Today began like most other days here at academy: breakfast and then classes. In Loquenda, we discussed words we would need for our afternoon activity. In de scelere we watched Atreus enact his plan for bloody revenge. In oderint, we looked at wall paintings in various villas. After lunch, we all ventured to the library for quaestio. As a pleasant surprise the very FIRST GLA newspaper was distributed! It seems as though everyone thoroughly enjoyed this student-run publication. We'd like to give a shoutout to Magistra Ghosheh for hatching this idea and supervising the production of it!

Finally, we all gathered anxiously in the atrium for instructions on our longest (6 hours!) activity of the day. We were grouped into our provinces, and the Bellum Mercium (commodity wars) commenced. This game is far too complicated to explain fully in this blog post, but, to put it simply, this game involved conquering other lands, trading with other provinces, and declaring war. Congrats to Rome, who emerged victorious at the end. Even though it was stressful and tense at times, you can rest assured that everyone had a exceptional experience!

The game left us all super tired, but we should be well-rested for tomorrow's adventures, which include going to see MacBeth!

- Caroline and Britney

Today started off with the most important meal of the day: breakfast at Estes. Afterwards, we learned about the second declension in Greek, began a two-part discussion on religion in Hellenistic Art, and discussed epitaphs in Mores. After a fantastic lunch, we had a terrific guest speaker.

Dr. Fred Franko gave us a talk on MacBeth, which we will be seeing this week. He spoke about the plot and taught us about iambic pentameter. We really enjoyed having him here, and we're very excited to see the performance.

After the lecture, we enjoyed some free time at the gym. Then, we dined. A Mercatus session followed, in which we kept working on our province's projects. They all appear to be going quite well, and everyone is very excited for the conclusion of this event. In the following play practice and Memoranda session, lots of work got done! In fact, the newspaper will be coming out tomorrow! Additionally, we began to add music to the play. Our last structured activity of the night was Greek drills. 

Finally, we got into our epistulae! We have not been able to receive mail since Friday, due to the holiday weekend. We were so excited to get your letters today!

-Britney and Caroline 

Today started off an hour later than usual with a nice warm-up with the Japanese Academy led by Magister Cavedo. We stretched our bodies to prepare for the day's intense activities with this warm-up. Next, we fueled up for the day with a Roman-style breakfast. Afterwards, we learned about the inaugural Silk Road Games, were divided into our teams, and began the games! 

First, we started with a vigorous game of sharks and minnows. Next, an impromptu art contest was held. We were required to create a piece that unified the respective cultures of each academy. We then competed in a four-part relay race, which consisted of a 3-legged race, wheelbarrow walking, balancing an egg on a spoon, and sprinting. The penultimate activity was a trivia contest about pretty much anything and everything. We concluded the games with a water balloon toss that shortly turned into a water balloon fight. 

After a delectable lunch, catered by Baker's Crust, we took a break for some rest time, and the reconvened for some less physically taxing games. After a delicious pizza dinner, we gathered in the theater along with the Japanese Academy to watch Spirited Away. Many were excited to view this Japanese film, which tells a heartfelt story about a small girl growing up. 

We had so much fun this Independence Day, however, we're excited to get back to our normal routine of classes tomorrow. Unfortunately, this means our day starts at 8 tomorrow!

-Britney and Caroline

As the title suggests, today was pretty much a normal day. However, this is not to say it was boring; it was very fun, as always! Our morning was packed with classes. In loquenda, we spoke to each other as our Roman personas. We read about Atreus's evil plans once more in de scelere. Finally, in oderint, we discussed statue painting. After lunch, we enjoyed quaestio and a bit of free time, during which some studied Greek, some ran through their lines for the play, and others simply relaxed. Then, we all gathered for Mercatus.

Today we had a particularly interesting session: we began to make the products we will be selling out of our provinces. There was lots of sculpting, gluing, twisting wire, and painting going on during this activity. Everyone had a great time channeling their inner creativity. We can't wait to showcase each of our provinces' products! After this, we all headed to dinner.

Memoranda and play practice were then held. The GLA newspaper is in its final editing phase, and will be coming out this week. We're all super pumped for it to make its debut! Play practice went well, as usual, and lo and behold!
​Cast of Miles Gloriousus:
Sayeed as Pyrgropolinice
Chris as Artrotrogus
Tim, Ben, and Rawley as Palaestrio
Elsa as Periplectomenus
Jake as Sceledrus
Julie as Philocomasium
Keith as  Pleusicles
Ana as Acroteleutium
Alison as Milphidippia 
Tyler as Cario
Xavier as ​Plautus Ipse
We are all looking forward to tomorrow, the Fourth of July! We will have an eventful day of sleeping in, playing games, and great excitement!

- Britney et Caroline

It's been a whole week that we've been together! We all feel as though it has flown by, but we still have 2 weeks to look forward to! We all enjoyed being able to sleep in this morning, at least a little. After lunch, we were each allowed 45 minutes on something we have not been in contact with for what seems like an eternity: the Internet. After a bit of study time as well, we headed off to our classes.

