Lesson One
Knowing the Land–Knowing People
Enduring Understanding
Volcanoes play a significant role in shaping the human
environment.
Essential Questions
How did the ancient landscape of Mount Vesuvius
shape the lives of Roman people? Did ancient Romans
know Mount Vesuvius was a volcano?
What Students Will Learn
• Volcanic soil is rich in nutrients.
• Pliny the Younger is a source for learning
about ancient Romans.
What Students Will Do
• Estimate the size of a Roman villa.
• Read a biography of Pliny the Younger.
• Use observation and inference to interpret a wallpainting (fresco).
• Read and analyze geographic data.
• Extension activity: create a three-dimensional
model of Mount Vesuvius and identify the changes
between maps of the same place during different
times periods by listing at least four changes.
Materials
SUBJECTS: science, social studies
CCSS and NGSS: R.2, R.3, R.4, W.9, SL.2, L.4,
L.6 and ESS3.A Natural Resources, ADQP, AID,
CEDS
SKILLS:
• Bloom’s Taxonomy: Evaluation,
Comprehension, Knowledge
• Facets of Understanding: Explanation,
Interpretation
DURATION: 90 - 120 minutes
CLASS SIZE: Any
• “Geographic Location of Roman Villa at Oplontis”
(page 37)
• Data Collection Sheet “Geographic Location of
Oplontis” (page 38)
For the Teacher
• Image of the famous wall-painting of Vesuvius and
Bacchus, from the House of the Centenary, First
Century AD (IX.8.6) to project (page 36)
• Other images of Vesuvius, Bay of Naples, maps
• String 10 meters in length
Background Information
For Each Student
• A pocket folder or portfolio in which to gather
and store unit materials
• Word Bank (page 31), 2-3 copies for each student
for the entire unit
• “Investigating a Roman Villa: Understandings”
(pages 32-34), one copy for each student
• A biography, “Meet Pliny the Younger” (page 35)
Vesuvius is the most famous volcano in the
world and resides in the province of Campania near
the Bay of Naples. Campania consists of a fertile
plain, which at the time of the eruption in A.D. 79,
produced wheat, spelt, millet, olives and grapes. The
fertile plains are surrounded by mountain ranges,
Aurunic on the North, Apennines in the East and the
Lactarli Mountains in the Sorrentic Peninsula. The
Leisure & Luxury in the Age of Nero
Copyright 2015 Project Archaeology-MSU
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town of Pompeii and the villas at Oplontis resided in
the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. The villas at Oplontis
stood on a cliff overlooking the sea in the Bay of
Naples. The river Sarno feeds the plains and runs
south of the villa.
In A.D. 62, Campania was struck by a violent
earthquake. Pompeii suffered the greatest damage.
A relief in the house of Lucius Caecillius Jucundus
shows the impact of the earthquake on the forum; all
of the buildings were damaged. The villas at Oplontis
show areas where reconstruction work was taking
place to repair the damage and was still in progress
during the eruption of Vesuvius.
In A.D. 79 Vesuvius erupted destroying all
the towns and villas, including Pompeii and Oplontis,
to the southeast of the volcano as well as the lives
and land of many. The eruption literally preserved a
moment in Roman history.
Vesuvius stands about 1,200 m (4,000 ft)
high. Prior to A.D. 79 it may have been a single
coned volcano. It dominated the landscape of the Bay
of Naples. Did the Romans know it was a volcano?
To better understand the people’s awareness of the
mountain’s volcanic potential modern volcanologists,
historians, and archaeologists turn to paintings,
letters, and ancient texts. The lesson introduces two
primary sources to students for them to analyze and
determine how people viewed their landscape.
In what terms to describe Campania… with its blissful
and heavenly loveliness, so as to manifest that there
is one region where nature has been at work in her
joyous mood! And then again all that invigorating
healthfulness all the year round, the climate so
temperate, the plains so fertile, the hills so sunny, the
glades so secure, the groves so shady! Such wealth of
various forests, the breezes from so many mountains,
the great fertility of its wheat and vines and olives,
the glorious fleeces of its sheep, the sturdy necks of its
bulls, the many lakes, the rich supply of rivers and
springs flowing all over its surface, its many seas and
harbors and the bosom of its lands offering on all sides a
welcome to commerce, the country itself eagerly running
out into the seas as it were to aid mankind.
