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Outreach Program

We are pleased to inaugurate a new program offering engaging presentations about the ancient world for local classrooms. The topics that follow draw on a broad range of subjects, and we hope at least one will complement your
curriculum. Our goal is to increase your students’ understanding of life in the ancient world and to share our enthusiasm for teaching.

Here you will find an exciting list of topics. All can be modified to meet the level of your course and time limit of our class period. When you see a topic that sounds good, contact the Department of Classics Program Coordinator, Ms. Laura Deller, who will connect you with the presenter and help plan the visit. Call: 513 556-3050 or email: laura.deller@uc.edu. UC’s quarter system means that we will have presenters available from early January through mid-June, 2008.

HOW TO PICK UP CHICKS IN ROME: AN INTRODUCTION TO LOVE AND LOVE POETRY AT ROME
Patrick Beasom, Graduate Student

What did it mean to be in love in ancient Rome? In this presentation we will examine Roman conceptions of love and sex and their expression in Latin love poetry (in particular Catullus and Ovid). Students of Latin will gain an overview of Latin love poetry and how that poetry stood in relation to Roman societal norms. This presentation will explore love in the Roman world, noting in particular that concepts that are held in high esteem in American society were far rarer, or even absent from the Roman understanding of love. The role and position of women and slaves in Roman society will also be examined as it relates to the topic of love.


BRIDGE BUILDERS, BIRDWATCHERS, AND VIRGINS
Andrew Connor, Graduate Student

What did Roman priests do all day? Did a Vestal Virgin have any other duties aside from not having sex? Literary and archaeological sources are rich with information about the duties and rules of Roman priests and priestesses. These positions were of critical importance in the Roman religious and social structure, and through use of the sources, we can see which priest couldn’t leave Italy, which one couldn’t touch a horse, why an admiral would be throwing chickens overboard before a battle, and what it was that Roman priests did all day.


POMPEII: LIFE FROM THE ASHES
Allison L.C. Emmerson, Graduate Student

Walk with ancient Romans! This presentation will take students on a virtual tour of Pompeii, a Roman city buried in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Tour stops will include the town forum, an elite house, a “fast food joint,” the theatre district, the amphitheatre, and the cemeteries outside the city walls. At each stop, we will examine the ways in which the Latin language and the material remains of the town come together to bring the Roman past to life. The presentation will conclude with an interactive project. Students, working in groups and with the aid of a glossary, will translate several inscriptions from Pompeian tombs. The class will then reconvene to discuss what the tombs tell us about the individuals buried there, and to imagine the places within the city where those individuals might have lived, worked, and played.


BIRTH OF A NATION
Whitney Snead, Graduate Student

Why do we celebrate Rome's founding on April 21, 753 B.C.? Let's explore the tradition and discover the truth. Using new archaeological excavations on the Palatine in Rome and Latin literature: poetry (Propertius) and prose (Livy), we will learn what those abandoned twins did and when they did it. Such explorations will also help us understand ancient propaganda and patriotism. After all, by the 6th century the hut of Romulus was already preserved as an ancient site, and the Roman emperors made sure to enrich the celebrations of the annual Parilia.


THESE WALLS CAN TALK!
Allison Sterrett-Krause, Graduate Student

We Americans aren’t the only ones who carve words onto buildings and write on bathroom walls; the Romans did it too! Inscriptions on buildings and other objects provide us with a window into the minds and eyes of the ancient Romans, and into our own society. Explore some of the ways that Americans and Romans use inscriptions, figure out why we write on walls, and read some of the inscriptions that real Romans wrote and read as they walked around their cities 2,000 years ago.


THE MUMMY’S SECRET: EGYPTIAN PAPYRI
Professor Peter van Minnen

Ancient Greeks and Romans wrote on paper made from the stalks of a plant called papyrus. Once a papyrus book or document became damaged, its material was often “recycled” as wrapping for mummies in Egypt. As a result up to a million papyri with ancient texts survive in collections world wide. They date from the third millennium BC to about AD 1000. They can be written in Egyptian (hieroglyphs, hieratic and demotic scripts, and Coptic), Greek, Latin, Arabic, and other languages used in Egypt. About one in ten are literary texts (the Book of the Dead, Homer, Greek poems), the rest is documentary and ranges from tax accounts to private letters. Learn about life in the ancient world through papyrus fragments!


EUREKA!
Whitney Snead, Graduate Student

Heard of Copernicus, Newton, Einstein? Hackneyed all of them! Meet the original scientific genius. Recent work on the palimpsest manuscript of Greek scientist Archimedes offers a better understanding to the importance of his work. By reading some later Latin authors' accounts of Archimedes’ life and great scientific work under Heiro II, we can learn how his inventions and discoveries informed the scientists we all know by name. In addition, the Archimedes Palimpsest allows us to learn about ancient manuscripts- from papyrus to parchment -and how as historians, archaeologists and classicists we are bettered by such great findings.


MORE THAN MONEY: ANCIENT COINS AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL ETHICS
Lynne Kvapil, Graduate Student

This presentation will introduce students to ancient numismatics (coins), the importance of coins to the understanding of archaeological sites, and the ethical problems with collecting ancient coins. One hands-on activity with modern coins will show students how important archaeology is to understanding the meaning—and date—of coins. The second activity will allow groups of students to handle a real ancient coin. They will determine how much they can and cannot know about the coin once it has been removed from the ground without documentation. The realization that looting and improper excavation limits our knowledge will prompt a discussion of archaeological ethics.


UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY
Kris Trego, Graduate Student

Just like the birth and development of Cincinnati, cities of the ancient world depended upon ships, seas, and rivers to trade and interact with others. Ships were the cars, trains, planes, and war machines of the Greeks and Romans and carried the essentials of their civilizations. But in order to unlock the secrets of the ships they first have to be found and excavated--from under the depths of the sea! We'll look at how vital the Ohio River was to the settlement of Cincinnati as we explore why ships were so important to the ancient world. Learn how ancient ships are found and excavated by scuba diving archaeologists from the ocean floor! How can we unlock their secrets and gather clues about the Greeks and Romans?


DIGGING UP HOMER
Emily Egan and Shannon LaFayette, Graduate Students

Did the Trojan War really happen? This presentation is designed to give high school students an introduction to the archaeological evidence for one of the most gripping stories of the ancient world, Homer’s Iliad. Discussion focuses on archaeological excavations at Bronze Age palaces in Greece including those of Agamemnon and Nestor at Mycenae and Pylos, and from the citadel at Troy. Different forms of archaeological evidence including ceramics, fortifications, weapons, wall paintings, bones, and bathtubs paint a varied and dynamic picture of an ancient way of life. But is this enough to prove Homer’s tale? To answer this tantalizing question, this presentation looks at the problems involved when Homer and archaeology are brought together and what archaeologists are doing to figure out the best ways to determine if “X” truly marks the spot.


WHAT DO ARCHAEOLOGISTS DO, ANYWAY?
Shannan Stewart, Graduate Student

This presentation explores the work of archaeologists and our place in society. The word “archaeologist” usually brings up images of Indiana Jones, treasure-hunting, or reanimated mummies. Real archaeology is not usually so Hollywood-friendly, but the field is full of both dangers and rewards. We will first discuss the goals of archaeology and how this discipline has contributed to our understanding of human history. We will then consider exactly what archaeologists do, including excavation, laboratory work, and experiments. We will look at a typical day on an excavation, including work, meals, accommodations, and recreation. Finally we will explore the role of archaeologists as advocates for the protection of our past.


“ODE TO A GRECIAN URN:” UNDERSTANDING GREEK VASES
Peter Stone, Graduate Student

This presentation will use genuine ancient ceramic objects from the Department of Classics’ Study Collection to introduce students to the importance of ceramics as an artistic medium in Ancient Greece. In addition to an overview of their use, the presentation will consider how the decoration and shape of ceramics are interpreted by the archaeologist, how their display in museum as “art” is not equivalent to their ancient value, and how illegal trade in Greek vases harms our knowledge of the ancient world. Probably best for a class of 25 or fewer.


GREECE AND ITS WORLD: IT’S NOT ALL GREEK TO US
Jed Thorn

Ancient Greece was not a nation. In fact, it is even hard to establish the borders of the ancient Greek world. So then, what was “Greece?” To be Greek was to speak Greek and practice Greek culture and religion, yet there were Greeks living from what is now France to Armenia. This presentation will explore the importance of identity, regardless of place by examining Greek achievements (the first stone temples, the great library at Alexandria, Egypt, etc.) and their relationships to the Greek homeland.


“A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO FOUNTAIN SQUARE:” ATHENS, ROME, AND THE ROOTS OF THE MODERN CITY
Jody Michael Gordon, Graduate Student

Today’s cities are not really so different from ancient ones. In fact, everyday we walk to school or go to work we move through an organized grid of buildings, and see objects and images with specific social functions, which all have their roots in one of the greatest contributions of the classical world to the modern one, that is the city. For the Greeks, the city was known as the polis, from which our word ‘politics’ is derived, and its greatest example was Athens. For the Romans, the city was called a civitas, from which we get today’s term, ‘civilization’, and the city of Rome became the ancient world’s most important urban center. We will look at a series of ancient buildings and urban areas from Athens and Rome and compare them to modern buildings and civic regions with similar social functions (for example: the Colosseum and Paul Brown Stadium!). We will discover that the modern city is not so different from the ancient one.


ANCIENT GLOBALIZATION: ROMAN CULTURE THROUGHOUT THE PROVINCES
Chris Cloke, Graduate Student

The city of Rome and Italy as a whole were only a very small part of the “Roman” world. The Roman Empire extended from the Atlantic Ocean to the Caspian Sea, and from Africa and Saudi Arabia into Northern Europe; in many places people’s daily lives came to resemble those of citizens in the Empire’s leading city. Theaters, stadiums for gladiatorial combat and chariot races, temples, and fora brought Roman learning, entertainment, and business to every corner of the known world of the day. Daily objects like plates and bowls, lamps and religious images were in many ways universal. This lesson seeks to show students how the hallmarks of Roman culture expanded, with particular reference to modern globalization.


CLEOPATRA UNWRAPPED
Professor Peter van Minnen

What do we really know about Cleopatra? Unpack the Roman myth and restore the Egyptian queen! Cleopatra was the Hillary Clinton of the Roman world. She was vilified by the Republican propaganda of Octavian. Unfortunately, he won, and his "portrait" of Cleopatra has become part of the Western tradition. Thanks to written sources from Egypt itself (including inscriptions on stone and documents written on papyrus) that have only recently turned up, we can reconstruct a day in the life of the Egyptian queen.


Visit US!

YES, IT’S REAL! VISIT THE DEPARTMENT OF CLASSICS STUDY COLLECTION
Professors Steven Ellis and Kathleen Lynch

The Department of Classics owns a modest study collection of ancient objects: ceramics, coins, tablets, seals, and small statues. Much of the pottery is fragmentary, which permits hands-on activities. Classes of 20 or fewer are invited to arrange a visit of one to two hours. Students would be introduced to the relationship of use to form and decoration of pottery, the way archaeologists learn from broken pottery, how pictures convey messages on pots and coins, and how museums care for objects. A great opportunity for your students to interact with objects over 2500 years old! Contact Laura Deller to make arrangements.