In mores we finished discussing Roman household gods and then moved on to types of housing in Rome, which depended on your class and wealth. In our class on Hellenistic art, we learned about court culture and how it influenced Hellenistic art. Finally, in Greek, we learned how to conjugate verbs in the present tense. After dinner, we all headed to the theater to see our second movie.

The movie, A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum, had everyone laughing throughout the entire film. We were able to see the stock characters that will be appearing in our own play! Again, we the Aediles, highly recommend this movie. Additionally, we highly recommend that you come see our play, Miles Gloriosus, on the 15th!

Having finished our first week at Academy, we participated in an activity known as Volifolium, a tradition handed down from generation to generation. We've all thoroughly enjoyed this first week together, and cannot wait to enjoy more activities in the next two weeks!
​- Caroline and Britney 

It's hard to believe we've all been together for almost an entire week! The day started as usual, with our classes. We learned clothing and color words in loquenda, analyzed panel paintings in oderint, and finally learned of Atreus's plan to get revenge on Thyestes in de scelere. Everyone met in the atrium after lunch and awaited the arrival of Legio XX! 
Legio XX is a Roman Legion reenactment group. We were shown how to march, throw javelins and plumbata, and spin wool! Additionally, we got to handle various replica items such as coins and shields. This was a very fun and informative activity! Then, after more Memoranda work and play practice, we ate dinner and did more work on the Mercatus project.
To top off the night, we all gathered for some Karaoke. Everyone who sang did a fantastic job! We ended the night with a group rendition of Don't Stop Believing, which involved lots of groovy dance moves from almost everyone. Thank you, tribunes (Min Jae and Ana), for setting up this event for us all to enjoy!
Pictures of the past two days' events will be added tomorrow morning.
​
- Britney and Caroline

Today began with Greek classes. Having declined nouns in Greek, analyzed Hellenistic art, and learned about the Roman naming system, we grabbed a quick lunch and did some more Greek drills. Then we grouped up with our provinces to begin our in-depth Mercatus project. We began this academy-long activity by researching our designated province. Next, we either practiced for the play or worked on Memoranda. Dinner was eaten, and then we were off to our next activity: cooking!
All of us congregated in the nearby church and were called into the kitchen province by province. First, while many were busy making dough for bread, others lined up by the piano to have a jam session! Next, lentil soup was started, followed by tzatziki sauce and moretum. Arm-wrestling matches were held, origami was folded, and Greek was studied by those who weren't in the kitchen. It was an enjoyable experience for all! 
​- Caroline & Britney

Instead of going to our usual classes after ientaculum (breakfast), we all gathered in the atrium to prepare for our journey to the Virginia Capitol building! After a bus ride full of some singing, some conversation, and much excitement, we arrived at the foot of the large hill which holds the immense Roman-style Capitol building. The buses were unloaded, we met our tour guide (Mark), and we made it through the metal detector with minimal delays. Our first stops was the old Senate and Delegate wings. We were even allowed to see the current Senate and House wings because they were not in session. We took some group pictures outside, and were then on our way to our next stop: Maymont.
Lunch was eaten under the shade of some low-hanging trees. Some frolicked through the flower gardens, others played with frisbees, and some sat relaxed on the grass. We were then surprised with a delicious treat: gelato! Everyone trudged back onto the buses (the trip drained us all), and we were delighted to learn that we would have free time when we returned to the campus. 
Dinner was had, and we celebrated a birthday: felicem diem natalem, Jake! Dr. Natoli then spoke to us about Roman, female writers. A very fascinating topic to discuss! This was followed by play practice and Memoranda work. The night came to a close with everyone gathering together: opening letters, playing card games, and discussing the day's events and those that are to come. We had a super full day, we should all sleep very well tonight to become rejuvenated for tomorrow's events!

Today was begun with our usual rotation of classes. In de scelere, finally dove into the play Thyestes, which many found as entertaining as watching an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. After finally mastering the basics, we were able to hold five-minute conversations with each other about our hobbies in loquenda. Finally, oderint consisted of exploring pictures of ancient tombs.
After lunch, we had a very unique session of quaestio, where most of us worked on our Roman personas. During this time, we bonded over creating connections between our Roman personas and, while we attempted to be accurate, we may have been a little dramatic with our tales. Afterwards, the actors ran through their lines while the Memoranda team continued their work on the newspaper and slideshow. 
The Japanese Academy as well as Dr. Lindgren joined us in Brock Commons for cookies before dinner. Dr. Lindgren also passed out t-shirts to each one of us during our personal interactions with him. We also made some new friends in the Japanese
Academy!

Post cenam, we all gathered in the theater to watch the movie Iphigenia. Some wept, some grew outraged, but everyone enjoyed the film overall. We had a small discussion after the movie to explore deeper meanings. We, the Aediles, highly recommend that everyone watches this! 
Everyone is now winding down and preparing for the field trip tomorrow. We're all buzzing (get it?) with excitement!