roman civilization assignment

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The Civilization of Ancient Rome

The ancient Romans built one of the greatest empires in world history . However, whereas the Roman Empire lasted from about 30 BCE to 476 CE, Ancient Roman civilization emerged long before, in the centuries after 800 BCE.

This article deals primarily with Roman life and culture. For coverage of the history of ancient Rome and the Roman Empire, look at the article on The Roman Empire.

(This article offers an overview of ancient Rome and its civilization; for links to articles dealing with different aspects of Rome and its empire in more detail, go to the bottom of the article The Roman Empire .)

Economy and Society

Government, warfare and law

Technology and science

Legacy of Ancient Rome

Further study

Timeline of Roman History

753 BCE – traditional date for the founding of ancient Rome

509 BCE – traditional date for the founding of the Roman Republic

390 BCE – traditional date for the sack of Rome by the Gauls

264-241 and 218-202 BCE – The First and Second Punic Wars (the great wars with Carthage)

83-31 BCE – period of Civil Wars leads to the fall of the Roman Republic

27 BCE – Augustus establishes himself as the first of the Roman emperors

117 – the Roman Empire reaches its largest extent

312 – the conversion of the emperor Constantine to Christianity

410 – Rome is sacked by the Goths

476 – the last Roman emperor in the West is deposed

(See a more detailed timeline of the Roman Republic .)

The term Ancient Rome refers to the city of Rome, which was located in central Italy; and also to the empire it came to rule, which covered the entire Mediterranean basin and much of western Europe. At its greatest extent in stretched from present-day northern England to southern Egypt, and from the Atlantic coast to the shores of the Persian Gulf.

Rome’s location in central Italy placed it squarely within the Mediterranean cluster of civilizations. The most famous of these was that of the Ancient Greeks , but others included those of the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians and the Etruscans , plus several lesser-known peoples such as the Lycians. The civilization of Ancient Rome was rooted, directly or indirectly, in all these earlier culture.

In its early centuries Rome was particularly influenced by the powerful Etruscan civilization to its north, from which it acquired many aspects of its culture. As Rome’s reach expanded, it came into direct contact with the Greeks. From then on Greek influence would become an increasingly important element within Roman life. However, the Romans would give Greek culture their own slant, giving it a new grandeur which can be seen in Roman remains throughout the empire.

The Economy and Society of the Roman World

Ancient Roman society originated as a society of small farmers. However, as it grew more powerful and more extensive, it became one of the most urbanized societies in the pre-industrial world.

At the height of its empire, Rome was probably the largest city on the planet, with more than a million inhabitants. The empire had a handful of other cities with several hundred thousand inhabitants, and many other large and wealthy urban settlements.

These cities had some features which would have looked very familiar to us: high rise apartment blocks, overcrowded slums, busy streets, plazas, imposing public administrative buildings, and so on.

Roman cities

The Roman Empire contained around 2000 “cities”. For the Romans, cities were communities which ran their own affairs, and constituted the main building-blocks of the empire. Every free person in the empire belonged to a city – which may not necessarily have been where he or she was living at any given time, but was his or her “home town”.

The Roman city was built around a forum. This was an open space surrounded by colonnades and public buildings. It functioned as a market place, political meeting point and social center. The public buildings surrounding it would include the main temple, the basilica (the main government building where the town council met and town administration was carried on), the law courts (if separate from the Basilica), and the main public baths of the city.

Stretching away from the forum were the cities streets, forming a grid pattern so that a map of a city would look like a multitude of square blocks. Here would be situated the homes of rich and poor, the shops, cafes and workshops of the town, more temples and public baths, and a theater, maybe two.

Unlike Greek theaters, Roman ones were large, free-standing buildings of semi-circular design, containing tiered ranks of seats.

The city would be surrounded by walls, usually made of stone. Fortified gateways pierced the walls to allow people and traffic to pass in and out.

Water was brought to the city, sometimes from miles away, along aqueducts. It was fed into public fountains dotting the city, from which poorer families drew their water; and also into private wells in the houses of the rich. The amount of fresh water available in an average Roman town was far greater than in later centuries, right up to two hundred years ago.

Roman cities also had public drains and sewers to take the city’s waste away, and public toilets were available.

Outside the walls was the amphitheater. Here, wild animal shows and gladiatorial fights were shown. Amphitheaters were built like the theaters, but were circular rather than semi-circular in design.

Many cities were located on the coast or by a large, navigable river. Here, a harbor would be situated, consisting of quays built of wood or stone for loading and unloading vessels, and docks for repairing or building ships.

Surrounding the city was the territory which it controlled. Hamlets and villages were scattered across the landscape, whose people came to the city for market or other special occasions. Villas of the rich were also to be found – large farmhouses set in country estates worked by slaves or tenant farmers. Some villas were truly magnificent, palaces set in beautiful parks.

Agriculture

As in all pre-modern societies, the Roman economy was based primarily on agriculture. For the Romans, this was then typical Mediterranean farming of the ancient world, cultivating grains, vines and olives, and keeping sheep, goat and cattle.

Landholdings were very small by modern standards, the majority no more than a few acres in size. An estate of 100 acres was considered large. In the late Republic, however, many wealthy Romans developed huge slave-run plantations.

As the city of Rome grew into a huge imperial capital, its population was fed by grain imported from overseas. However, there was still a great demand for vegetables, olives, wine and other farm produce. As a result, the countryside near Rome was given over to intensive farming and market gardening. Manuals on agriculture were written to spread efficient methods of food production.

