Response from Monday's class

So class has begun. 1) It is amazing how short the week between finals and Maymester felt, 2) It is starting to hit me just how close the trip actually is ... less than 2 weeks until I leave! Wow. It is so exciting but I am starting to feel the tiniest bit panicked too. I am the kind of person that tries to be prepared for everything (possibly too much) and I am beginning to wonder if I have forgotten anything that I need to get ready. I am sure that everything will be just fine ... I like to plan ahead but I also have no problem just going with the flow once I am in the middle of it.

Anyway, back to class ... We were asked

1) What is the most memorable idea from the readings in the first 2 chapters of Robert Kebric's "Roman People"?

For me I guess what stood out was the phrase "defensive imperialism" when discussing the Roman expansion. The idea that many of the wars they fought and the regions they conquered were approached with the idea of preemptive protection of Rome. Strike them before they strike me or my enemy uses them against me. An interesting justification, although I doubt it stayed the only one for long. Most of the time, wars are fought for a variety of reasons and the one that is shared with the public may not match up with the private motivations of those in power. Obviously, conquering and assimilating and ever increasing number of surrounding regions added to the wealth of Rome and knowing human nature I must assume that at some point this became at least one of the incentives for continued warfare.

Another thing that stood out to me was the descriptions of Rome during that era. This last semester I took a Human Geography class and learned the term "shock city." I think that is a large part of what was going on at that time. A shock city is a city that cannot accommodate for the rate at which it is growing. Most of the shock cities we see in history came about much later, like Chicago and Manchester in the 20th century. But Rome was much like that ... it grew so fast because of its military successes that the city couldn't keep up. Too many people without enough jobs, space or infrastructure (like good roads and public buildings) makes for a whole lot of chaos until the cities growth is able to catch up with its population.

We were also asked what idea we found most confusing. Honestly, I can't think of an area were I am confused at the moment, as Dr. Weber addressed the issues I had during class.

We also read a few excerpts from Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe's selected letters from Italy

Letter 14 to Charlotte Von Stein: This very short note made me think of a love song for some reason.He talks about how he was looking at all of the sites and starting to get some clarity when he receives a note from Charlotte and suddenly he can't seem to appreciate them anymore. Whatever the note said or whatever his connection to her was, reading it clearly distracted him. Maybe he was thinking about her all of the time instead of paying attention to what was around him.

Letter 15: He discusses forgoing the initial pleasure of exploring the sites on his own to instead visit with architects and artists. I understand the appreciation for something that one can derive from learning about it from an expert but at the same time there is an awe, a wonder, that is lost when you have something explained for you. It loses its mystique. This reminds me of a magic trick ... if you know how the trick works, you can admire the skill of the illusionist, his slight of hand or his patter but the magic and wonder is missing.