The Rest Is History // h.s

Four

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Ancient Rome was known for a time of male superiority. Men ruled the world and even the higher women were still known to be a lot lower than the men. A lot of the women from that time were not portrayed well, either they worked in brothels, were controlled by their husbands, or were known to use their sexuality to get what they want.

Historians from that time were often bias and downgraded the women, even the ones from a higher family. But as the years went on and much more research had been conducted there had been many discoveries to say that a lot of the women of all levels of society, held a lot of significance behind the men. 

For every male leader, most of the time there was a woman who was conducting them on what to say, what to do or even conniving their own plans through the men. For example, the fifth Roman Emperor, Nero Caesar, for the first half of his reign was controlled by his mother. Due to his young age in such a high position, he was easily manipulated by the women who gave birth to him.

This was also a similar case for Octavia the Younger, who helped her younger brother Octavius (later known to be Augustus) to become the very first Emperor of Rome. She defied the odds and stood back in the shadows to make sure her brother got to the thrown. She even married a lousy man, to later betray him, all for her brother. She showed loyalty to her family which was something unprecedented for that era, and especially to all the children she later took on in life.

Octavia the Younger at the time was a role model for all women of that era. Taking on children who weren't technically hers and learned to take a powerless position and use it to her advantage. By her death, she had become a mother figure to ten different children, five of which she gave birth too.

Having her name gave me a sense of love and appreciation for the woman who devoted her life to her family and an excess amount of children she took on. She was selfless never putting herself first, and only cared about the people who deserved it.

That was a part that I would like to take with me, the selflessness and family love that Octavia portrayed throughout her life. 

So here I stand in the hot Italian weather as the sun beats down on us, making sure everyone was feeling okay and adjusting to the heat handing out bottles of water. We all had experienced heat before living in California, but it was noting compared to the heat we were experiencing today. We had arrived in Italy during a heat wave, and we were paying for it. 

It was about midday and we had finally arrived at our hotel and were waiting to be checked in. We were starting our expedition in Naples, Italy, where tomorrow we would drive over to the city of Pompeii. I hardly slept on the plane the excited jitters making me fidgety throughout the whole fourteen hours. Owen had been passed out the entire time, being blessed with the ability to sleep anywhere, anytime. 

Italy was incredible already, from its small houses that sat upon hills, the little shops and cafes that sat along the streets, to the dormant volcano that sat just above the city we would visit tomorrow. We hadn't seen much as we had gotten on the bus soon as we arrived, but just looking out the window was enough for me. 

Throughout the next couple months we would visit major sites all around Europe and later flying to Egypt to see some archaeologists in progress, to eventually ending up at our own site we would be working on, and staying there for the last two months. We would have extra historians joining us throughout our journey and I was excited to get an insight into their lives. 

I wanted to try and look into all possibilities of working as a Historian. After graduation I wasn't sure which direction I was going to go, there was too many to pick from. So this year and this expedition was perfect for me, as we would be getting an insight into so many different jobs that can come of working with the past.