Trade and industry

Economically, the “Pax Romana” which the Romans established around the Mediterranean was very favorable to trade. Long-distance maritime trade was more extensive at the time of the empire than at any time before the nineteenth century.

This expansion in trade encouraged the development of farms and estates growing crops for export, of craftsmen specializing in export goods, and the growth of highly organized trading operations spanning the empire.

One fact which had a major impact on trade was the system of grain fleets which carried grain from Egypt and North Africa to Rome, to feed the population of the capital. This was set up by the emperor Augustus, so that the Roman poor – hundreds of thousands of them – could get free bread each day.

Scholars used to think that this massive operation acted as a drain on the economy of the empire – it was, after all, paid for out of taxes. More recently, they have begun to view it as having acted as a huge stimulus to trade. The ships which carried the grain would also have carried other goods, which would have subsidized the long-distance trade of the empire.

Quite apart from the grain supply, the sheer wealth which flowed into the enormous imperial capital would have boosted commerce and industry right around the empire.

The volume of trade in the empire brought into being the most advanced financial system in the ancient world. Banking had been practiced in Rome since at least the days of the 2nd Punic War (218-202 BCE). The large-scale military operations of the later Republic also brought into being firms of contractors which were involved in supplying armies and undertaking tax-farming operations in the provinces. Associated with this was the rise of high finance, and what appears to be the arrival of modern-style stocks and shares: the firms of financiers were joint-stock companies issuing bonds and shares which apparently fluctuated in price, just as modern stocks do. This financial industry continued to be active into the imperial period, financing the grain fleets, large-scale mining and other major business operations.

This scale of Roman commercial activity would have facilitated an expansion in industrial output, and there is strong evidence that this, too, was at a level not seen again in Europe until the Nineteenth century. The copper mines which developed in Spain, for example, were huge by pre-modern standards.

Most industrial production took place in the small workshops of potters, blacksmiths, bronze workers, carpenters, leather workers, cobblers, lamp makers and other craftsmen. Family members plus some slaves would make up the workforce in most of these. However, some workshops were much larger. The armories which supplied the Roman army employed hundreds of workers, mostly slaves.

Social classes

Roman society changed enormously over time as Rome expanded from small city-state to huge empire Throughout almost all Roman history, however, the basic class distinctions of Roman society remained in place.

At the top stood the senators – members of the senate (the council of state) – and their families. In early Rome, these were probably all members of the class of Patricians, a group of hereditary aristocrats; as time went by, however, membership of the senate became more broadly based, as men from Plebeian families were enrolled.

Below the senatorial class came the equites. These were originally those in the army who could afford to own a horse (equus). Over time, however, they became a numerous “middle class” between senators and the rest of the citizen body.

Below them were the ordinary Roman citizens. Their numbers grew vastly over time, from a few thousand to many millions; and spread right around the empire.

An  ubiquitous feature of Roman society was slavery. In fact, as Rome’s conquests multiplied, she became the most slave-based society before the rise of Atlantic slavery in the 17th century.

Slaves would have been found everywhere, in the cities and in the country, and of course in the home. They worked in all kinds of businesses, and did all kinds of work – from unskilled laboring through to high level professional jobs. They had no legal rights – they were property, like cattle. But one thing they could, with luck, look forward to: freedom. Generation by generation, millions of slaves were freed and joined the main body of citizens, with all their rights. Some freedmen became very rich; many others made a moderate living in their trade. But all swelled the ranks of citizens.

(Take a more detailed look at how Roman society and economy changed over time as it grew from single city state to huge empire.)

The father – the Pater Familias – was the head of the Roman family. In early law, he had complete control over his wife and children, with power of life and death over them. Even as adults, his sons remained under his authority.

Later, the laws governing family life were greatly relaxed, and discipline in most homes became much milder. In fact, from late Republican times onward, Roman women lived much freer lives than their Greek predecessors had done. For example, whereas Greek wives had been unable to eat with her husband’s guests, a Roman wife was free to do so. Also, women could initiate divorce as easily as men.

Young Roman men came of age about the age of 17, when he became liable for military service. In early times all men would be expected to fight in the army, and could be called up to do so for some of each year, until he was 40 years old. From the late Republic onward, however, serving in the army became a full-time profession, so unless they volunteered, ordinary citizens would not expect to serve.

Parents arranged the marriages of their children. A man would usually move to his own house when he married. Although boys could marry 14, and girls at 12, most did not do so until they were older.

After marriage, in well-off marriages the wife’s responsibility was to look after the home, and bring up the children, while the husband worked. In poorer households they would be needed in the family workshop.

Young children of both sexes, and from a wide range of social backgrounds, attended small schools run by slaves or ex-slaves; in better-off households, they were taught at home, also by a slave or freedman. Schools were held in public places, such as the portico (open colonnaded area) of the forum.

Children were taught reading, writing and arithmetic, by rote learning – reinforced by regular beatings!

Older girls were excluded from formal education – though some Roman women were noted for their learning, and must have continued their education at home.

For boys, schooling continued with mastering Latin and Greek grammar. Often, cities paid for a public teacher to perform this task – this was a well-respected post (even if often occupied by an ex-slave), and such teachers sometimes went on to take important jobs in the civil service.

