Read the reading and write a letter

Working in your teams, have each person choose one of the following figures who are important for understanding religion and philosophy in the Roman empire. Read the canvas page for that person, and write a letter in that persona explaining a difficult choice that you made and why you made it. You can choose or invent the recipient of the letter. 400-500 words. Try to show off things you have learned about the person's personality from the text associated with them, and about the Roman empire from the course materials in writing your letter. Post to the collaboration, and submit here as a Canvas assignment.

Marcus Aurelius Emperor and Stoic ​This Roman emperor's Greek writings about the Stoic philosophy of enduring what cannot be changed have been inspirational to many.

Thecla, bold convert to Christianity ​She carves out a new role for herself in the aftermath of her conversion to Christianity.

Perpetua, bold convert to Christianity. ​Her high-stakes embrace of Christianity seems unthinkable to her wealthy family.

Apuleius ​was the author of Metamorphoses, or ​The Golden Ass​, a Latin novel about a man who turns himself into an ass and is later rescued by the goddess Isis. Along the way he hears the story of Cupid and Psyche, an ancestor of the Beauty and the Beast story. Oh, and Apuleius in real life was accused of witchcraft and put on trial for his life after he married his college roommate's mother. You can write as Apuleius or as his wife Pudentilla.

Augustine​ (354-430 CE). As part of recounting events in his life before he became Christian, he writes in his autobiographical work ​Confessions​ about some trouble he got into when his schooling was unexpectedly interrupted and he had to return home to his parents.