Ancient Rome
Room arrangements were kept the same as they had been in Greece. Everyone settled in and got dressed for a nice dinner to start off our second leg of the trip; Rome. It was a warm night and the town was beautifully lit up. We had an amazing authentic romanian meal as Mrs. Hamilton began to go over our agenda for the next few days. Everyone went straight to bed when we got back to try and avoid the jet lag of a 9-hour time difference. Our first day in Rome had only two destinations; the Paletine Hill, and the Forum. These places held many significant buildings from the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. As we walked up to the Paletine Hill, we were beginning to see the ruins of Domition's palace. This palace was massive in size and was home to many great rulers. As we approached the palace I couldn't help but laugh at how small we were compared to these huge stone walls. We established a meeting place and a meeting time so we could have free time to explore about the palace. Many people say you learn more when you learn on your own intentions. There were so many fascinating structures such as the extremely large stadium inside the palace walls. This stadium was for the wealthy people only because there was another for the public just outside the front steps of the palace. We began to walk around the skirts of the stadium until we saw it was time to head back. Our next stop was the Senate and Courthouse, or Curia and the Basilica Julia.This quickly became my favorite part of the trip. The were holding Mock trials that day, and our classes got to participate! We had three cases, only one of whom was found guilty. We were all put to the test to apply our knowledge of Ancient Roman justice court laws. Applying the Roman laws to real life situations exemplified the similarities between Ancient Rome and the world of Modern Democracy today.
Contributions to Modern Democracy:

• Three Branches of Gov't
• Written Laws-Justinian Code
• Republic
• Idea of a 'veto'
• Checks and Balances
• Court System
• Terms
• Natural Law
• Reason
• Rule by Law
• Senate