The sons of wealthy families who wanted them to take up a career in public life then progressed onto higher education. Here they would learn the art of public speaking – a vitally important skill if they were to persuade citizens to vote for them, or sway juries in court, or influence decisions taken in city councils or even the Roman senate.

Large cities often paid for a teacher of “rhetoric” (as public speaking is called) to fulfil this task. Like grammar teachers, these were important men in the city, and could go on to high government office later on. Some teachers attracted students from all over the empire, with their schools becoming a kind of university. The two institutions of higher education in Athens, in Greece , the Academy (originally founded by Plato) and the Lycaeum (by Aristotle), continued to flourish under Roman rule, and specialized in the study of Greek philosophy.

Town houses

The earliest Roman houses were essentially small wattle-and-daub cottages with thatched roofs. This is hardly surprising as Rome originated as a collection of rural villages. By the time of the end of the monarchy, however, houses designed along Etruscan lines were being built.

Early Roman dwellings were one-story buildings erected around a courtyard. The main reception room (the atrium) gave out onto smaller rooms – dining room (triclinium), office (tablinum), bedrooms, kitchens and other domestic areas. Many of the family rooms had painted walls. Later, under Greek influence, the courtyards of larger houses became small colonnaded (peristyle) gardens, complete with fountains and ponds.

Later, some houses became larger in size and more complex in design, with two stories. The area around the atrium expanded to become a main block, and the garden was moved to the back (but still surrounded by wings with kitchens, servants quarters, storerooms and so on). All Roman town houses had toilets, which were built above sewers which discharged into a large public sewer to take the waste away from the town.

In the cities, the poor lived in rooms above or behind their places of work. Craftsmen and shopkeepers rented out shops, workshops or cafes, plus the living accommodation which went with them. Some large houses were completely converted into either workshops or apartments. In large cities such as Rome, apartment blocks as high as five stories (or even more, before the emperor Augustus imposed housing regulations) were built, divided into many rooms. These would have had no water or toilets above the first floor, and life in them would have resembled living in the mid-19th century slums of London or New York. The lower stories were sometimes divided into larger suites of rooms, for well-off families.

The main building material for houses was fired brick. Stone, marble and even an early form of concrete were used in the palatial mansions of the rich. Roofs were made of wood covered with terracotta tiles (terracotta is a type of clay).

Houses had small windows, without glass but with wooden shutters. In apartment blocks, however, the windows were larger, as they were usually the only source of light. They sometimes had glass panes in them.

The rooms were furnished with sparse furniture, mostly wooden chairs, couches, stools, benches and tables. Cupboards similar to those of today were also to be found, as well as chests of various sizes.

Country houses

The dwellings of the rural poor were small huts and cottages, with tile or thatched roofs. They were normally huddled together in hamlets or villages. The focus of Roman community life was always in the city, and so country villages were low-status places to live, despised by the city-dwellers.

However, one type of country house was very desirable: the villa. Many of these were more or less large farmhouses, the center of a working farm. Indeed, most villas were the headquarters of a large farm or country estate. Some, however, were mansions designed primarily for a leisured lifestyle. Such houses, owned by wealthy families, were often located within easy reach of a city, and were used as retreats from the stresses of urban living.

Villas were similar in design to large urban dwellings, but were more spacious. Some were laid out with three wings, others completely enclosed a large inner space. This was often used as a luxurious garden. The rooms were likely to boast mosaic floors and painted walls.

Roman clothing was almost identical to that of the Greeks . Men wore a tunic tied at the waste. On formal occasions they would also drape a large piece of cloth, called a toga , around themselves.

Only Roman citizens were allowed to wear this. For most citizens, the toga was a plain white cloth. The only exception was for senators, whose togas were bordered with a purple stripe, and for emperors, whose toga was colored purple (thus when a man became emperor he was said to “take the purple”.)

Towards the end of the Roman Empire, although togas continued to be worn by senators and high officials, they went out of fashion for everyone else (by this time all free people were Roman citizens, so it had ceased to be a mark of distinction). Barbarian influences began to be felt, with long-sleeved tunics and trousers became popular. Highly decorated cloaks fastened by a broach also came into vogue.

Most men wore their hair short. Throughout the republic and early empire, they were clean shaven. From the second century onward, older men adopted the Greek fashion for growing a beard. In the later Empire men of all ages wore beards.

Women wore a stola , a long tunic tied at the bust and falling to the ankles. They too could drape large pieces of cloth, looking like a toga but called a palla , over themselves.

Women’s hairstyles varied over the long period of Rome’s history. In earlier times, women grew their hair long, then gathered it into a bun. Under the early empire, upper class women’s hairstyles became more elaborate, with the hair often braided before being gathered back into a bun. Later, hair styles were more elaborate still, with many curls piled high on the head.

Wealthy Roman women also wore a lot of make-up, at least during the empire; face creams and perfumes, red ocher for the lips and cheek and soot for eyeliners were all applied with the aid of a polished metal mirror (plus slave).

Children’s clothing consisted of short tunics, usually but not always tied at the waste.

Leather sandals were worn on the feet.

Romans of all classes, like people of all races and times, enjoyed dining with friends, eating, drinking and chatting in the privacy of their own homes. In wealthy household, large and elaborate banquets were the norm under the Empire.

For educated Romans, reading was a common habit: leisured learning (otium) was an important part of the idealized gentleman’s life. Books – or rather, scrolls – were expensive. They were copied by hand (this was long before the days of printing) by groups of slaves laboring in the workshop of a book publisher. In Roman times, only the well-off could afford this pastime.

