Cls 173 The Comic Spirit (February 8, 2000)
Dr. Ann Raia
1. Type the following address in the open address field: http://www.vroma.org. This will bring you to the VRoma Welcome page, where you will see the long list of resources available at the site. Click on Web Gateway for the Log-in form. Type the word guest in the name field. Leave the password field empty. Below, click on the first bar (integrated interface).
2. After a wait while the Web and MOO pages load, you will arrive at
Prima Porta, an ancient gateway into Rome. Go to the navigation
bar on the right side of the screen and click on Who’s on line.
Is anyone else on line excepts guests? Since anyone may come on line at
any time without warning and your conversation is being recorded at the
main site, I ask you to preserve electronic courtesy for yourselves and
others at all times when you MOO.
To MOO (or have conversation), you need to be in exactly
the same room as the person you wish to speak to, just as you would in
reality.
-- To Speak: type opening quotes (“), then write what you
wish to say. Closing quotes are not necessary. Hit the enter key
to submit your comment. You will see your words appear in the record box
(the second level on your screen). Soon the response that the other party
makes will appear.
-- You may also Gesture and Emote: first type a colon (:)
followed by the gesture you wish to express (e.g., waves, smiles,
cries, laughs, titters, etc.)
3. Explore the Web capabilities of the site and its focus on the physical virtuality of Rome: notice the references to “seeing” and “traveling” through the city (begin by following the compass directions and the clickable map, then try teleporting).
4. If you click on Rome on the navigation bar, you will get a
clickable map:
A. Click on Regio IX (Pons Fabricius) and visit the Theater
of Marcellus first. Read about this important theater on the bank of
the Tiber, following all the hyperlinks. Visit every room and pay
attention to the various parts of the theater.
B. Meet the robot Pseudolus, an actor-slave, in the last room,
the scaena, and chat with him as follows:
--in the dialogue box at the bottom of your screen, type: activate
Pseudolus
--chat with the 'bot by first typing quotation marks (“) and
then your words. You don’t need to use close quotations, just hit
enter. Wait for the 'bot to answer you--he’s very saucy, so
beware! Questions containing the following keywords will evoke an
appropriate response: wine, food, master, slave.
--when you’re tired of him, silence the 'bot by typing: hush
Pseudolus (no quotation marks)
C. Visit two other theaters in ancient Rome via teleport:
-- a. Type: @go Theater of Pompey and explore each of its "rooms"
to learn about it.
-- b. Type: @go Theater of Balbus and note the similarities to
and differences from the other two theaters.
5. In the dialogue box at the bottom of your screen, type: @quit.
You will be disconnected from the MOO.
Return to the home page at http://www.vroma.org.
Click on Image Collection. In the Search box, type the word: theater.
Look at as many photos of Roman theaters as you like.
-- In your own words, write a detailed description of a Roman theater and
everything you understand about it, comparing it to modern American
theaters or to a particular theater that you know. Hand this in at the end
of the class.
6. Once again, go back to the Home page (http://www.vroma.org)
and enter VRoma through the Web Gateway (see instructions above
for logging in). When you are again at Prima Porta, click on Rome
via the navigation bar. When the map appears, click on Regio VIII,
which will bring you to the Roman Forum, the heart and cradle of
ancient Rome.
Look around the Forum and read about it. It figures significantly in our
first play “Menaechmi” (although the Rostra doesn’t
feature in our comedies, you will enjoy visiting it).
7. Return to Rome and use the clickable map to visit other
places
Some recommendations are:
Regio III (or teleport by typing:@go House of Paullus),
where you can visit a typical wealthy Roman town house, such as the one
Menaechmus I inhabits.
-- check out the Baths of Trajan, the Circus Maximus (in
Regio XI), the Temple of Ceres (in Regio II), or
just wander about Rome and see what you discover.