On a summer afternoon in the Roman port of Misenum in 79 AD, Plinia Marcella first observed a cloud “of unusual size and shape” to her brother Pliny the Elder.1 The strange cloud was in fact the ash plume of the infamous eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Pliny the Younger, writing years after the eruption that would take his uncle’s life, described “vast sheets of flame and columns of fire” as homes and settlements burned into the night, and by morning, the smoke and ash darkened the day into “blackest and thickest of nights.”2 The eruption of Vesuvius would destroy the towns Herculaneum and Pompeii, and yet would also provide for future generations one of the most complete collections of Roman architecture and artifacts. While Vesuvius’s eruption is perhaps one of the most notable, and explosive, geological events of the Roman world, the intersection of environment, history, and geology is a worthy and compelling object of study. Consider the city of Rome itself, famous for its “seven hills,” although the city’s growth over the centuries meant that the hills in its limits would become more numerous. The Palatine hill, one of the oldest and most central in the city, bears both mythical and historical importance. It was here, in the Lupercal cave, that a wolf raised Romulus and Remus, the mythical founders of Rome. According to the Roman historian Livy, Romulus’s “first work was to fortify the Palatine hill where he had been brought up.”3 Setting aside for a moment the mythical nature of the hill, consider its practical importance: it allows for a defensible position, one near a source of fresh water, the Tiber River, which likewise permitted easy access to the Mediterranean. The geological history of the Palatine Hill, however, dates millions of years before humans would even step foot in Italy, with the bedrock of the hill dating from the Pliocene Epoch. Researchers have found that “the original topography of the hill and surrounding areas is completely lost because of the anthropic reworking during the last 3000 years.”4 Just as the earth itself is a driving and shaping force of history, humanity also shapes, changes, and alters the earth.
In this unit, students will study this complex interplay between geology and history across the Roman Empire. The unit will commence with an analysis of Rome itself, introducing students to the concepts of how geographical features such as hills and rivers and continents form, and likewise how an ancient society might have lived with and adapt to those features created millions of years in the past. The class will then proceed to a series of case studies, centered on different locations in Roman Europe. The first case study will focus on the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, where students will learn the volcanic forces that caused the devastating eruption, the effect of the eruption on the landscape and the people who lived there, as well as the tools of archaeological exploration that the eruption provided to future generations. From Pompeii, students will travel to London, to explore how geography affected the Roman conquest of Britain and the establishment of London. Finally, we will examine Roman mining settlements along the Rio Tinto, as students consider how the need for ore can dictate settlement in difficult places. Each case study will present unique historical and scientific questions for students to evaluate, building the cross-disciplinary skills that are central to this unit’s aim and themes.
Study of these three places will not necessarily be focused on just one specific city but will broadly look at the region. Likewise, while the unit focuses mostly on the time of the Romans, students will be asked to both look towards the following eras of history in these places as well as dive deep into their geologic pasts. How did London change, and address problems of growth such as sewage and clean water? How do we preserve the ruins of Pompeii? How can we mine resources responsibly and sustainably, to avoid the plight of Rio Tinto? Because this unit takes place as part of the broader segment of a seventh-grade social studies curriculum focused on Europe, the expansive variety found in our case studies allows students to learn about the climate, geography, and history of a variety of locations across the continent, with analytical lenses at the intersection of geology and history.
For a final project, students will be tasked with implementing the knowledge and skills to a location of their choice in the Roman Empire. They will have to consider the landscape, geological and geographic features, and how people affected and were affected by those features. This provides students with choice, while also enabling them to exercise their skills as researchers of both history and science.
For the case studies and the final project, students will encounter a variety of sources, both primary and secondary. While the brunt of material will consist of traditional social studies reading, each case study will be accompanied by both lessons and readings focused on the geological processes that make each of the three regions of study unique. Students will develop the essential skills that involve reading, analyzing, and interpreting texts, data, and material across disciplines. This unit is being developed for social studies classrooms and curricula, but I hope that teachers of history, science, and English Language Arts will all be able to implement this unit in their classrooms, making changes in emphasis as needed.
