All in a week's work...

This week I will be away from the parish and my students will be given the following assignment:

The Trial of the Accused Christians

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!

It is now the fourth year of the reign of the Emperor Darius, what we would now consider the year A.D. 72. Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem almost forty years ago and the great Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed only two years ago. Peter and Paul have both been killed in Rome and yet the new religion based on the life of this man named Christos still spreads throughout the Empire.

In an effort to curtail this new and dangerous religion, His Excellency, the Emperor, has accused four inhabitants of the Province of Gaul (roughly modern-day Spain) and citizens of the Roman Empire – namely, Antonius, Suetonius, Caecilia and Irminia - of being members of the group known as Christians.

On Wednesday, the 27th of September the Emperor will arrive in Gaul to preside over the trial to be judged by the Governor of Gaul, Saturninus. After Saturninus hears the case brought before him, Emperor Darius will either confirm his judgment or over turn it.

Throughout this week, the students are to imagine themselves as ancient Romans who are now involved with this case. All students have been assigned a role in the trial and are to prepare themselves fully for the trial next Wednesday. Everyone is to cooperate with the attorneys – both defense and prosecution – and be well prepared to participate seriously in the trial, though enjoying him or herself at the same time.

The attorneys will have to speak with their respected witnesses as well as the accused in the preparation of their cases.

Extra credit will be given to those students who dress in the costume of ancient Rome for the day of the trial.

To help prepare for the trial, every student is expected to read pages 65-72 in the textbook. In addition to the text, each person will be given a fact sheet to help them prepare. The students must fill in whatever information might be missing in order to complete the assignment. This will require the use of the imagination and intellect, both of which are often underused today.

I expect it should be a great deal of fun; what think you? We did something like this when I was in high school with the trial of Joan of Arc...we burned her.