Rome Trip 1998

Reprinted from UAH Exponent, Sept. 3, 1998
Written by Jody Lawton, Society Secretary

Group Photo in Bay of Naples leaving the Isle of Capri

Standing(from left to right): Kenny Ostrom, Jody Lawton, Jennifer Fox, Catharine Lorentz

Sitting(from left to right): Dr. Richard Gerberding, Dr. & Mrs. Jeff Nelson, Shane Bjornlie, John McKerley, Martha Vines

It is said that no single experience changes one's view of the world more than traveling to a different country. Last May, ten members of UAH.'s Society for Ancient Languages lived that experience for twelve days in Italy.

Originally, the motive for the trip was to learn more about the ancient Romans, for the Society for Ancient Languages is a group of students and professors who believe that the culture of the ancient Greeks and Romans is still relevant in today's world. But as the idea for the trip developed, it grew into an exploration not only of Italy's classical past, but of its long cultural tradition up to the present day.

For centuries, Italy has been the place where Europeans have gone to complete their educations. John Milton studied the art of poetry there, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart studied music. We hoped that Italy would educate us as well.

Arch of Constantine at Rome

Most of the ruins of Ancient Rome are some two thousand years old; it is amazing how much remains of this once great empire. Walking through the Forum in central Rome, one sees fragments of the most important temples and government buildings of the Republican period; it is awe-inspiring to consider that this site was once the heart of a nation that ruled from one end of the Mediterranean to the other.

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