Travel Abroad

The members of the Classics Department lead tours to Italy and Greece for interested students every two years. These meticulously planned excursions, which take place during part of the school’s spring vacation, offer students the opportunity to confront directly the most significant monuments left to us from antiquity, as well as to experience the rich cultures of contemporary Italy and Greece. Our experienced and enthusiastic faculty conduct their own tours of the sites, ensuring that the students receive a survey of each that perfectly complements their work in the classroom. Exciting adventures in recent years have included the re-enactment of Caesar’s assassination on a busy Roman sidewalk, climbing to the summit of the volcano Vesuvius and peering into its steaming crater, and conducting an ancient (albeit mock) Greek sacrifice at the temple of Hera at Paestum. We have also enjoyed soccer games in Rome and Athens, traditional Greek food and meals in ancient Roman buildings, and a stay at the Villa Vergiliana on the coast north of Naples. Popular with students of Latin and Greek, these tours are also of special interest to St. Markers enrolled in the Third Form Seminar course and, indeed, have attracted many students who had not previously studied the language and culture of the ancient world.

Upcoming Trip (March 2009)

This coming spring we will offer a wonderful trip, combining tours of the most important sites in both Rome and southern Italy. We plan to depart from Boston on March 7 and return on March 18. The following is a preliminary itinerary: