Blog by: Justin Gineris ’25, Reilly Granger ’25, Garson Matney ’24, Grayson Dunn ’25
My time in Rome thus far has been nothing short of spectacular. While the vast array of experiences our group and I have had the privilege of being a part of is impossible to fully describe in any brevity, I’d love to share some of the most impactful moments from the trip so far.
A fantastic learning experience for our group was Sunday in Ostia Antica, an archeological excavation of a port city outside of Rome. Through readings of texts and seeing pictures in class lectures, I had a glimpse of what life may have been like in or around Rome, but walking through the very same streets and buildings that had been lived in by Roman citizens was entirely different.
As we walked through the city, I was able to visualize what the bustling port town around me would have been like 2000 years ago. Seeing the places where people would gather for food, buy and sell goods coming in from the port, and gather for plays was enlightening. Small details such as notches in the stone paths left by wagons carrying goods through the city and mosaics depicting the type of commerce offices partook in near the port allowed me to see the city not as an ancient ruin, but as the living, breathing organism it once was.
Another fantastic (which is beyond an understatement) experience we had was venturing underneath St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. We crawled through tight corridors in sweltering heat underground for over 45 minutes, but everyone in our group saw the experience as mind-blowing and wholly worth it. We were able to see the buried tombs of Romans from millennia ago, noting their burial practices and learning about how small details on sarcophagi gave us insight into important sociological and theological aspects of Roman life. At the end of the tour, we saw what Vatican scholars believe to be the tomb and remains of St. Peter.
I have always loved history and religion but never had much interest specifically in archeology, but hearing our guide describe the intense process of excavating and analyzing the grave and bones of St. Peter gave me an incredible appreciation and new interest in the topic I never before had. All of this is in addition to witnessing such a site through my own religious lens,
which made the experience deeply meaningful and profound. The opportunity to do so with my Wabash brothers, funded by our alumni, is something I never would have imagined before this week.
While we were not able to take pictures during the experience, we were able to see the tombs of many Catholic popes in addition to St. Peter’s Basilica, which was absolutely breathtaking.
