Salvete!
Sorry for the absence of a blog post yesterday, we got back to Randolph-Macon quite late after from the play. But what a play it was! We enjoyed A Merchant of Venice by Quill Theater at Agecroft Hall. Prior to the performance, Dr. Fred Franko, an academy teacher for several years, and Dr. Matthew Radford Davies, playing Shylock in the play, visited us to discuss the evolution of Plautus's material in Shakespeare's plays and to discuss the sensitive material and controversy in Merchant and other plays.

Today we enjoyed a Roman dinner featuring entertainment from all our provinces. The acts were wonderful and featured several surprises. For instance, in the part Johnnie played for Carthage's skit, he had to dress as a Roman woman, and he performed his role extraordinarily well. Alexandria also had an amazing Province Roast, which had all of us in tears of laughter. All the acts were great and you'll get to hear more about the dinner from your student and maybe even see bits of it on the Memoranda DVD.  Then we enjoyed more of Mr. Cavedo's stories and a talent show, featuring our Tribunes Kirby Ann and Will as MCs.

We think that two of the lines from a section in Menaechmi on the handout given to us by Dr. Franko is especially punny. and here it is:
"Because of this, they call the city Epidamnus,
For no one leave unscathed, 'un-epidamaged.'"

Here's a photo from Thursday's Bellum Mercium, or Commodity Wars: 

Valete!

Salvete!
Today we enjoyed another round of Latin classes, and after lunch, participated in ​Bellum Mercium, or Commodity Wars, to simulate the busy commerce of the Roman empire. This activity started after lunch and continued past dinner and was one of the most action-packed events we've had at academy. Tomorrow we are going on our second field trip, this time to see a Shakespeare play, but more will come on that later. Pictures from the commodity wars aren't up yet, but enjoy some more pictures from this past week. 
​Valete!

Salvete! A warm greeting from all of us and from Kirby Ann's Kirby, which she made for her officer campaign.

Today was relatively relaxing, though no less rewarding. We enjoyed another round of Greek classes and continued mid-academy self evaluations. After lunch, we attend an elective class and enjoyed a social with Japanese academy hosted by Robert Lindgren, President of Randolph-Macon College. Then we continued work on our production of Menaechmi (lines are almost fully memorized and the set is being painted!), and, after dinner, had Greek drill and began preparing for our Roman banquet. There's still plenty to look forward to, so keep watching for more blog posts and check out some pictures from this past week below. 
​Valete!

Bryant and Satori playing Ludi Romani on the 4th of July

Salvete!
Today we enjoyed our fourth round of Latin classes in the morning and listened to Dr. Bartolo Natoli's guest lecture after lunch. Then we worked on our play and after dinner, enjoyed the film Black Orpheus and a continuation of Mr. Cavedo's short stories. We've been really busy lately, but in the next few days, we hope to include more pictures of these wonderful activities. 
Thank you!

Salvete! 
Today was jam packed with SO MUCH fun stuff! We had a special Roman breakfast consisting of bread, cheese, meats, and fruits. Then we worked on our Trajan's Market products. After a pizza lunch, we had some free time filled with lots of card games and ping pong. Then we learned about Roman games and made our own game boards. Finally, we watched the anime film Mononoke Hime with the Japanese Academy.
Basically today was amazing and super fun. Thank you so much for today!

In Magistra Carroll's Latin class, we've been reading Thyestes by Seneca the Younger. It's a fascinating play, and our very own Blake has written a poem about it. Enjoy!

Beyond anger, emotions run wild
the only choice: to destroy brother's child.
So chase a vengance he must do,
to return the pain of which he was put through.
Cloudless thunder reflecting malicious intent,
action taken course from anger long pent.
A body shaking rage which piles on to a curse,
through seeking revenge the problem becomes worse.
So he calls on his brother to create repulsion quite real.
​Fed to his brother was the most family of meal.
 

Salvete!
One week has already passed! Eheu!
A correction on the Legio XX post: after Legio XX's visit, we worked on paper-based province mosaics. After dinner, we worked on individual, tile-based mosaics. They are separate projects. Guess we should have heeded the words of Caesar and avoided writing about the matter within the matter itself :) (De Bello Gallico Book V, Chapter 33).
Today was a wonderful conclusion to the week, with some free time in the morning, Greek classes after lunch, and a viewing of the film A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Last night, Magister Cavedo entertained us with a reading of the start to his story, and we enjoyed hearing some more after the film. 
​A reminder: if you want to send us mail, addresses and mailing information can be found on page 4 of the student packet, found under "Materials". Thank you for all your support and for reading our blog! 

During the name game - almost an entire week ago :o - each person chose something to buy from the Roman forum, which had to start with the same letter as their name. David here chose to buy dirt, leading to someone accidentally calling him "Dirt" when going around naming everyone. This nickname spread like wildfire around the group, and, surprisingly, David now responds to "Dirt." 

Salvete!
Today we had a successful round of Latin classes and, after lunch, a very fun-filled and informative surprise visit by Legio XX! They were comprised of men and women who were experts in the Roman and Celtic armies and domestic Roman life. Did you know to make one tunic, it takes 500 hours of spinning wool into yarn? And you still have to clean and prepare the wool beforehand, and then weave it afterwards! We also learned a lot about throwing javelins and marching in a Roman Legion. We even talked to experts on Celtic warriors and learned a lot about their javelins and using shields as weapons. Accounts even describe Celtic javelin heads that had corkscrew spirals and serrated teeth to make them more deadly.
​After their visit, we continued to work on mosaics, which we will continue after dinner. Today was packed with information and fun, and we can't wait for more!
Thank you!

Flower Child Kirby Ann tries on Roman armor, and it matches her earrings perfectly!

Example of the corkscrew, serrated javelin head mentioned earlier

Salvete!
It was a rainy day, but not lacking in excitement, as we began to make products in our provinces for our marketplace event. Then we had a dance battle and karaoke, run by our wonderful tribunes, Kirby Ann and Will.
We are currently unable to upload any fun pictures of the day, but they'll show up tomorrow, we promise! Keep a lookout for jokes, and enjoy your weekend! Tempus fugit.
Thank you!