Resources

VRomans have created many resources for teachers of the Latin language and Roman civilization and culture, including our extensive Image Archive. Here we group them into the broad categories in the menu above. We are currently in the process of modernizing the resources hosted at our site (many of which were created when the web was young!) to make them more accessible and useful to all. We welcome your ideas and input!

MOO Teaching & Assignments

  • MOO/VRoma Help [updating in progress!]
  • Essential Steps in Outcomes Assessment
  • VRoma: Technology and the Standards for Classical Language Learning
  • The Collaborative Website as Learning Environment a presentation made by John Gruber-Miller at the Coe-Cornell Technology Workshop, June, 1999 [looking for updated link]
  • Plying a Trade in VRoma by Barbara McManus, revised in 2022 by Ann Raia. This game was designed as an introduction to conversing and navigating in the VRoma online virtual environment and to “living as a Roman in VRoma.”
  • Discover Rome, by Barbara McManus. Specially designed for students in the lower grades (approximate ages 11-14), this quest-style game has students in 5 groups of about 3-5 players each exploring different parts of Rome that are associated with important aspects of life and culture: religion, politics, leisure and entertainment, money and commerce, crime and punishment. The game is interesting and fun, and each group should be able to complete its mission in a 50-minute period if the students have been given an orientation to VRoma and already know how to navigate, converse, and interact with objects. The game is ready to use, but instructors will need to have a Teacher character in VRoma to administer it (apply by contacting Barbara McManus). Teachers should go to the Ludi VRomani game room off the Officina in VRoma to find their materials for the game, and students should go to their Game Room off the Prima Porta VRomana. Here are printable Acrobat files of the Instructions for Teachers and the Instructions for Students.
  • Indicium (“Clue”) designed to accompany OLC Book II (“Who killed Argus?”), by John Gruber-Miller and Cindy Benton. A role-playing exercise for the VRoma MUVE! (PDF format)
  • “Treasure Hunt” Style Exercises:[these are good way to introduce students to VRoma]
  • Activities for Elementary Latin Students:
    • VRoma Activites for Elementary Latin Students, by Barbara McManus. These two activities are designed to accompany the Oxford Latin Course chapters 16 and 19; However, they can easily be adapted for elementary Latin students using other textbooks. (HTML format)
    • Quaere loosely based on “Go Fish”. This exercise was designed to accompany OLC chapter 26, by John Gruber-Miller and Cindy Benton.
  • Activities Related to Specific Authors:
    • Ovid, Tristia 3.1: The Text as Guide Through the Textual City; the poem (in English) leads students on a guided tour around central Rome. This activity can be done by students with no Latin or those just beginning Latin. At the end of the tour is a the Latin poem with hyperlinked vocabulary and commentary, suitable for Latin students at the intermediate level and above. (PDF format)
    • Should Ovid Remain in Exile? (a game for advanced students). This new game pits Ovidians (senators who want Ovid recalled from exile) against Anti-Ovidians (senators who want to make sure Ovid stays in Tomis). The two groups follow Tristia Tresunus around Rome, reading the poem and finding other evidence scrolls that they can use to bolster their respective cases when they present their arguments to Augustus in his tribunal in the Palatine Library. Teachers should go to the Ludi VRomani game room off the Officina in VRoma to find their materials for this game, and students should go to their Game Room off the Prima Porta VRomana.
    • “Tarpeia in Livy and the Roman Forum.” By Barabara F. McManus. This activity connects text interpretation with the exploration of associated ancient sites in the Roman Forum through an assignment that links Companion to the Worlds of Roman Women and VRoma
    • “Livia: Rome's First ‘First Lady’ Activity.” By Barbara F. McManus. This activity connects text analysis with exploration of an associated ancient site, the Porticus Liviae in Rome, through an assignment that links Companion to the Worlds of Roman Women and VRoma.
    • Teacher's Guide to using Vergil's Thesaurus, a room created for online discussions of the Aeneid, with particular reference to the Advanced Placement Vergil syllabus, created by Barbara McManus. (HTML format)
    • Vergil, Augustus, and the City of Rome, several assignments that explore the interconnections between Augustan Rome and the Aeneid, created by Barbara McManus. (HTML format)
    • Exercise to accompany Plautus' Aulularia, ll. 1-25 by Ann Raia. Written to be completed by a group of students working in a lab. (PDF format)
  • Web-based Assignment:
    • Augustan Monument Assignment, from Jeremy Walker. This assignment involves the use of HyperCard, PowerPoint, and a university library, but can be adapted for the PC platform. A Learning goals Grade Worksheet is also available (PDF format)

Latin/Greek Language, Texts, and Authors (Non-MOO Resources)

  • Drills to accompany Oxford Latin by Margaret B. Phillips
  • Latin Links, created by John Gruber-Miller, presents many links to sites related to the Oxford Latin Course
  • Useful Internet Links for AP Latin, an annotated series of links, classified by topic, for teachers of AP Latin, created by Barbara McManus and Marianthe Colakis [Note - this page is out of date and will be updated soon.]
  • Online Companion to The Worlds of Roman Women, created by Ann Raia and Judith Lynn Sebesta, presents many different types of Latin passages by and about Roman women, with images, introductory essays, and hyperlinked vocabulary, grammatical aids and commentary. The Instruction section contains many useful resources for teachers, including suggested activities and assignments related to the site.
  • Intermediate Latin, with content coordinated by Ann Raia, contains passages from Catullus, Cicero, Ovid, Pliny with sophisticated hyperlinks to translation aids, commentary, and pedagogical questions designed specifically for the program and the intermediate-level student. [off-line as we determine whether the app can be upgraded]
  • The Poems of Catullus with facing translation and notes, created by Henry Walker
  • The letters of Pliny the Younger a selection of Pliny's letters with introductory materials, created by Henry Walker
  • Plautus, Aulularia, created by Susan Bonvallet, Judith de Luce and Stephen Nimis
  • Introduction to Attic Greek with Thrasymachus, created by Alison Barker (requires downloading the SPIonic font)
    • NOTE - this site is working again, as of 2024-Jan-11! Apologies for the downtime.
  • Juvenal, Satire 3, created by Ann Raia (under construction)

History & Culture (Non-MOO Resources)

  • Rome: Republic to Empire, a series of web pages on Roman history and culture created by Barbara McManus
  • The Riley Collection of Roman Sculpture, created by John Gruber-Miller, Sue Olsen and Jim Ruebel, continuing development by John Gruber-Miller
  • Virtual Gallery of Ancient Sculpture, created by Judith de Luce and Eric B. Case. Shows how sculptures looked when painted
  • ANRW: an on-line, searchable database of articles in Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt (authors and titles only, not full-text articles), created by James Ruebel and Ross Scaife (NB: now back online!)
  • Forum Romanun