject.  Topics here might include the career options open to individuals in the Classical World; the types of businesses that characterized ancient Greece and Rome and the financial challenges that might be associated with operating a business 2,000 years ago; the nature of money in the distant past; and advertising advice for the up and coming ancient entrepreneur.  Your student might have designed a couple of mock adds, complete with logos and slogans, or copied out business-related articles from the local press of the day.

 

E.  COOKING:  For an excellent site on ancient Roman cooking, see ROMAN ORGY.    For a site that has many recipes, see .  Note that this topic can include information about food and drink, though try to explore the connections between these and the culture as a whole.

 

F.  DRAMA:  Greek Theater is certainly more famous than that of Ancient Rome, even if my father did write a dissertation about the Roman comedic playwright Plautus.  For the Greeks, Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles are celebrated as the preeminent trio of tragedians, while Aristophanes stands alone as the great comedian.  For a web-site dedicated to preserving the traditions of Greek and Roman drama, dance, and music see .  For a virtual tour of the Roman Theater of Marcellus, see http://australis.www2.50megs.com/Marcellus/tour1a.HTML .  See also ANCIENT GREEK THEATER .

 

G.  ENGINEERING:  The Romans were superb engineers, with talents ranging from road-building to the construction of aqueducts to the development of modern plumbing.  For an overview of the history of plumbing, including that in the ancient Roman world, see http://www.theplumber.com/ .

 

H.  FASHION DESIGN: Learn everything there is to know about the toga at .  In doing a search, type in such terms as "Fashion and Ancient Greece (or Ancient Rome)," "Clothing and Ancient Greece," "Cosmetics and Ancient Greece," or "Jewelry and Ancient Greece."  One place to start in finding information about ancient Greek fashion is at .  See also the equivalent Roman site at .

 

I.  HEALTH: Your focus here should probably be ancient medicine.  You could also include information about anatomy, about the nutrition, and about the possible impact of classical lifestyles upon health.  For an excellent BBC site on ancient medicine, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/medicine/content.html .    Some information about Roman medicine can be found at http://www.camelotintl.com/romans/medicine.html . Note that I also have some book resources for this topic.

 

J.  MATHEMATICS:  Note that I have a couple different general histories of Mathematics that include information about the Greeks and the Romans.  This is a topic that could open up the opportunity for imaginative adaptation of the notebook.  You could research individual mathematicians, such as Euclid, Pythagoras, or Zeno.  You might also combine this, however, with some ancient Math exercises, including humorous word problems that integrated details of the ancient world into the questions.  For Greece, see WONDERS OF ANCIENT GREEK MATHEMATICS.

 

K.  MILITARY STUDIES: Any subjects associated with war and military matters is appropriate here.  You might want to think about what a teenaged Greek or Roman might have been taught about weaponry, tactics, training, and the virtues called for in a soldier.  But this section could also include information about different wars in the history of Greece or Rome.  For the former, the Trojan War, the Persian Wars, the Pelopponesian War (Athens and Sparta), and the conquests of Alexander the Great are most famous.  For the Romans, the Punics Wars against Carthage helped to establish Roman dominance in the region, though this victory was followed by a long process of empire-building.  For  the Trojan War, see THE TROJAN WAR: AN ILLUSTRATED COMPANION.

 

L.  MUSIC

 

M.  PHILOSOPHY: The Greeks are more famed for their philosophers than the Romans, though there certainly is considerable information available about Roman philosophy.  Note that the Romans were also very conscious of their Athenian predecessors; a Roman student would have learned about the Greeks.  One place to find basic information about Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle is at www.wsu.edu:8080/%7Edee/GREECE/CONTENTS.HTM .  Do not assume that study of the "big three" Greek philosophers exhausts the study of the ancient mind.  In Ancient Greece, in particular, there is a whole range of interesting characters: Diogenes of Sinope, a Cynic noted for his unconventional lifestyle (for example, sleeping in the open in a large pottery storage jar or masturbating in public); Heraclitus,  a profound thinker and cryptic oracle who is associated with the "You can never step in the same river twice" saying; and Zeno, who sought to prove that it was logically impossible for Achilles to catch up to a tortoise in a footrace even if the Greek hero was running at 9 times the speed of the turtle.  If you choose to study philosophy as a topic, try not to become so bogged down in the details of individual philosophers that you lose sight of the recurring themes.  What are the basic questions being asked?  What patterns emerge?  To what extent are the philosophical issues that puzzled the ancient world ones that remain with us today?  An excellent resource is the novel Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy.  I have several copies of this book and will encourage students to read it for extra credit.

