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In this scenario, students investigate selected provinces of the Roman Empire using primary sources, inscriptional and monumental evidence, coins, and modern descriptions. They use journal entries to narrow their selection of a particular province to research in depth. As they share their discoveries with each other, they develop an appreciation of the enormous variety of cultures in the ancient Mediterranean Basin. They identify similarities and differences among these ancient cultures and develop an appreciation for multiculturalism and Roman attempts to deal with these variations, both successes and failures. Finally, students have a chance to draw conclusions about multiculturalism in the modern world. ACTIVITY SET 1: Governing in Ancient Rome
To get an overview of the ancient world, students create an instant wall map using an overhead transparency projecting a map of the Roman world on a white shower curtain or several pieces of butcher paper taped together. One person per group traces their province as the rest of the group begins its investigation by studying maps of the Roman Empire to identify provinces, peoples that inhabit the provinces, and major geographical features. They also examine modern summaries and historical atlases covering these provinces to find out about such factors as geographical advantages (trade routes, ports, defensibility) or isolation, key cities, climate extremes, religious beliefs, agriculture, exports and raw materials, wars and other seminal events. (Duplication can be avoided by having groups draw for sections of the map to investigate.) Once group research is completed, the instant wall map is filled in, one province at a time, as groups give reports and classmates follow along and fill in their copy of the map. Essentially the students are creating rudimentary, provincial reference notebooks for their own use. Finally, in a personal journal, students write about three provinces that interest them and why, or about what life must have been like and what made life in those three provinces unique or different than life elsewhere. (See Expansion Ideas for suggestions for provinces and major geographical features.) ACTIVITY SET 2: Learning More About the Provinces Next, students work independently creating a KWL chart on the three provinces selected from their first journal entry (Activity Set 1), including at least three points per province. To avoid having too many students focus on the same provinces, a preliminary sign-up begins with the first-place winners in the map game (then 2nd place, then 3rd) tagging their three provinces. The teacher determines the maximum number of students considering the same province. Learners now begin more in-depth research in the library or on the Internet with an additional emphasis on monuments and descriptions by Roman authors, and where particularly relevant, leading historical figures. At the conclusion, students create a mind map, displaying information learned about their three preferred provinces. For the second entry in the personal journal, students are to give pros and cons about each of the three provinces and promising goals for a new governor’s term. They conclude by selecting their single, favorite province for further research. ACTIVITY SET 3: Creating a Coin Next, students assemble in groups of three to five. The Latin word pecunia (money) came from pecus (cattle) when barter predated coinage. In the West, coins were first invented in Asia Minor, and the idea was spread around the Mediterranean by traders. The earliest Roman money was a crude bronze ingot, called aes rudes. Coins tell a great deal about a nation. With this in mind, and with a wink, groups are told that they are about to receive a coin from a “recently discovered” ancient culture. Each group receives a penny! They brainstorm on paper for five to ten minutes all of the conclusions they think could safely be drawn about the “ancient” culture that produced this coin. Once students buy into the idea that coins hold some keys to a culture, they come up with an amazing range of ideas from sophistication of technology to writing and architecture to ideas of deities or heroes. When time is up, groups announce their findings. As a prelude to designing a coin for their province, this is a great opportunity to investigate the Latin phrases on the dollar bill, since every Latin student should know them and have a basic understanding of the symbolism involved. Students receive a copy of a dollar bill enlarged to 200% on 8.5" x 14" paper, front and back. They consider a series of questions related to those symbols. For the front, they consider the laurel leaves that decorate this side and what they represent, as well as where the stylized acanthus leaves from Corinthian columns appear. For the back of the bill, students should know that the Founding Fathers spent many months designing the Great Seal and rejected many proposed versions. This side is much more complex than the front and provides innumerable details for reflection. The pyramid represents stability, unfinished because the great American “experiment” in democracy is still a work in progress. Whose is the overseeing, beneficent eye? Which Latin phrase refers to it? Why an eagle? Count the laurels in its talon. Count the arrows. To which of these does the eagle face and why? What is the number of stars in the glory above the eagle? The number of layers of stone in the pyramid? The three Latin phrases also offer a tempting number of activities, but translation at least is essential. Novus ordo seclorum: “a new world order” or “a new order of the ages” — what view of world history is implied? In what company does this phrase put the colonies? Annuit Coeptis - “He (the eye, the divine being) has favored our undertaking.” And of course e pluribus unum could be applied to immigrations, historical foundations of the new nation, federalism, and even to an individual’s family heritage. An opportune alternative (or additional) assignment is also possible. The