All Roman, of both sexes and all classes, enjoyed visiting the public baths. These were not just places to go and bathe, but also to take exercise, have a massage and above all to socialize.

Drinking and gambling with friends in the many inns was also popular with many men.

Public entertainment was to be had at theaters, where plays by Greek and Latin playwrights were staged. Chariot races were put on at the racecourse, or circus (the most famous of these was the Circus Maximus, at Rome).

At frequent intervals, bloody shows were put on at the amphitheater. Here, armed men fought animals, or gladiators (swordsmen) fought each other; or unarmed criminals condemned to death were put into the arena to be eaten by lions. It was only with the coming of Christianity as the official religion of the empire, towards the end of the Roman period, that the worst of these shocking shows – gladiatorial combats – were abolished.

The Roman Republic governed Rome as it changed from single city-state to enormous empire. As its power expanded, the republic’s leaders met new challenges by adapting old institutions to meet unforeseen challenges. The stresses and strains of growth eventually led to the breakdown of the Republic, but the Augustan settlement which opened the curtain on the Empire was a masterpiece of practical adaptation.

The Republican government involved a mix of different institutions – the magistrates, above all the two annually elected consuls; the senate, a council of state composed of the most important men in Rome (senators); and the popular assemblies, which elected the magistrates and had the final say as to whether Rome went to war or not.

(Click here for more on government under the Roman Republic .)

Most of these institutions carried over into the Empire. However, they were adapted to give the emperor supreme command over the army, as well as the final say in what legislation was permitted. They were also fine-tuned more to the needs of governing a large empire than of running a single city-state, which is how they had originated.

(Click here for more on government under the Roman Empire .)

The Roman army was the most formidable fighting force of its day. It changed considerably over the long period of Roman history, but for most of this time it was based around the legion. This was a body of some 4000-6000 infantry soldiers (depending on the period), divided into units of 100 men (centuries). This division into small formations gave the legion a flexibility unmatched by its opponents; and combined with innovative tactics and sound discipline, it endured as an unmatched fighting force for many centuries.

(For more in-depth looks at the Roman Army, see the coverage of the military in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire .)

The Greeks had developed legal codes , and the Romans followed their example. In the mid-fifth century BCE they published 12 tables of laws, which were put up for public display in the Forum. From these early laws there developed, over the centuries, a huge body of law, dealing with every aspect of public and private life.

Roman law guaranteed all citizens a fair trial. There were several courts, each presided over by different magistrates and each dealing with different kinds of cases, some civil, some criminal. In some courts, juries, made up of ordinary citizens, could by 100-strong. In criminal cases, it was up to the victim to bring an accusation of wrongdoing, there being no public prosecutor. Punishments for the most serious crimes were execution, and for lesser ones, flogging.

The law protected a whole range of basic rights for citizens. The Romans developed the principle that all citizens were equal in the eyes of the law, and that their persons and property were protected from arbitrary demands by the state.

These rights, originating and evolved within the Republic, were not taken away under the emperors, at least for the majority of the population who were not within the personal reach of the emperor. Even a Jew in a far away province who happened to possess Roman citizenship could cry, “I appeal to Caesar”, and to Caesar he was taken.

The great legal digests of the Late Empire enshrined these principles and passed them on to future European civilization.

Roman Religion

Roman religion was very similar to that of the Greeks. Like the Greeks, the Romans worshiped a pantheon of gods and goddesses, headed by the chief of the gods, Jupiter. Other gods included Minerva, goddess of wisdom and learning; Mars, god of war; Venus, goddess of love; Ceres, goddess of the Earth; and Pluto, god of the underworld. As well as these major gods, numerous lesser deities, gods of hearth and home, and forest and field, populated the spirit world.

Roman religion placed great emphasis on proper rituals – it was important to do things right. Roman priests were, by and large, not professional, full-time religious practitioners. They tended rather to be the leading people in their community, magistrates and senators.

Unlike Greek religion, Roman religion had a strong moral dimension. This was to do with behaving in an honest and dignified way towards others, keeping oaths and agreements on the shake of a hand, and in displaying courage and fortitude when misfortune struck.

The Romans were very superstitious, always looking for good or bad omens before embarking on a course of action. Like the Greeks, they also consulted famous oracles – priests or priestesses at certain shrines who, in a trance, uttered messages from the gods.

One innovation that the emperors introduced was their own cult, emperor-worship. To what extent this was a real religion rather than an outward show of loyalty is difficult to say; however, in most Roman towns a temple to the emperor would be among the larger buildings.

As with Greek religion, Roman religion was not aimed at meeting private spiritual needs – it was a public, outward thing. As time went by, new religions and cults became popular in the Roman world: the Eleusian Mysteries and cult of Orpheus from Greece; the cult of the Egyptian goddess Isis ; the religion of Mithras, from beyond the empire, in Iran; and later, Christianity.

Despite (or because of?) often fierce persecution, Christianity spread around the empire, and by the third century Christians probably made up a sizable minority of the population. However, it was the conversion to Christianity of the emperor Constantine, and the favor bestowed on the Christian Church by succeeding emperors, that turned it into the most popular religion in the empire. In the 380s it was made the official religion of the empire, a development which would have a huge impact on the future history of Europe.