 

N.  PHYSICAL EDUCATION: Here you might research about classical concepts of the role of physical education in the education of the young.  For both the Greeks, a healthy mind and a healthy body were seen as logically connected.  Our word "gymnasium," for example, comes from ancient Greece.  The theme is also designed to open up the opportunity for the larger study of sports in the Classical World.

1.  THE  GREEKS

There are a number of web-sites devoted to the history of the Olympics.  These include  :

  : An internet exhibit from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology.

 

  :  An exhibit organized by the Classics Department at Tufts University in conjunction with the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta.

OLYMPIC GAMES VIRTUAL MUSEUM: You need to log in for this free site, but the information is extensive.

 

2.  THE ROMANS

For the Roman world, you may want to focus in upon the ancient public games, including chariot races and gladiatorial contests.  See the following sites as possible starting places:

ARENA: GLADIATORIAL GAMES

: Excellent information about the ancient Roman games, including chariot races, gladiatorial combats, theatre, and links.

ENTERTAINMENT IN TRAJAN'S ROME:  This includes sections on Gladiatorial games, chariot racing, and Roman baths.

THE GAMES: A simple but informative site that explains the significance of the Roman games.

 

O.  POLITICAL SCIENCE: The Greeks were perhaps the first to study politics in a systematic way.  Such words as "tyranny," "oligarchy," and "ostracism" come from the Greeks.  An appropriate focus would be the study of the development and forms of Athenian democracy, with a goal of comparing and contrasting this early form of democracy to our own.  The chapter on the Greeks in Patrick Watson's book Struggle for Democracy overviews a good overview.  A republican form of government existed in Rome before the rise of the caesars.  The history of Roman politics profoundly influenced the thinking of the American Founding Fathers.

 

P.  SEX EDUCATION:  As with the topic of Military Studies, a starting place here might be to creatively research about what a young Greek or Roman might have been taught about appropriate sexual conduct.  The focus need not been upon sexual behavior alone but on forms of interaction between the sexes.  For example, for Rome you might compare the imagery and history of prostitution with the role played by the Vestal Virgins within the society's religious and public life.  The theme can move beyond the educational pretext to a broader exploration of the private lives of ancient Greeks and Romans.  What have historians learned about the more intimate aspects of the classical past?  What did the ancients say and think about sex?  How, if at all, can this serve as an interesting mirror about today's society?

 

Q.  VETERINARY SCIENCE: This subject is included for potential animal-lovers.  Rather than focus upon veterinary practices, I would encourage you to research the role of animals in the ancient world.  Did the Greeks and Athenians have pets?  What role did horses play in their societies?  How were stock animals raised?

 

CORE COURSES:  SPECIFICATIONS AND POSSIBLE RESOURCES

 

A.  SOCIOLOGY

The reason for having Sociology as a core course for all students is to provide a place for the close examination of everyday life in the Classical World.  I encourage you to focus upon particular topics of interest, with a minimum of overlap with other subjects in the notebook.  Try to have at least two pages in the notebook on Sociology.  If this is a part of the project that seems interesting, you could have much more than the required two pages.  I have listed some possible web-sites but note that there is also much relevant information in the General Resources Section above and that you should also do your own internet search.  Here are some possible themes to explore:

For some general links on Daily Life, Death, and the Afterlife in the Classical World, see .

1.  GREECE

Note that a number of sites listed as General Resources above include information that will be helpful for the Sociology section.  Here are some additional sites:

DAILY LIFE IN ANCIENT GREECE: This includes a good introduction to daily life.

ANCIENT GREEK WORLD:  A University of Pennsylvania museum exhibit that explores different aspects of daily life in ancient Greece.

2.  ROME

Note that a number of sites listed as General Resources above include information that will be helpful for the Sociology section.  Here are some additional sites:

:This extensive site includes, amongst other things, a very detailed chronology of Roman history; a section on death and Roman society; and information about Roman transvestites.

FORUM ROMANUM:  This is associated with the site immediately above but is included because the homepage is a little confusing.  Here you will find information about the art of death; about the toga; about Roman superstitions; and about Roman festivals.

http://www.villaivlilla.com/ :This image-rich site focuses on daily life in ancient Rome, including atrium houses, food and dining, personal appearance (clothing, jewelry, and hairstyles), and time.

DAILY LIFE IN ANCIENT ROME: Part of a much larger site put together by a middle-school Social Studies teacher.

DAILY ROMAN LIFE: Good information on everything from Roman food to law.

www.camelotintl.com/romans/index.html

SODALIS FAMILIARIS: This site includes considerable information about Roman childhood.

