GIP Italy Trip

I recently was able to attend the GIP trip to Italy, which was an amazing way to start my summer. We started in a small town in Northen Italy called Valdobbiadene and then ventured down to Rome. I had an amazing time connecting with my new Italian friends, but the most memorable part of the trip was going to Rome and seeing sites I had been learning about for years in Latin class.

Poly kids with our Italian hosts

In AP Latin this year, my class and I read Caesar's De Bello Gallico, his commentary on the Gallic Wars. This is a particularly fascinating text because it is the only example of its genre; no other author has written a "Comentarii" in quite the same style. Caesar speaks about himself in the third person and has styled the text after letters usually written to the Senate with news about the war. Caesar glorified his war and instilled Roman values in the readers (or listeners) of the commentary.

Fellow AP Latin Student and I after a successful oration in the Roman Forum

While in Rome, a fellow AP Latin student and I read aloud an excerpt of De Bello Gallico, just as the Roman public would have heard it in Caesar's time. Reenacting the scene gave new life to what is commonly referred to as a "dead language." By thinking about Latin in a new way, I was able to connect some of Julius Caesar's motives 2000 years ago to much more modern examples.

Enjoying the Forum (thanks Mussolini)

For one, Mussolini was the main reason that many of the ruins were available to the public. He attempted to use Roman history to establish nationalist pride among Italians. Both the modern American and Italian governments are using nationalism to further their agendas. However, while Rome's national pride drove expansion, modern nationalism trends more toward isolationism. In the past few weeks alone, the Italian minister of the interior turned away a ship of refugees and Trump locked up immigrant children.

The ancient Rome continues to surprise me with its similarity to the modern world, and it provides a fascinating lens through which I can look at current events. I had a wonderful time in Italy with Poly, and thank you so much to everyone who made the trip happen!

The Poly group

Papa ❤️