Oplontis

Tuesday 7/13/10

View of Oplontis

 Sr. Therese and Sr. Theresa seem to realize they are running the participants ragged. Today we cut back on activities. We spent the morning in Oplontis visiting the villa there, perhaps the villa of Poppaea Sabina, the second wife of the Emperor Nero, or of one of her relatives. It is an example, like Pompeii's Villa of the Mysteries, of a Villa Suburbana. Not a working farmhouse, but a showcase of luxury, located outside of town. This villa was convenient to Pompeii, about 3 Roman miles outside of the more famous town. Its remains are luxurious enough that one could imagine a member of the imperial family owning it. Different parts of the house are decorated with frescoes in different styles, and the slaves' section is decorated with humble black and white stripes. It is easy to tell where the servants and where their masters were expected to hang out. The piscina or swimming pool is huge.  

Famous Frescoes

Slaves' Quarters

The Piscina or Swimming Pool

We have a translation session tonight. We will stay here for more sessions and lectures tomorrow. Thursday we head to the island of Ischia, where we will visit the Greek remains of the settlement beneath the church of St. Restituta. Ischia has nice hot springs and gardens, so we plan to bring our bathing suits for our free time there in the afternoon.

 On a personal note, I managed to get through all of my PT exercises today without any painkillers. It hurt, but I could do them, and got some good bend in the knee. My ankles are still swollen. It seems impossible to avoid salt and sugar in the diet around here; perhaps Rome will be better. I still have a rash on my legs, but it looks better than the rashes on the legs of the other women who mysteriously developed a skin condition around the same time I did. I honestly suspect the improvement is from the aqua s. ferrata I've been applying from the spring at Terme di Stabia. I may decide to go back and get more. I need a haircut and still can't figure out how to get one.

 I also have decided I want to order a pamphlet on graffiti from the American Classical League Teaching Materials and Resource Center to use with my students. Also, if I assign students to research houses, they may want to do it after their favorite television show home-show, like “Cribs”  or “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”. Myths and graffiti could be tied in with the houses as well as architecture and figures from Roman history.

My eternal thanks go to the National Endowment for the Humanities for funding this portion of our trip.