Take a Trip to Pompeii Without Leaving Home

BBC News reports "Ancient City of Pompeii Added to Google Street View."

Central Italy Devastated by Powerful Earthquake

Rescue efforts are continuing in the central Italian towns located in the Appenine mountain range. The current death toll of 150 is expected to rise and tens of thousands of people are now homeless.

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More video is available from the New York Times: "Deadly Earthquake Shakes Central Italy."

The Guardian (UK) news site has an interactive map which shows the proximity of L'Aquila, the epicenter of the quake, to the City of Rome, as well as Naples, where Mount Vesuvius, Italy's active volcano, is located.

The tremors were powerful enough to be felt in Rome and the Telegraph (UK) and New York Times both report that the Baths of Caracalla, near the Aventine Hill, have suffered damage.

Pompeii and the Roman Villa for Latin Students

The National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. is currently hosting an extremely popular exhibition entitled Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art and Culture in the Bay of Naples. This exhibit began last October and runs until March 20, 2009.

According to Lorena Baines, an Education Assistant who works in the Education Department of the National Gallery of Art, a large number of Latin students have enjoyed this exhibit. She recently pointed out some great online resources that are likely to be of use to Latin classes, even if you can't make it to the Gallery.

• Pompeii and the Roman Villa: A Guide for Latin Classes Several versions of this guide are available, in PDF and Word formats. In order to accommodate students at various levels, the National Gallery of Art has made this guide available in form that is easily customizable.
• Pompeii and the Roman Villa Classroom Guides Two PDF format guides are available. One for children at the elementary and middle school level and another for high school students.
• Pompeii and the Roman Villa DVD Exhibition There is a 30 minute long DVD of the exhibition available which can be borrowed for free! Classroom teachers and homeschoolers are among those eligible to borrow materials from the National Gallery of Art's Division of Education.

No Escape from Pompeii

Discovery Channel News reports the reconstruction of the final hours of a prominent Pompeii family who perished following the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius, by analyzing the layers of volcanic ash and examining the DNA from skeletons found in the home. This is a perfect opportunity to show the connection between science and the study of Latin and the Classics. This article is accompanied by some excellent links to a slideshow and podcast and extension activities. Latin teachers who use the Cambridge Latin Course Unit I will find this reconstruction particularly relevant, but it will be of interest to anyone fascinated by life in Ancient Rome. A great deal of our modern understanding of the Ancient Romans comes from the archaeological evidence excavated at Pompeii and Herculaneum, in combination with accounts from historical and literary texts (see Pliny VI, 16, 20 for a Latin language account of the catastrophe.)

If you live near or will be travelling to Washington D.C. this winter, the National Gallery of Art is hosting Pompeii and the Roman Villa, a major exhibition featuring art, objects and artifacts pertaining to the disaster. Visit the NGA site for video background, exhibition guides, links to podcasts from behind the scenes, and information about related tours, lectures and talks.

Doctor Who in Pompeii!

The fourth series of Doctor Who will start on BBCAmerica starting this weekend! What does Doctor Who have to do with teaching Latin? Well, a famous character from the Cambridge Latin Course will be guest starring in the second episode later this month!

In Episode 2, The Fires of Pompeii, which airs on Saturday, November 22, 2008, the Time Lord Doctor and his companion, Donna, find themselves in the doomed ancient city in 79 AD . (If you miss it, don't worry. BBCAmerica will carry seemingly constant re-runs and you can also download individual episodes on Itunes after the first run of each new episode.)

By the way, The Official BBC Doctor Who site has Series 4 The Fires of Pompeii wallpapers for your computer desktop!

Pompeii and the Roman Villa, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

If a trip to Italy to visit the ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum is too expensive this year, consider taking a trip to our nation's Capitol, Washington D.C., where the National Gallery of Art will be hosting an exhibition entitled Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art and Culture Around the Bay of Naples from October 19, 2008-March 22, 2009.

By the way, the National Gallery of Art has a wonderful online lesson plan for teachers and parents interested in introducing students to Greco-Roman art, Greco-Roman Origin Myths, which includes an interactive presentation of great works of art with clickable images, student activities, downloadable worksheets, related links, a glossary and more. Don't forget to try out NGAClassroom's Ancient Arcade game too!

Photo of a street in Pompeii with Mount Vesuvius in the background courtesy of Vroma.org. Note the stepping stones so that inhabitants of the ancient city could cross the street without getting their feet and shoes messy.

State of (Conservation) Emergency in Pompeii!

Of particular interest to those who teach Latin using the Cambridge Latin Course...

BBC News reports in a two minute video that, due to neglect and ever-increasing crowds of tourists, the ancient city and archaeological site of Pompeii is in a state of emergency.

Even Volcanoes Have Official Websites!

It seems there's an official website for just about everything now. This evening I came across the Official Vesuvius National Park site. There are some nice slide shows and photographs as well as some good information for students who might be getting ready to visit Pompeii and Herculeanum, or simply doing a research project.

A few other excellent sites to visit for anyone interested in Vesuvius -- especially those of you using the Cambridge Latin Course -- include:

• Earth Observatory Maintained by NASA. Be sure to use their search option because there are quite a few images of the volcano available, as well as informative articles.
• Volcano World Hosted by the University of North Dakota, this wonderful educational site has information about volcanoes worldwide, including a page devoted to Vesuvius. Of course, you'll find instructions on building your own volcano too! Pretty much everything you ever wanted to know about volcanoes can be found here!
  

Long Lost Masterpieces May be Recovered

Classicists may soon have some "new" scrolls to read. The Times (UK) reports that archaeologists have resumed working on excavating a villa located in the ancient city of Herculaneum (destroyed by a volcanic eruption over 2000 years ago in 79 A.D.) which they believe may hold some lost papyri.