Invading the homes of the dead in Cerveteri

Friday's gita was to yet another historical Roman city! We went to Cerveteri- famous for the Etruscan tomb site- and wow was it cool to compare to our last trip to Tarquinia! These tombs resembled more of a "city for the dead" because it was actually set up with roads, intersections, and the like. Everyone had neighbors and families were put to rest together. It was a truly amazing experience to crawl in and out of the tombs, even if we were warned we might encounter snakes and scorpions...

Before I get into more detail about that aspect of our day, I'll include our time looking at ancient grave offerings left in the tombs we saw in the town's museum. It was in an old castle and so beautiful. We got some fresh pizza for lunch and roamed the beautiful old town. Our homework was to get the family involve as well to see how the Etruscans lived and their beliefs- and they believed everyone needed to party!


Besides being there to observe the history, we were there to film a movie for Storia Antica, or Ancient History class. Livy, the famous author of Ad Urbus Condita or "From the Founding of the City" wrote the account of the "Rape of Lucretia" about why the monarchy ended in Rome. However, the king at the time was not Roman but in fact an Etruscan! Since Livy was Roman, we only have one side of the story. Our project was to write an Etruscan version and tell Lucretia's story (apparently it's the SYA Italy "right of passage" to call yourself a student here). There were boys running around in togas and constant cries of "tre..due...AZIONE!"

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