–Pliny the Elder
(NH 3. 40–41, trans. Rackham 1942, 33)
Preparing to Teach
1. Make 2-3 copies of the “Word Bank” for each
student.
2. Obtain a folder or portfolio for each student.
3. Make a copy of “Investigating a Roman Villa:
Understandings” (page 32), one copy for each
student.
4. Make copies of a biography, “Meet Pliny the
Younger” (page 35), “Geographic Location of
Roman Villa at Oplontis” (page 37), and the data
collection sheet (page 38) for each student.
5. Prepare to share background information.
6. Post the essential question: How does Mount
Vesuvius impact the landscape?
7. Post the Word Bank words.
Word bank
aristocrat: noble whose wealth came from land
ownership.
biography: history of a person’s life as told by
another person.
emperor: the male ruler of an empire.
fertile: good for plants to grow in.
Latin: the language of ancient Rome.
Oplontis: a luxury villa set on a cliff 40 feet above
the Mediterranean shoreline, was rumored to be
the summer villa of Emperor Nero’s second wife,
Poppaea.
Pompeii: an ancient Roman port town that was
buried in volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted
in A.D. 79.
Senate/Senator: Rome’s most important
legislative, or lawmaking, body; a member of the
senate. The senate could propose laws, hold debates,
and approve building programs.
villa: house built away from the city in a natural
setting.
volcano: A mountain that is formed by the material
ejected during a volcanic eruption.
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Uncovering Prior Knowledge
What can we learn about the history and
lives of the Roman people by investigating a
Roman villa? Inform students that this question will
guide their learning for the entire investigation.
1. Tell students that they are going to play the role
of an archaeologist as they investigate a Roman
villa, a type of shelter used by the Roman elite.
2. Write the words “Roman villa” on a board and
show the students a picture of a Roman villa
(page 34) at the same time.
3. Ask them:
• What does the design of the Roman villa
suggest about the materials the people used
to build their shelter?
• How might the Romans have built their villas
using these materials?
• How might the Romans have used their villa?
2.
3.
4.
How did the ancient landscape of Mount
Vesuvius shape the lives of Roman people?
Inform students that this question will guide their
learning. Indicate Word Bank words and inform
students that they will use these words as tools and
define them during the lesson.
1. Ask students: What are some of the natural
landforms that surround our town (mountains,
rivers, lakes, plains, parks, etc)? How do these
landforms impact what activities you do (hiking,
fishing, growing crops, etc)?
2. Tell students: Maps help us see the landforms
of a particular area. Show 3 examples of maps
including political, land, and topographic maps of
your town and the surrounding landforms.
Discovering New Knowledge
1. As a class read Pliny the Younger’s biography.
As students read aloud, demonstrate how to
highlight key ideas in the informational text.
Share your rationale for selecting each piece of
information.
• Ask students: How would you introduce
Pliny the Younger to a friend? Students will
turn and share with a partner, pretending to
introduce Pliny the Younger.
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5.
• Tell students: Pliny the Younger will be our
tour guide of a Roman villa throughout our
investigation.
Introduce students to the Word Bank if they
are not already familiar with the concept (see
Introduction page 16) and distribute 2-3 copies of
the Word Bank to each student. Assist students in
defining villa, biography, senator, and Latin.
Distribute folders or portfolios for students to
store their Word Banks and all other materials for
the unit.
Estimate the size of a Roman villa using the
following procedure:
• Go outside as a class.
• As a group have students estimate how
long 200 meters (or how big they think a
Roman villa) is by standing at one corner
of the school and picking a feature that they
think is 200 meters away (the edge of the
school, playground, tree, etc). 200 meters is
approximately two football fields in length.
• To find out how accurate their estimate is, use
a rope/string to measure 10 meter segments.
Have 1-2 students stand at the corner of the
school. Have another student stretch the
string to its full length and stand where the
string ends. Have students repeat the process
till you have a line of students 200 meters
long in the school yard. How close was their
estimate?
• Ask students: What do you think such a huge
space was used for? Who owns houses as
big as this one today (celebrities, royalty)?
How do you think the owners used this large
space?
• Tell students to remember the size of this
space and what it might have been like to be
the owner, guest, or a slave in the villa as they
continue their investigation.
Project the image of the painting of Vesuvius and
Bacchus. Ask students: What do you observe
in this painting? What inferences can you make
about this place and the people who lived in it
based on your observations?
