Seventh-grade Latin students have been studying the decline of the Roman Republic, from the lives of the Gracchi brothers to the assassination of Julius Caesar and the rise of Augustus. 

The final project was an engaging exercise where students took on the role of showrunners, tasked with developing and casting a miniseries about this pivotal era in history. 

Groups of students were asked to select celebrities or public figures to portray famous Romans and convince their “executive producer” (their Latin teacher, Ms. DeSabatino) that their casting choices were the best fit. To do so, students drew connections between their chosen actors and the historical figures and narratives they represented. Finally, each group presented their Roman Republic mini-series to their classmates. 

Notable casting choices included the rivalry between Drake and Kendrick Lamar as a modern parallel to the conflict between Marc Antony and Octavian, and Meghan Markle and Benedict Arnold as Pompey the Great and Brutus.