Roman Culture

Roman art was closely related to late Greek art – indeed, as the Romans conquered more and more Greek cities, more and more Greet art found its way to Rome. The same is true of Greek artists, who found in the Roman ruling classes keen patrons of their work. Culturally, the Roman period is to a large extent an extension of the Hellenistic period, especially in the eastern parts of the empire. Nevertheless, Roman sculpture in particular has an unmissable characteristic all its own. The sculptural portraits of leading Romans of the late Republic and early Empire are simple and dignified, and above all startlingly realistic. We really do know what Julius Caesar looked like! To see them “in the flesh”, so to speak, is an awe-inspiring experience.

Architecture

What is true for art is even more true for architecture. One can see Greek influences powerfully at work in the buildings of Ancient Rome, but transformed into a uniquely Roman style. There was nothing in Greek architecture similar to the arched facades of the Colosseum or of the theater of Pompey; nor to the arched construction of the great Roman aqueducts, or the triumphal arches which adorn many Roman cities. The arch is a new innovation in Roman architecture, reflecting Roman engineering capabilities in solving the problem of carrying greater weight. The same is true for the dome, which appeared most famously in the Pantheon, in Rome, and which allowed Roman architects and builders to span much greater spaces than before. The theme here is size and grandeur – the Romans built big to reflect their power and confidence.

Roman literature is written in the Latin language. The Latins were a people who had settled in central Italy some centuries before Rome was founded; Rome was originally one of their towns, and although the Romans came to be of somewhat mixed Italian stock (Latin, Sabine, Etruscan), they spoke the Latin dialect.

Writing came to the Latins (as for other Italians) via the Greeks, and early Latin writers modeled themselves on Greek precursors (when they were not actually translating Greek works into Latin). However, as the Republic neared its end, and the Empire lived through its first century, a group of Roman writers turned Latin into a great literary language in its own right, which later ages admired enormously, and sought to emulate.

One of the extraordinary features of much Latin writing is that, to a degree probably without precedent in any other literature, much of it was produced by busy politicians. Some of these reached the highest eminence in their own turbulent lifetimes: Cicero, Caesar, Seneca (all these died violent political deaths). Other writers did not make quite the same mark, but still had successful careers in public service:  Sallust, Varro, Tacitus and Pliny the younger, all successful senators; and Suetonius and the Pliny the elder, both senior civil servants. They found time in their busy lives to produce a great volume of writing – commentaries on philosophy and politics, histories, biographies,  satires, speeches, letters, drama, and works on science and nature. Throughout all this literature there permeates a realism and reflectiveness which comes from the practical lives these men led.

Other Latin writers of the period lived more conventional literary lives: the poets Virgil, Catallus, Horace, Ovid, Martial and Juvenal; the historian Livy. In fact these too were all near the seat of power, but as writers, not as politicians.

Later writes continued the tradition of combining politics with writing – most notably an emperor, Marcus Aurelius, who jotted down his thoughts on philosophy. Right at the end of the Roman period, Ausonius the poet, Symmachus the man of letters and Boethius, the philosopher, all held high office while producing literature which is still read today.

Meanwhile, in a completely different social setting, an entirely different genre was being produced. This was the writings of early Christian thinkers. Most of these spoke and wrote Greek, but from the third century onward some major Christian Latin writers appeared. Their works, of encouragement and exhortation, theology and pastoral concern, are still regarded as classics of Christian literature.

The elegant, “upper class” literature of Rome and the more urgent literature of the Christian Church come together in the works of St Augustine of Hippo. He was a man right at the top of Roman society, and a deeply committed Christian. He wrote works reflecting on his life and times, and in doing so greatly influenced western thinking for centuries to come.

Roman thinkers looked to Hellenistic philosophy for inspiration. The Stoic school of thought, which taught that it was duty for individuals to bear life’s trials with dignity and calm, was particularly popular in Rome. From Cicero, in the late Republic, though Seneca and later Marcus Aurelius, under the Empire, Stoicism continued to exercise a strong attraction over Roman minds.

Epicureanism was also popular in some circles, with poets such as Lucretius championing its teachings. Like Stoics, Epucureans believed that life is ultimately without hope, and that one should focus on living daily life in a positive spirit.

A major philosophical strand of thought in the later Roman empire was Neoplatonism. This taught that there was a “being beyond being” who created and ordered all things, and that humans should strive to become one with this being through practicing virtue and asceticism.

Roman technology and science

Given the large overlap between the Hellenistic and Roman civilizations, it is sometimes hard to disentangle which civilization took some technological steps. In a sense it doe not matter, as Rome rose to power within a Hellenistic context, and carried forward the Hellenistic culture a further few centuries.

Some of the greatest technological achievements of the Roman period were in construction engineering. These rested on the development of the first form of concrete in history, a step that took place in southern Italy in the 2nd century BCE. This material (which used volcanic lava as its base) was crucial to Roman architectural innovations such as the arch and the dome. These allowed Roman engineers to span much larger spaces than ever before. Huge stone bridges, the first of their kind, were thrown across rivers; multistoried aqueducts marched across valleys; and awe-inspiring buildings such as the Pantheon in Rome, and much later the Cathedral of S. Sophia in Constantinople, used domed roofs to enclose larger areas than any other building until the 16th century.

