Pop quiz: How many different kinds of gladiators were in ancient Rome?

Old Rochester Regional High School Latin students Katie Holden, Ruhi Raje
and Annie Smith became the teachers at Old Hammondtown School last week as they passed on some facts of life from ancient Rome in the first of two, four-week after-school sessions with the elementary students.

Oh, and there are four types of gladiators: Samnites, Thracians, Murmillo and Retiarius.
To demonstrate the different styles of fighting of the gladiators, Smith and Holden acted in “battles,” which got the kids to jump from their seats.

The students also worked on arts and crafts projects, creating gladiatorial scenes using paper cut-outs.

The discussions focused on the way of life for many ancient Romans, including the differences between the social classes.

One fact most people don’t know, according to Smith, is that the Romans did not bathe very often. The Romans had no water system in their homes, so they had to travel to a public bath—which only the more wealthy citizens could afford to do.

“Going to take a bath was like taking a trip somewhere where you would meet your friends,” Raje said.

Cue the jaw-dropping shock from the Old Hammondtown class.

“You have to remember this was a really long time ago,” Raje said.

The class also discussed the living conditions of the Romans, the emperors, rules of battle and the differences between comedies and tragedies.

The Old Hammondtown students were surprised to learn that all of the actors in ancient Rome, as in Shakespearean times, were men.

This fact inspired a collective, “Eww,” from the students.

Old Rochester Regional Latin teacher Marcia Ross organized the after-school sessions with the Old Hammondtown students.

Raje, a sophomore, taught a similar Spanish class at the elementary school last year. This year, she said, Ross approached her along with Holden and Smith—both seniors at ORR—to run the Latin course.

As the teachers, all three ORR students create the lesson plans for the class, which consists of 10 elementary students in grades four through six.

Raje said she was most impressed with how interested the younger students were in the Romans.

“I think it worked out really well, especially with the amount of kids wanting to do this,” Raje said. “It’s nice to work with these kids who want to learn it. It’s more than just learning vowels. It’s a whole culture.”

For Holden, this was an opportunity to have fun with the Roman culture.

“I’ve never really done teaching before, but the fun thing about this is that there is so much that you can get the kids interested in,” she said. “We try to stay away from the language and just focus on the history, because you don’t spend much time on it in high school.”

Holden, Raje and Smith said they were thrilled with how quickly the younger students have been able to pick up on the lessons.

“Last week we covered the Greek and Roman gods and goddesses and we couldn’t believe how much the kids already knew,” Holden said. “It’s great because the kids are really interested in the history.”

Old Hammondtown is an old stomping ground for Smith, who once walked the halls as an elementary student.

“It’s strange how everything seems so much bigger then,” Smith said.

Smith said her experience as a teacher will better prepare her for next year when she heads for Bridgewater State University as an English major and Education minor. Smith said she hopes to become a high school teacher.

So, what were some of the students’ favorite parts of the lesson?

“I liked learning about the Coliseum the best,” said fifth grade student Rosemary Loer.

Fourth grade student Bennett Cantwell said he preferred the readings.

“I liked the numerals best because I actually knew what they were,” Cantwell said.