ROMAN WALL CALENDAR: YOUR BIRTHDAY IN LATIN

This year Latin Four students researched the way Roman calendars evolved; the inter-calary months that were necessary when the calendar got out of synch with the moon; Ovid’s poem "Fasti" about Roman holidays; and the calendar reforms made by Julius Caesar. The project began in October and continued through March 1, the traditional New Year of the older Roman calendars. Students recorded their own birthdays, but Senior Skip Day was ruled not an established holiday.

Dylan Riessen and Sydney Hill, class of 2008, write: We made it very large and used magnetic paint and small magnets to hold up the individual signs showing the days, the months, the seasons, and each type of day involved in the Roman calendar system. We cut out outlines for the Ides (mid-month), Nones and Kalends (first day of the month) and used them to paint each of the individual squares. Each person had his or her own job on the assembly line: cutting, tracing, drawing and painting. We were able to create enough pieces to switch as the months changed.
Each person added decoration using glitter glue, paints and colored pencils. The designs were mostly freehand for the outlines and the borders. For the holidays and birthdays as well as the seasons we drew scenes depicting each event. On the blackboard behind the squares Mr. Glenney wrote in lines from Ovid’s poem "Fasti" on Roman calendar. Each student contributed to the creation of the calendar. Each of us helped with the form as well as the brainstorming behind each section.