2014-2015 Tours

Vergilian Society Summer and Winter Tours 2014-2015

Monument lists are subject to change based on closings for restoration and other factors outside our control.  Every attempt is made to see that we visit as many of the sites listed as possible.

Alexander and Aeneas in Northern Greece
**TOUR COMPLETED**
July 14-26, 2014
Directors: Phillip V Stanley, San Francisco State University, Emeritus, and George Perko
We begin our odyssey in Athens with a visit to the new Acropolis Museum, the Acropolis, and the Agora. From Athens our journey takes us northward with stops at Thermopylae and Tempe, important sites for the Persian Wars. In Northern Greece, the home of Alexander the Great, we visit his birthplace, Pella, and the burial place of his father, Vergina. We travel to Meteora and on over the mountains of Greece to Epirus, home of Alexander’s mother and where Aeneas stopped; here we visit the oracles of Zeus at Dodona and of the Dead, the Nekromanteion. Next, we cross over to the island of Corfu. We cross over to Albania to drive to the ancient site of Buthrotum, where Aeneas came in his wanderings. On our return to the mainland we drive to Delphi, stopping at Actium, where Octavius’ forces defeated those of Antony and Cleopatra. No trip in this area would be complete without a visit to the oracle of Apollo at Delphi. Afterward, we return to Athens.
Price: $3,470; Single supplement: $715

Greeks and Romans in Town and Country, under the Shadow of Vesuvius
**TOUR COMPLETED**
June 30 – July 12, 2014
Directors: Ann Koloski-Ostrow, Brandeis University; Steven Ostrow, M.I.T.
Across the fertile terrain and enchanting land- and seascapes of the Bay of Naples and throughout the region of Campania, ancient Greeks and Romans experimented for centuries with building towns and cities, tilling their farms and tending their flocks, and pursuing their daily lives at every level of society. The world’s earliest archaeological laboratory at Pompeii and Herculaneum (buried by the eruption of Vesuvius), and innumerable other sites across the region, offer a uniquely rich showcase of Graeco-Roman approaches to living both in town and across varied rural settings. Whether it’s the nitty-gritty level of plebeians shopping and electioneering in the local streets (and refreshing themselves in pubs, fountains, and latrines); the splendor of suburban and countryside villas enjoyed by top-level Roman aristocrats, like the palatial digs of Emperor Tiberius at Capri and Sperlonga; monumental temple complexes like those of Cumae or Paestum, and Capua’s underground cult-cavern of the Persian god Mithras; the magnificent shopping mall at Pozzuoli and colossal amphitheater arenas of Pompeii, Pozzuoli, and Capua; or, finally, the vineyards of Boscoreale and the quiet sheep and cattle paths near distant Saepinum in the mountains: All these put on vivid display the ingenuity with which Greeks and Romans (and their lesser known Etruscan, Samnite, and Lucanian neighbors) faced the pressures and pleasures of daily life. We will sample them all, as we explore how these ancient folk tried to make sense of life as individuals, and as members of communities large and small.
Price: $2,595
Includes 12 nights accommodation, all meals except two lunches on Capri, round-trip transport from Rome to Cumae and return, all local ground transport, all fees for group visits to sites and museum.

The Italy of Caesar and Vergil: A Workshop for Teachers
**REGISTRATION CLOSED**
July 22-August 2, 2014
Workshop Instructors: Anne Haeckl, Kalamazoo College, and Keely Lake, Wayland Academy
This workshop for high school Latin teachers will combine classroom sessions in successful pedagogical practices with thematically relevant site visits that illuminate the lives and works of Caesar and Vergil. Morning study sessions will provide ideas and skills to enrich both beginning and advanced courses, and, although the focus will be on the readings and abilities required by the Advanced Placement syllabus, teachers of IB and Concurrent Enrollment courses will find much of value as well. Afternoon site and museum visits will contextualize the writings of these authors, elucidating the common themes of Caesar’s commentarii and Vergil’s Aeneid. Through thoughtfully constructed lectures and readings from ancient writers, teachers will acquire interpretive insights and instructional strategies for teaching these essential authors. Sites include: Rome (Forum, Palatine, Campus Martius), Temple of Apollo and Atrium of the Sibyl at Cumae, Lake Avernus, Tomb of Vergil, Sperlonga, Pompeii, Lavinium, and Herculaneum.
Price: $2,595
Includes 11 nights accommodation, all meals, ground transportation during the tour, and all fees for group visits to sites and museums.

Rome and Northern Italy: Traveling in the Footsteps of Goethe and Hawthorne
**REGISTRATION CLOSED**
July 2–13, 2014
Director: Barbara Weiden Boyd, Bowdoin College
We will spend seven days in Rome and its environs, focusing on sights of special interest to Grand Tourists of the late 18th-19th centuries: Forum, Capitoline museums, Coliseum, Pantheon, Via Appia and catacombs, Palazzo Barberini, St. Peter’s and the Vatican museums, Goethe’s house, and the Protestant cemetery, among others. We will also visit the remarkable Villa Torlonia, built by the wealthiest Roman family of the 19th century. Our final day will be a trip to Tivoli, with the magnificent Villa d’Este and Hadrian’s Villa. The next day we will depart for Tuscany and Umbria, and visit sites of similar Grand Tour appeal: the towns of Arezzo, Assisi, Perugia, and San Gimignano. We will finish the tour in Florence, and participants can travel easily from there on their own back to Rome or elsewhere.
Price: $2,500
Includes accommodations, ground transportation during the tour, and all fees for group visits to sites and museums (most breakfasts and some other meals are also included).  This does not include airfare or transportation to and from airports.

Sicily, Crossroads of History
**REGISTRATION CLOSED**
Dec 27, 2014-Jan 4 or 7, 2015
Director: Beverly Berg
Sicily is a true crossroads of history, with striking archaeological remains from antiquity and beautiful churches from Medieval and Baroque times. Our program takes a complete circle tour of this magical island. We begin with a visit to beautiful Taormina, then on to Syracuse, where Timoleon and Plato once walked. We contemplate the golden temples of Agrigento, Selinunte, and Segesta, some of the best preserved temples of Classical Greek times. The program ends in Palermo, and there is an optional post-classical continuation to see more of Palermo, once a Punic town, beautified by Norman French rulers in the 12th century and Aragonese rulers thereafter.
Price: 8 night version: $1,595 per person, single supplement of $200. 11 night version: $1,995, single supplement $275.
Price will include hotels, breakfasts, dinners except in Syracuse and the extra nights in Palermo, ground transportation, and entry fees.
Price will NOT include airfare, dinners in Syracuse and on post-classical extension in Palermo, and transfer from Palermo airport to hotel, or (for those on post-classical extension) from hotel to airport.

 

Graduate Course Credit & Continuing Education Units are available for all tours.