The Romans were clearly adventurous and highly skilled engineers. More than anything else, this is seen in their roads, which ran for hundreds of miles across all sorts of terrain, and played an important part in knitting the empire together so effectively. Laying out these roads involved advanced surveying techniques, using instruments which were adapted from those used by astronomers to measure angles.

The Romans seem to have been the first to use mechanical means for the ubiquitous task of grinding corn, which previously, had always been done by hand. Dating from the second century BCE, heavy millstones have been found which would have ground grain with the aid of animal power.

The Roman world saw the next major step along this path with the building of the first water mills recorded by history. These were used from the first century BCE to grind grain, and were described by Roman writers such as Vitruvius and Pliny the Elder. They probably originated in the Greek-speaking eastern empire, but in the first century CE, one mill, in southern France, had no less than sixteen overshot water wheels, fed by the main aqueduct to Arles. It has been estimated that this mill could supply enough bread for the entire 12,500-strong population of Arles at that time.

Some later mills were built as sawmills, for the industrial-scale cutting of timber.

There is also evidence for a kind of mechanical harvester or reaper at work in Roman Gaul.

Science in the Roman World

Roman science was an extension of the Hellenistic scientific activity – indeed, most of the scientific thinkers of the Roman period were Greeks (or Greek speakers) living in the Greek-speaking eastern part of the empire.

One exception was Pliny the Elder, a senior Roman official writing in Latin. He compiled a huge collection of facts (interspersed with many fictions!) about the natural world. In many cases he sought to explain natural phenomena – for example, he was the first to realize that amber is the fossilized resin of pine trees.

Ptolemy of Alexandria (one of the great cities of the Hellenistic world) systematized Greek knowledge of astronomy. His theories of the movements of the heavenly bodies would have a profound influence on later European thinkers.

The doctor Galen also systematized Hellenistic anatomical knowledge; but he also extended this knowledge considerably, based on his own careful dissections of animals. He was the first to assert that veins carried blood, not air; and his writings formed the primary foundation for Medieval medical theory and practice.

Ancient Rome in world history

The rise and fall of Ancient Rome formed a crucial episode in the rise of Western civilization. Through Rome the achievements of ancient Greek civilization passed to Medieval Europe – with unique Roman contributions added. Roman architecture, sculpture, philosophy and literature all built on Greek models, developed their own distinct elements, and then left a legacy for later periods of Western civilization to build on.

However, it was in law and politics that Roman influence can be felt most strongly today. Much European law is still derived from Roman law. The ideas of equity (true justice), equality before the law, citizens’ rights and elected officials, whilst originating with the Greeks, were all taken further by the Romans and have came down to us in a basically Roman form.

We will deal further with the impact of Rome when we look at the roots of Western civilization .

Further Study

Timemaps resources:.

Articles on Ancient Rome and related topics:

The History of the Roman Empire

Government and Warfare under the Roman Republic

Government and Warfare under the Roman Empire

The Society and Economy of Ancient Rome

Ancient Carthage

Etruscan Civilization

History of Ancient Europe  at the time when ancient Roman civilization flourished.

History of the Ancient Middle East , showing the role the Roman empire played in that region.

Ancient Europe , showing the rise and fall of the Roman empire in the context of European history

The Middle East , showing the impact of the Roman empire on that region

The World  when ancient Roman civilization flourished

Sources on Ancient Rome

The main sources I have used for the history of ancient Rome are:

Stobart, J.C.,  The Grandeur that was Rome , Sidgwick & Jackson, 1961, a brilliant survey of Rome’s history and civilization for the general reader.

Flower, H.L.,  The Cambridge Campanion to the Roman Republic , CUP, 2004 – an excellent resume of recent scholarly studies.

Cowell, F.R.,  Everyday Life in Ancient Rome , Batsford, 1961 – a beautifully written and very accessible guide to daily life.

Talbert, R.J.A. (ed.),  Atlas of Classical History , Routledge, 1985, p. 82ff. (for the Roman world): a detailed survey of the geography of Greek and Roman civilization; aimed at students rather than the general reader.

McEvedy, C.,  The New Penguin Atlas of Ancient History,  Penguin, 2002, p. 72ff. (when Rome starts to appear). Despite its title, this small book, with its lovely clear maps, only covers the ancient West.

Haywood, J.,  The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Civilizations , Penguin, 2005, p. 106ff. The section on Rome covers its history up to the 4th century BC (i.e. well before its major expansion).The text and the maps are excellent.

Grant, M. (ed.),  Greece and Rome: the Birth of Western Civilization , Thames & Hudson, 1986: a lavishly illustrated book, with texts by some of the foremost classical scholars of the day.

Mosse, Claude,  The Ancient World at Work , Chatto & Windus, 1969 – a sholarly look at the fundamentals of ancient Greek and Roman economics and society.

Burn, A.R. & Edwards, J.M.B.,  Greece and Rome , Scott, Foresman & co., 1970: a short, succinct overview of Graeco-Roman history. The section on Rome starts at p. 96.

Connolly, P.,  The Ancient City: Life in Classical Athens and Rome,  OUP, 1998: a beautifully illustrated look at everyday life in these two cities. The section on Rome starts at p. 105.

For an overview of the archaeology of ancient Rome, I found the following useful (and enjoyable due to its lavish illustrations): Renfrew, C. (ed.),  Past Worlds: The Times Atlas of Archaeology , Times Books, 1995, p. 168ff.

A work on general archaeology aimed more at students, but readable and with very good coverage of ancient Greece, is Scarre, C. (ed.),  The Human Past , Thames & Hudson, 2005, p. 505ff.

