Reign and Rhythm

Latin 1B students have been researching the significance of Roman Emperors throughout history, crafting research that articulates the military, political, and social legacy of each figure and then creating a music video that expresses their impact using music and imagery.

Students were given ten emperors to choose from, ranging from the reign of August Caesar, which began in 27 BCE, to Traianus Hadrianus, whose reign ended in 138 CE. For each emperor, students were required to cite six sources, with at least two of these being books. Latin teacher Dan Blanchard devoted significant time to helping students understand the difference between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources, ensuring that their research would be both broad and deep enough so that students would understand the essential facts and events of each emperor’s reign and also the context of the events. “Before students could dig deep into the specific personality or legislation of their Emperor, they had to understand who the person is and their significance to history,” Dan says. While students could gather information from sites like Wikipedia and Britannica, Dan stipulated that they could not be used as sources for the paper. “The project was really skills-driven. It's about how to do research,” says Dan. Students created explanatory slides with images and writing that provided a biographical overview, the military and political history, as well as the art, architecture, and archaeology that defined the emperor’s reign. 

Based on their research, each student then created a two- to three-minute video featuring two modern songs that represent or connect to their emperor or a historic event during their reign. For example, one student used Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” to highlight the theme of betrayal, connecting it to Emperor Marcus Salvius Otho, who sought to assassinate his predecessor after being passed over for the position of Emperor. The music video challenges students to distill their learning into the essential points. As Dan explains, “If you think about your emperor, what are the most critical pieces of information that you want to convey about this person?”