"One of the things I loved most about Rome was the mix of the old and the new, how the city was layers of history. You could have, in one place, modern cars driving by on a medieval road by a Roman temple. It's something you don't get in the United States, this fascinating map of where our society has come from and how it got to where it is. You can see it in San Clemente, where the new has literally been built directly on top of the old, but really, it's everywhere. It seems like it changes the feel of the city, and even of the people in it."

 

"The Latin V was a significant experience for me because it contextualized everything I had been learning about in Latin class for the last five years.  It allowed me to see the actual sites discussed in our texts, and being in Rome made imagining the life and culture of Ancient Rome much easier."

"For lunch we had a picnic on the Caelian Hill.  Afterwards we had a rousing game of soccer."

 

"I now understand why the Via Appia is considered a queen among roads. We only walked a small portion of it, but its length was apparent (well over 300 miles, I think). To step on the stones of ancient Rome — to look down and see the marks left by chariot wheels more than two thousand years ago — was pretty amazing."

"Today we walked through Rome, and it has been amazing to see everything. We traced the triumphal procession, from Largo Argentina and the republican ruins to have lunch on the Palatine, and then walked down into the forum."

"Our teachers explained the republican forum layout with handouts on our second trip to the forum.  It was a bit overcast. Seeing Rome with our teachers is completely different than my previous visit, mostly because they know every site to see and can pick the best rather than spending all our time in museums."

 

"The Forum is a magnificent example of man's great feats. The clivus capitolinus* is beautiful. It seems to be interminable, going on forever. It's as if a true lover of antiquity or the classics or even ancient architecture can travel along that path for miles, viewing the exquisite geometry of ancient Rome. I wish I could live here forever."

*= the stretch of road in the picture