6. Make a chart on the board of objects in the
painting, observations, and inferences.
Object
Mountain
Observation
The mountain is large and green.
Inferences
The mountain is a volcano. People are
growing crops, like grapes for wine, on
the side of the mountain.
7. Ask students: What do you wonder about as you
observe this painting? Tell students: We are going
to use evidence to answer our questions. Have
students answer their questions by using evidence
from the painting.
8. Teams of two will read together “Geographic
Location of Roman Villa at Oplontis” and then
analyze the data. Ask students: What do you think
this section will be about? Take a few answers
from the whole class. Teams of two will read the
section and analyze the data together.
9. Assist students in defining aristocrats, fertile,
Oplontis, Pompeii, and volcano and adding
them to their Word Bank.
Reflecting on New Knowledge
1. Ask students:
• Who is Pliny the Younger?
• How did the ancient landscape of Mount
Vesuvius shape the lives of Roman people.
2. Distribute “Investigating a Roman Villa:
Understandings.” Give students a few minutes
to write “Knowing the Land-Knowing people”
means to them.You may want to collect the sheet
to check for understanding. Students should keep
this document in their folders.
Extension Activity
1. Give students two topographic maps of Campania
and the Bay of Naples. The first will be a present
day map and the second will be a pre-Vesuvius
eruption map. These will serve as guides for
making before and after, three-dimensional maps
of Campania for students to compare.
2. Start with present day map: Look at this map
as a class and make sure everyone can read it
and knows what they are looking at. This would
be a good time to show them an example of a
topographic map and a 3D model of the map to
show how the maps are related so the students
can see what they will be creating.
3. Give each student a piece of foam board large
enough to map Vesuvius and the surrounding
land area they will be representing. Make sure
they include boundary lines of the bay and
the land area they will build before starting.
Start planning the build: Have the students
strategize how they will make this model before
they start building.
• Are they going to use a plan? Why or why
not? (If they choose not to use a plan have
them justify their choices.)
• What is the plan?
• What does the plan look like?
• How will they execute it?
• Why did they choose this plan?
• What section will they build?
4. Start the Build: When students have a well
devised plan to build their model, give them
the materials they will need to build the model.
Clay, wooden modeling tools, brushes, sponges,
toothpicks, etc.
5. NOTE: Then do the same thing for the second
map (pre-Vesuvius eruption map), if time allows.
If not, then have them compare their models
they made to the second map and see if they can
identify similarities and differences and discuss.
If time is an issue have students pair up in the
beginning, one student does the before map and
the other does the after map. Then have them
present and show similarities and differences.
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Notes
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Notes
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Project Archaeology: Investigating a Roman Villa
Word Bank
New Words and Ideas
Definitions
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Name: ____________________________________________________________________
Investigating a Roman Villa: Understandings
Lesson One: Knowing the Land – Knowing People
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Lesson Two: Vesuvius Erupts
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Lesson Three: Pliny as a Primary Source
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Lesson Four: Romans Recline to Dine
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
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Lesson Five: Artifacts, Amphorae, and Aliens
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Lesson Six: Mosaic Math
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Lesson Seven: Coins and Culture
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Lesson Eight: Mystery at the Roman Villa
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Lesson Nine: Stewardship is Everyone’s Responsibility
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
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Villa A at Oplontis is an ancient Roman seaside villa located less than two miles northwest of Pompeii. This
is an example of an archaeological site, a place where people lived and left objects behind.
http://amalficoasting.org/news/villa-oplontis-or-villa-poppaea-belonged-to-nero-s-wife
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Meet Pliny the Younger – A Roman Senator
This is Pliny the Younger, a Roman senator and writer (62-113 AD).
He was born in Como, Italy. When he was eight years old he was
adopted by his uncle, known as Pliny the Elder. He was a good student
and studied Latin and rhetoric. His Latin teacher was Quintilian, one
of the most influential authors of his age. He had to study rhetoric
because speaking in public was essential if he wanted to become a
senator. When he was still young he served in the military. He is
famous for his letters which are an important source for Roman history.
Pliny started writing at the age of 14
when he wrote a play. He loved
theater and even named two of his
villas Comedy and Tragedy. He wrote
many letters describing a Roman villa, a dinner party, hunting, and ghost
stories. But by far his most famous letter is the one describing the great
eruption of Vesuvius in which his uncle, Pliny the Elder, died.
