A ROMAN DINNER PARTY
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This Interdisciplinary Lively Application Project (ILAP) has two parts.  One part--the actual hosting of a Roman Meal--is meant to be done by the entire class.  The other part of the assignment consists of individual student projects, whose topics are connected in some way to the meal and food. 

GROUP ASSIGNMENT: The group assignment for this ILAP is hosting a Roman meal in as authentic a way as possible.  This is the ideal: some things might have to be left out or improvised depending on your own circumstances, resources, and time.  Apicius' cookbook is in print, as well as modernized versions of other ancient recipes, and these can be used to determine suitable dishes that the students could make.
    Students will be responsible for researching the foods and dishes the Romans ate, for planning the menu of their own meal, for preparing and hosting the meal.  Hosting the meal may include preparing and serving the kind of foods that the Romans ate, duplicating the manner in which the Romans ate food, authentic Roman dress, and the activities that would be expected at a Roman convivium.  Some latitude may need be given to the students attempting to duplicate these features, and some may be chosen over others at the discretion of the teacher.  In any case, these duties will be equitably distributed to all students in the class.

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENTS: In addition to the above, each student will research and prepare a written project aimed at increasing their understanding of the Romans and their customs, particularly as these appear in what they eat, how they prepare and serve their meals, and in other customs surrounding meals and dinner parties. This would allow for a large variety of choice and emphasis here, and some suggestions are included below.  Each topic contains assorted activities that can assigned in their totality, or from which assignments can be picked and chosen.  Again, all the topics have been chosen because they are connected to Roman meals and/or to the food the Romans ate, and designed to bring greater understanding and appreciation for the Romans and their customs.
    In addition to their projects, the students may also be asked to create web pages which can take advantage of the hypertext capacities to link the various projects together, thus presenting a "history" of the various pieces of the meal, as well as its social meaning for the Romans. Each student will also be responsible for producing (perhaps with the help of the teacher) some original latin text which talks about the particular aspect of the meal assigned.

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