 

B.  HISTORY

The reason for having History as a core course for all students is to provide a place for a broader overview of the Classical World than is likely to be gained through concentration upon particular themes.  The discovered notebook should include the following four History exercises:

1.  FACES

Do the following:

a)  Research the lives of at least ten of the people listed below;

b) Put together a small collage that includes images of your chosen people;

c) Draw a key that outlines the images and includes numbers for each individual;

d) Write two or three sentences of biography about each of the people.  Ask yourself why we should care anything about each individual today.  How did they influence history?  What can be learned from studying the details of their lives?

The point of this exercise is to introduce you to different individuals from the Ancient World.  You can choose all your people from Greece or Rome, or some from each civilization.   I have listed in parentheses whether the people are Greek or Roman, and very brief details about their identities.  Try to find people you find interesting rather than just randomly choosing 10 people.  Talk to me if you want to research people who are not on this list (for example, using the Uppity Women of the Ancient World book to learn more about women in the Classical world).

One very useful resource is .  Click on People in the left margin and then Alphabetical list at the bottom of the new right margin.  Many of the people listed below are included.

 

  1. Aeneas (legendary founder of Rome)

  2. Aeschylus (Greek tragic playwright)

  3. Aesop (Greek fable writer)

  4. Alexander the Great (Greek general)

  5. Mark Antony (Rome --challenger to Caesar)

  6. Archimedes (Greek mathematician and inventor)

  7. Aristophanes (Greek comic playwright)

  8. Aristotle (Greek philosopher)

  9. Asterix (Rome -- French comic strip character)

  10. Attila the Hun (invader of Rome)

  11. Marcus Aurelius (Roman emperor, 161--86 AD)

  12. Saint Augustine (Rome -- Christian philosopher)

  13. Augustus (Roman emperor)

  14. Boudicca (Rome -- English queen and warrior)

  15. Brutus (Roman senator and assassin of Julius Caesar)

  16. Caesarea (Rome)

  17. Caligula (Roman emperor, 37--41 AD)

  18. Cato the Elder (Roman politician)

  19. Cicero (Roman philosopher)

  20. Claudius (Roman emperor, 41--54 AD)

  21. Cleopatra (Rome -- Egyptian queen)

  22. Constantine the Great (Roman emperor)

  23. Croesus (Greek king of Lydia)

  24. Saint Daniel (Rome -- Christian martyr)

  25. Darius (Greece -- Persian king)

  26. Democritus (Greek atomist theorist)

  27. Diogenes (Greek philosopher)

  28. Draco (Greek law-maker)

  29. Epicurus (Greek philosopher)

  30. Euclid (Greek mathematician)

  31. Euripides (Greek tragic playwright)

  32. Galen (Roman doctor)

  33. Hadrian (Roman emperor)

  34. Hamilcar (Rome -- Carthaginian leader)

  35. Hannibal (Rome -- Carthaginian general)

  36. Heraclitus (Greek philosopher)

  37. Herodotus (Greek historian)

  38. Hesiod (Greek poet)

  39. Hippocrates (Greek doctor)

  40. Homer (Greek poet)

  41. Saint Jerome (Rome -- Christian martyr)

  42. Jesus (Rome -- founder of Christianity)

  43. John the Baptist (Rome)

  44. Josephus (Rome -- rebel leader in Judaea)

  45. Julius Caesar (Roman emperor)

  46. Livy (Roman historian)

  47. Lycurgus (Greece -- Spartan reformer)

  48. Lysander (Greece -- Spartan commander)

  49. Nero (Roman emperor, 54-68 AD)

  50. Olympias (Greece -- mother of Alexander the Great)

  51. Origen (Rome -- Christian philosopher)

  52. Orsippus of Megara (Greek athlete)

  53. Ovid (Roman poet)

  54. Saint Paul (Greece -- Christian missionary)

  55. Pericles (Greek politician)

  56. Saint Peter (Rome -- Christian apostle)

  57. Pheidippides (Greek messenger)

  58. Phidias (Greek sculptor)

  59. Philip II (Greece -- Macedonian king)

  60. Pindar (Greek poet)

  61. Plato (Greek philosopher)

  62. Plautus (Roman comic playwright)

  63. Pliny the Elder (Roman administrator and scientist)

  64. Ptolemy (Roman astronomer)

  65. Pythagoras (Greek mathematician)

  66. Romulus and Remus (Roman founders)

  67. Sappho (Greek poet)

  68. Scipio Africanus (Roman military leader)

  69. Seneca (Roman philosopher and tragic playwright)

  70. Socrates (Greek philosopher)

  71. Solon (Greek politician)

  72. Sophocles (Greek tragic playwright)

  73. Spartacus (Rome slave and rebel)

  74. Tacitus (Roman historian)

  75. Tarquinius Superbus (Roman leader)

  76. Thucydides (Greek historian)

  77. Tiberius (Roman emperor, 14-37 AD)

  78. Vergil (Roman epic poet)

  79. Vestal Virgins (Roman religious maidens)

  80. Xerxes (Greece -- Persian king)

  81. Zeno (Greek philosopher)

 

2.  PLACES

Draw a map or print off a blank map of the Classical World (the ancient Mediterranean).    Pick at least ten different Places and put numbers for each on your map.  Note that the Places are divided into two categories: General Geographic Locations and Specific Individual Sites.  The former include cities, islands, and regions; the latter are individual monuments or specific spots associated with important historic events.  You can choose any of the places, and, as with the Faces, are encouraged to pick some from both ancient Greece and Rome.  Do not repeat terms from earlier in the Notebook (for example, if you chose Architecture as a subject and included descriptions of some monuments listed below).  On an accompanying page, include names that match with the numbers and write at least two or three sentences of description for each term.  Focus upon the important history associated with the site.  Students who are going on the upcoming Europe trip should include all the places with *** beside them on their map.  We will be visiting these spots.  This means that your map should have a minimum of 18 numbers on it!

a)  GENERAL GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS

  1. Aegean Sea (Greece)

  2. ***Athens (Greece)

  3. Atlantis (Greece)

  4. ***Capri (Rome)

  5. Carthage (Rome)

  6. Constantinople (Rome)

  7. Gaul (Rome)

  8. Hellespont (Rome)

  9. Jerusalem (Rome)

  10. Lesbos (Greece)

  11. Londinium (Rome)

  12. Massalia (Rome)

  13. Mycenae (Greece)

  14. ***Mykonos (Greece)

  15. ***Patmos (Greece)

  16. Pergamon (Greece)

  17. Persepolis (Greece)

  18. Petra (Rome)

  19. ***Pompeii (Rome)

  20. ***Rome

  21. Sparta (Greece)

  22. Syracuse (Greece)

  23. Thebes (Greece)

  24. Troy (Greece)

 

b)  SPECIFIC INDIVIDUAL SITES

For contemporary photographs of many of the monuments of the Classical World, see .  For a photographic archive of the archaeological and architectural remains of ancient Athens, see .

 

  1. Actium (Rome)

  2. Appian Way (Rome)

  3. Light House at Alexandria (Greece)

  4. ***Athenian Agora (Greece)

  5. ***Erechtheion at Athens (Greece)

  6. ***Temple to Athena Nike at Athens (Greece)

  7. ***Theater of Dionysus at Athens (Greece)

  8. ***Circus Maximus (Rome)

  9. ***Colosseum (Rome)

  10. ***Temple to Apollo at Delphi (Greece)

  11. Eleusis (Greece)

  12. ***Temple to Artemis at Ephesus (Greece)

  13. Theater at Epidaurus (Greece)

  14. Hadrian's Wall (Rome)

  15. Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (Greece)

  16. Issus (Greece)

  17. Palace at Knossos (Greece)

  18. Marathon (Greece)

  19. Masada (Rome)

  20. Milvian Bridge (Rome)

  21. Temple to Zeus at Olympia (Greece)

  22. ***Pantheon (Rome)

  23. ***Parthenon (Greece)

  24. Plato's Academy (Greece)

  25. ***Colossus of Rhodes (Greece)

  26. Roman Catacombs

  27. ***Roman Forum

  28. Rubicon River (Rome)

  29. Temple at Jerusalem (Rome)

  30. Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline (Rome)

  31. Theater of Marcellus (Rome)

  32. Thermopylae (Greece)

  33. Tiber River (Rome)

 

3.  TIME

Design a time-line that outlines the history of either Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome.   Try to decide which were the twelve-to-sixteen most important events in the history of the society you are studying.  Go to .  Organize your events and print off two timelines.  Here are some resources to get you started, though I encourage you to use book resources as well.

A.  GREECE

GREEK HISTORY TIMELINE

GREEK TIMEFRAME

GREEK TIMELINE

ANCIENT GREEK CIVILIZATIONS: TIMELINE OF AEGEAN POLITICAL HISTORY

 

B.  ROME

ANCIENT ROMAN HISTORY

ROME, 509 BC -- AD 1453

ROMAN TIMEFRAME

TIMELINE OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC

TIMELINE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE

 

4.  STRANGE FACTS T-SHIRT

Draw a one-page picture of a shirt that includes upon it a list of 10 unusual facts of Greek or Roman history.  If you are in one of Cyrise's classes, ask for her help in designing an actual t-shirt.