Pliny'sinscriptiononbath-house
Pliny the Elder was a scientist who died trying to rescue people. Since he
was a commander of the Roman Imperial Fleet based at Misenum, he
could sail across the Bay of Naples when he was called to rescue his
friends.
Pliny the Younger stayed at Misenum, across the bay from the town of Pompeii, and was only 17 years old
when he witnessed the eruption. He was a good student hard at work reading Livy’s History of Rome, not
really concerned about the natural disaster. At that moment he could not have known that he would write
two letters that survive to this day giving an account of the greatest natural disaster of Imperial Rome. It
would be years later when Pliny the Younger wrote down what he saw and heard in letters to his friend and
historian Tacitus.
Draw a line from Misenum to Stabiae to indicate the rescue route taken by Pliny the Elder.
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Image of the Famous wall-painting of Vesuvius and Bacchus, from the
House of the Centenary (IX.8.6), dated to the first century A.D.
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Geographic Location of Roman Villa at Oplontis
The region called Campania consisted of fertile plains producing wheat, olives and grapes along the Bay of
Naples. The fertile plains were surrounded by mountain ranges and overshadowed by Mount Vesuvius. The town of
Pompeii and Villa A at Oplontis stood southeast of Vesuvius. Vesuvius stands 4,000 feet high and dominates the
landscape of the Bay of Naples. Did Romans know that the giant mountain was an active volcano? The Greek
geographer, Strabo, saw the volcano with his own eyes and wrote about it in his book, Geography.
“Mount Vesuvius is situated above these places and people live around on very beautiful farms, except at the
summit. This is flat for the main part, but completely unfruitful, like ashes to look at, and it displays porous hollows
of rocks blackened on the surface as if devoured by fire. As a result, one would infer that this area was previously on
fire and held craters of fire, and that it was extinguished when the supply of fuel gave out. Perhaps this is also the
reason for the fruitfulness of the surrounding area, just as at Catana they say that the part covered by ash carried up by
the fire of Etna made the country suited to vine-growing.” Strabo, Geography V.4.8
At least some people were aware that the dark brown volcanic soil was rich in nutrients and the fertility may
have been due to Vesuvius. It was said that the same plot of land could produce two crops a year! The land covered in
volcanic rock and fertile soil should have served as a warning for the inhabitants.
Instead, Campania was a place of luxury and leisure. Roman emperors and aristocrats built opulent villas
along the shores of the Bay of Naples with amazing views of the sea. Julius Caesar, Augustus, Cicero, and Emperor
Nero were among the famous people who lived there. Nero’s mother, Agrippina, stayed in a Campania palace until
Nero had her murdered. Also, Nero’s second wife, Poppaea, who he kicked to death, owned a villa in Oplontis.
In A.D. 79, Vesuvius erupted for the first time
in 700 years destroying all the towns and villas to the
southeast of the volcano, including Pompeii and
Oplontis. While the impact was devastating, the
eruption preserved a moment in Roman history and
gives us a glimpse back in time of the daily lives of
Romans, especially the Roman elite. What would a day
in the life of an emperor be like?
Volcanoes were not the only natural disasters
faced by the people living in Campania. One of the
most damaging earthquakes in Roman times occurred in A.D. 62. The remains of Oplontis and Pompeii still showed
signs of the disaster seventeen years later. Another earthquake was recorded by Suetonius, a Roman historian, and he
claimed that Nero sang for the first time in the theatre of Naples and continued his performance “even though the
theatre was shaken by a sudden earthquake shock” (20.2).
Pompeian bas-relief, depicting the tilting buildings during the A.D. 62 earthquake. Image from the Landesmuseum
für Vorgeschichte in Halle (Germany).http://www.lda-lsa.de/uploads/pics/FuMo_12_2011_Abb.3.jpg
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Name: _________________________________________________________________
Geographic Location of Oplontis: Analyzing the Data
1. How did some Romans know that Mount Vesuvius was a volcano before it erupted in A.D. 79? What
was their evidence?
2. Draw a picture below that shows what the landscape of Campania looks like: include the region of the
Bay of Naples, Oplontis, Pompeii, and Vesuvius. Label each part of the landscape.
3. WhatnaturaldisastersdidtheinhabitantsofCampaniaface?
3. Where did Roman emperors live when they visited Campania?
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