Unit 1: Social Studies Connection

Digging Into History

Workers in Rome, Italy, recently dug up the ruins of an ancient poet's house. While digging a trash dump, the workers discovered the house that belonged to Ovid, a poet who lived about 2,000 years ago.

Ovid lived in a house, or villa, located near the Tiber River. Many of his poems and letters are about his villa. Just as Ovid was becoming a great poet, he offended the emperor of Rome and was forced to leave his villa for a distant city. While he was away, he wrote nostalgic letters about his home.

City officials in Rome plan to put up a building around Ovid's ancient villa to protect it. But the area will not look as it did in Ovid's time. A dump and a four-lane highway now block the views of the Tiber River that Ovid wrote about in his poetry.

ruins:

The remains of something that has collapsed or been destroyed: The fire chief looked at the ruins of the burnt-out building.

ancient:

Very old: We visited the ancient pyramids of Egypt.

offend:

To insult or cause anger: Sonya's rude behavior offended me.

official:

A person in a position of authority:

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Activity

Word Wise Quiz
Choose the best word to complete each sentence.

Ovid missed his house so much that he wrote poems and letters about it. Write a letter from Ovid to a friend about the house. Be sure to use numbers to describe the house. Use Roman numerals to express each number.

For example:
My house has V rooms and VI paintings on the walls.

Draw a picture of the house to go with the letter.