Today has been a nice, slow day so far.  In the morning we went to the nearby site of Oplontis, which is located in between Pompeii and Herculaneum, to visit the House of Poppaea.  Poppaea was the 2nd wife of the emperor Nero, and she was famous for being the most beautiful woman of her time (a "Helen of Troy" if you will).  I guess her good looks weren't enough, though, because the Roman historians all say that, while pregnant, she was kicked to death by Nero.  Her house is wonderfully intact now, and there were barely any other people at the site, so it's one of my favorite houses so far.

This afternoon has been free for relaxing and studying, so I allowed myself a little nap before getting to work on my final project for this trip.  I also have some translating to do, since tonight I lead part of the translation session with an excerpt from Petronius' Satyricon.

Yesterday was our 2nd full-day excursion to Pompeii.  We had 10 house presentations and marched all over Pompeii, from one side to the other, to see the highlights.  It was exhausting, but worth it.

While not the greatest picture, it gives you an idea of a typical Roman dining room set-up (from the House of Julius Polybius)