Ancient Rome: it's fascinating, complex, and incredibly relevant to modern society. To teens and tweens, ancient Rome is distant, boring, and completely unapplicable to their lives. What can you do?
Google Earth and the University of Virginia's Advanced Institute for Technology have teamed up to provide a fantastic resource called Rome Reborn. The Rome Reborn project is a three-dimensional reconstruction of Rome, circa A.D. 320. Viewers can walk through the streets to see the Colosseum; visit Circus Maximus (with the Campus Martius gladiator training camp attached!); and explore the religious diversity of a city that boasted the Temple of Venus and the Temple of Heliogabalus, among others.
And as always... the best part of this resource is that it is free. So launch Rome Reborn in your classroom to give your students a virtual experience of the Rome that was! When you can "stand" in the Roman Forum, ancient orations and historical conquerors become all that more interesting.