U.S. Treasury department is minting a quarter for each state, and students may have very strong ideas about what the Texas quarter should include. Is the Alamo too controversial? Are oil derricks and armadillos too stereotypical? What would capture the essence of Texas, both traditionally and what it is becoming? How successful have other states’ designs been? What should Texas’s look like? A simple discussion of these issues primes students for creating a coin for their selected Roman province. If students get involved in particularly vigorous discussion, you may capitalize on their interest by assigning them to submit their own design for a Texas quarter. After considering American currency, students examine a few Roman coins and monument inscriptions before beginning their designs. They will discover that some coins were made for the province, others for the folks back at Rome. An excellent coin for consideration is the one minted by the assassins of Julius Caesar: it simply has a freedman’s cap with a dagger on either side. Is the propaganda clear enough? How about Augustus’s coin produced after the civil war between himself and Mark Antony and his Egyptian consort: a crocodile (representing the province) and vic for victa (conquered)? Selected monuments make the same point. Students may also find examples of existing coins and/or monuments from their selected province and use a T-chart to assess and compare the images and inscriptions. With numerous examples and ideas now in mind, learners create large, construction paper coins appropriate for their chosen province, especially depicting the way they want their governorship to be portrayed. There may be beloved local icons, impressive Roman monuments; there may be painful or delicate historical conflicts to soothe, competing factions to balance, or (un)popular Romanization to enforce. Of course, the Emperor who is so generously making this governorship possible must also be considered! When the completed coins are introduced to the class and briefly explained, celebrate by taking snapshots of each smiling culprit using a Polaroid or digital camera. Make a group photo of students holding their coins and standing together arranged to form a living map of the Mediterranean. Then, attach the “governors’” pictures to their coins and place them on the appropriate province on the increasingly colorful class map. ACTIVITY SET 4: Understanding Cultural Conflict Working in groups, students now undertake a task to relate the modern world with the ancient. Using a sheet of butcher paper, groups draw a line down the middle. On one side they list examples of products and historical and cultural events that occurred as Roman Imperial culture came into contact with another culture. Obvious successful contacts include infrastructure, education, sanitation, and the confluence of Greek and Roman mythology, philosophy, and literature. Failures or unsuccessful contacts include slavery, conquest, Roman arrogance, and setting up Roman gods in non-Roman sites. Virtually every province had special experiences becoming a part of the Roman world, so there should be a wide variety of items on the list. On the other side of the line, students list similar or corresponding events that have occurred recently (as defined by the teacher) or in modern history. Many classes can go beyond simply stating that “the Taliban is intolerant like the Romans” to a more precise understanding that contrasts the Roman inclination towards assimilation and general tolerance. Modern examples echoing Roman practices include the Hindu caste system (which is similar to stratified Roman society), Shinto ancestor worship, and Hawaiian colonization. The efforts to eliminate racial and gender barriers in today’s society reflect the struggles of those oppressed by Imperial Rome. And, of course, corporate raiding mirrors rapacious governors or Roman invasion at its “best.” A variant of this ongoing project is for students to scan newspapers for articles about the kinds of items they have listed and add these to the posted list. Students are impressed to see that in a period of nascent globalism, an accumulation of headlines fills the modern column fairly quickly. Points are awarded per article, for most unique comparison, for the one most closely mirroring the ancient experience, etc. Another variant is to make three columns, the ancient event in the middle, “unsuccessful” modern cultural contacts on the left, “successful” contacts on the right. Movies or books highlighting comparable issues can also be included. In a last journal entry, students write about a personal experience involving some aspect of multiculturalism or a summary of favorite examples of multiculturalism in the Roman world. ACTIVITY SET 5: Speaking to “The People”
Communication:
Students use the interpersonal mode for group work and games, the
interpretive mode in their research and watching videos, and the
presentational mode for reporting on research and making their final
speeches.
Books Adkins, L. & Adkins, A. (1994). Handbook to life in ancient Rome. New York: Facts on File. Cornell T. & Matthews, J. (1982). Atlas of the roman world. New York: Facts on File. Finley, M. I. (1977). Atlas of classical archaeology. New York: McGraw-Hill. Grant, M. (1986). A guide to the ancient world. New York: Barnes and Noble Books. Grant, M. (1971). Ancient history atlas. New York: S. J. Durst. Grant, M. (1960). The world of Rome. New York: Penguin Books. Graves, R. (1957). The twelve Caesars. (Translated from Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus). New York: Penguin Books. Mattingly, H. (1948). The Agricola/the Germania. (Translated from C. Tacitus). New York: Penguin Books. Scarre, C. (1995). The Penguin historical atlas of ancient Rome. New York: Penguin Books. Videos
Webliography NOTE: These Internet resources may have changed since publication or no longer be available. Active links should be carefully screened before recommending to students. Numismatics
Inscriptions
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