At the very first meeting for the new Erasmusplus project in Munich at the end of November 2023, the work was very, very intensive.
After the student and teacher groups had got to know each other and taken a walk through the city of Munich, working groups were formed to focus on a specific topic during the joint project days: Persian wars, war and peace in Roman mythology, war and peace in early Roman history and in the time of the Republic, the century of civil wars in Rome, Augustus as "peace emperor", Erasmus of Rotterdam's "Querela pacis".
How can "peace" be understood, how can "peace" be brought about, how is politics made with "peace"?
By all participants the five days in Munich were judged to have been a great success. The students worked intensively and very harmoniously in the international groups and also enjoyed the numerous impulses from outside: the visit to the Glyptothek, where Prof Stefan Freyberger explained in great detail two sculptures in particular to the group: Eirene with Pluto as a boy and the pedimental sculptures of the temple on Aegina. In the Museum for Casts of Classical Sculptures, Dr Ulrich Hofstaetter challenged us with tricky questions and work assignments on smaller and larger statues, with two main focuses: Olympia (sport and sanctuary) and Augustus (Augustus of Prima Porta and the pictorial symbols on his armour).
Mr Markus Wagner from the MPZ introduced us to Munich under the motto "Discovering Diversity: People are strange, when you’re a stranger”.
A trip to the Olympic Stadium and a lecture by Prof Kai Brodersen got us in the mood for the next meeting in Slovakia, where we would like to focus on the topic of "Sports and Peace". Especially the ẻκεχειρία, the ceasefire during the sports games, was explained in detail by Prof Brodersen.
The initial results of the work were recorded in joint final presentations. The Munich High school, and possibly also the Bolzano High school, will continue to work on this in subject lessons; Munich is planning to publish a final catalogue on the topic.
We very much hope that the next meetings will be as inspiring for all participants as the first meeting in Munich has been.