Saturday January 12

Today everyone in advanced liberal arts went to Itálica, an ancient Roman city north of Seville. It has a beautiful old amphitheatre that reminded me in many ways of the Coliseum in Rome, plus marble statues of rulers, tile mosaics and an extensive sewer system which was created before the birth of Christ. Most of the floors and lowest portions of the walls of the homes still exist, and the mosaics (on the floors) are in really good condition. One house is called the House of Birds because its floor mosaic shows more than 30 kinds of birds. It is one of the first attempts to classify birds. Cats wandered through the amphitheatre and the ruins of the homes and followed us around (see photos). Itálica was only about 20 minutes from Seville, so it was a nice getaway.