For an insightful look at government in ancient Greece, especially at how Athenian democracy worked, see Finer, S. E.,  The History of Government, I, Ancient Monarchies and Empires , OUP, 1999, p. 528ff.

For specific aspects and periods of Roman history, I have found the following very useful:

Syme, R.,  The Roman Revolution , OUP, 1939 – a brilliant insight into the fall of the Republic

Cowell, F.R.,  Cicero and the Roman Republic , Pelican, 1973 – a wonderful study of the last age of the Republic

Scullard, H.H.,  Roman Politics  220-150 BC, OUP, 1951 – a detailed examination of politics in the middle Republic; not for the faint-hearted.

Adcock, F.E.,  Roman Political Ideas and Practice , University of Michigan, 1959 – an overview of this subject.

Birley, A.R.,  Life in Roman Britain , Batsford, 1964 – an accessible survey for the general reader.

I make no apology for many of these sources being several decades old. If you want to read a recent treatment of Roman history, the following have been well-received:

Beard, M.,  SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome , Profile Books, 2015

Baker, S.,  Ancient Rome: the Rise and Fall of an Empire , BBC Books, 2007

There are huge numbers of sites on ancient Rome. From my research probably the most useful are these:

The Ancient History Encyclopedia has good articles on  Ancient Rome

Wikipedia has a vast amount of information on  Ancient Rome

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Mr and Mrs Social Studies

A Teaching Blog

16 Ancient Rome Activities for Middle School

Ancient rome activities, ancient rome lesson plan .

If you are an Ancient Civilizations teacher and need some ideas for Ancient Rome Activities, you are in the right place! We’ve compiled our top free and paid resources to help you have a successful Ancient Rome unit. We want to help you succeed, whether you use these as an outline or to help supplement your existing unit! All links and resources below are what we personally use in our Ancient Rome unit.

Ancient Rome Activities for Middle School

Ancient rome introductory vocabulary activities.

As with all of our Ancient Civilizations, we love to start the unit with foundational vocabulary skills. With that, one of our favorite ways to do this is through our Google Drive Vocabulary Activities . There are 8 different Ancient Rome vocabulary activities included, and they’re an easy thing to incorporate throughout your unit. They are perfect for when you’ve got extra time left in class, introducing a new topic, or as warm-up activities.

Ancient Rome Word Wall

We always find that word walls are a great tool in addition to our vocabulary activities. Our resource includes 24 Ancient Rome vocabulary words ready to print and display on your bulletin board. And because images are included on every card, they’re also helpful for your visual learners!

Never used an ancient civilization word wall before? This blog post will teach you how to set up, organize, and use them effectively in your classroom!

Ancient Rome Unit Introduction

One thing we try to do is make our lessons relevant to students, so connecting present-day Italy to Ancient Rome is something we find important. To do that, we take a more modern approach to our unit and have students complete this unit introduction activity . Students research key details about modern Italy, and when we shift back to ancient times, that prior knowledge makes it easier.

Ancient Rome Slideshow + Note Sheet

We find it helpful to share background information at the start of the unit, so students can make connections during other activities. With this Ancient Rome Slideshow for Google Slides , teach your students about the GRAPES of Ancient Rome! This 59-slide Google Slideshow provides a detailed overview of Ancient Rome, including the Roman Republic, Roman mythology, the rise of Christianity, and much more! This no-prep resource also includes both printable and digital note sheets!

Ancient Rome Bell Ringers

If you’re looking to improve your classroom management and help students review material, these bell ringers are perfect! This set includes 20 Ancient Rome Bell Ringers for Google Drive that are 100% editable and ready to use. These warm-up prompts cover a variety of topics that come up in an Ancient Rome unit while also building helpful skills! Topics covered in this resource include patricians and plebeians, the Roman Republic, Augustus, the Roman Empire, the rise of Christianity, the fall of Rome, and more!

Ancient Rome Google Earth Field Trip

When it comes to geography, we’ve created a Google Earth Field Trip around Ancient Rome. Our students have loved using Google Earth in the past, and it really brings these locations to life. They get to visit different key sites of the Roman Empire and gain a better understanding of the geography. We’ve also included a puzzle element so students really retain what they’re learning.

What Did Ancient Rome Look Like?

We’ve discovered this really interesting animated YouTube video by New Historia that brings Ancient Rome to life. Overall it’s very well-made, and the 3D animations help students visualize Ancient Rome architecture and some geography. The same group also has similar videos for Ancient Greece and Egypt if that’s something you would be interested in.

Ancient Rome Timeline

If you’re looking to make your Ancient Rome Unit more hands-on and engaging, this printable Ancient Rome Timeline is the resource you need! In this interactive timeline project, students construct a timeline that features reading passages, maps, and images. The information included in these features covers the Roman Kingdom, Early Roman Republic, Late Roman Republic, Early Roman Empire (Pax Romana), and the Late Roman Empire. Not only will this activity give students the chance to physically build a timeline, but it will also become a learning tool that they can refer back to throughout the unit!

Ancient Rome Reader’s Theater

Rome’s society went through numerous changes throughout its history, and because of that we created something we hope would do it justice. We designed this Ancient Rome Reader’s Theater to help our students better understand the evolution of Ancient Rome. It covers the complete history of Rome in an engaging and humorous 19-page script and even includes a timeline activity. It includes topics such as the legend of Romulus and Remus, branches of government, the fall of Rome, and more.

The Legacy of Ancient Rome Google Slideshow and Activity

The one section we did not include in our Reader’s Theater was the Legacy of Ancient Rome. This slideshow and activity covers specifically the 12 different inventions that have influenced modern times. The activity has students analyze and make connections between Ancient Rome and modern society through those inventions. We like using this resource as it helps students recognize how our lives are still affected by the actions of the Romans today.

Roman Empire Archaeological Simulation

This no-prep, game-based Roman Empire Archaeological Simulation will be a highlight in your Ancient Rome unit! In this Roman Empire activity with printable and digital options, students will take on the role of archaeologists to look for artifacts in different locations from throughout the Roman Empire. This simulation features eight different rounds of competition, and in each round, students must make decisions about a certain topic or roll the dice to see what they might experience as an archaeologist who is investigating artifacts from the Roman Empire!

How Democratic Was the Roman Republic?

Another of our favorite free resources come from SHEG, as all of their resources are really high-quality. They have a very interesting resource that examines how democratic the Roman Republic was. It’s also a great resource to compare the Ancient Roman government to the US government today.

Roman Republic Government Slideshow + Activity

Are you looking for a thorough and organized resource and activity to help your students understand the three branches of government of the Roman Republic? Then this is the resource for you ! Cover key details about the Roman Republic with an editable Google Slideshow and assess your students with a printable and digital activity!

Ancient Rome Job Fair

We’ve found a way to combine teaching about the key people of the Roman Empire with job skills using our Ancient Civilizations Job Fair Activity !  For this specific unit, we include sample resumes for Cicero, Julius Caesar, Augustus, and Constantine. Students analyze each resume to decide who they would like to hire for various jobs. We love this activity as students are also able to gain some job experiences they wouldn’t normally get otherwise.

Ancient Rome Leaders Historical Baseball Cards

If you’re looking for more of a research activity or project, you might enjoy our Historical Baseball Cards Project . Students have a wider variety of Roman leaders to choose from, and it’s something they can work on independently. For each card, students include the leader’s name, an image, the dates that they ruled, their job title, three major accomplishments, and their legacy. Once students have completed their cards, you can even turn them into puzzle or guessing game if you wanted.

TED-Ed Colosseum Video

An Ancient Rome unit isn’t complete without discussing the Colosseum, as it’s one of the most iconic places in Rome. We’ve found a really cool TED-Ed video on the subject. It addresses how the Romans were able to have “sea” battles in the Colosseum, but also gives good background knowledge for students.

Colosseum Reading Passage and Graphic Organizer

We’ve come up with this reading passage and graphic organizer activity about the history and construction of the Colosseum. It helps students understand the specifics of the Colosseum and that what we know today is only a fraction of what it was. The organizer is actually in the shape of the Colosseum, and the activity is available with printable and digital options!

Pompeii Station Activity

Pompeii is such a fascinating topic for us that we created a Pompeii Stations Activity . It covers the history of Pompeii, geography, Mount Vesuvius, primary sources, and Pompeii’s future. The resource also includes some discussion questions that connect Pompeii to modern times. And with the activity having both printable and digital options, you have a few different ways to present it.

The Roman Empire and Christianity

While we do find this topic important, we don’t have much expertise or experience with it ourselves. However, we have found an excellent resource from SHEG on the subject. It discusses why the Romans were persecuting Christians at the time, so this could be a helpful option if you’re looking.

Ancient Rome Test

Save yourself time at the end of your Ancient Rome Unit with this Ancient Rome Test and Study Guide ! This ready-made test has printable and digital options, and all text is 100% editable. Each version includes 2 different testing options for Google Docs and Google Forms, so you have the flexibility to use whichever version works best for you! To help your students prepare for the test, this resource also includes an editable Ancient Rome Study Guide for Google Docs!

Ancient Rome Agenda Slides

Need a way to stay more organized during your Ancient Rome Unit? These Ancient Rome Daily Agenda Slides Templates will help you save time and better immerse your students in the unit! These slides for Google Drive are editable and each template features a photograph of Ancient Rome in the background, as well as Ancient Rome clipart. They can be used to share your daily agenda, bell ringers, and more!

Ancient Rome Bulletin Board Kit

Connect your bulletin boards to your course content in just five minutes with this effortless, ready-to-print Ancient Rome Bulletin Board Kit ! With this bulletin board kit, students have the opportunity to view artifacts used by those living in Rome thousands of years ago! If you want to incorporate more primary sources into your classroom but don’t know where to start, this is an easy way! The 25 artifact posters include the titles of the artifacts, when they were created or used, where they were found, and where they’re currently located.

Ancient Rome Bookmarks

These printable Ancient Rome Bookmarks are a fun addition to your Ancient Rome unit! This set includes four different designs that feature images and clipart that are related to Ancient Rome. The bookmarks are 100% black and white so that students can color in the images or personalize them as they wish! These coloring bookmarks make a great prize, short early finisher activity, or can even help students save time when using their textbooks!

Ancient Rome Early Finisher Activity

A final easy, no-prep activity is one of our Early Finisher activities for Ancient Rome. It includes two different activities, one that focuses on Roman Numerals, and the other reviews vocabulary. This activity sheet is an additional worksheet to have on hand in emergencies or students need something extra to work on.

Teaching Ancient Rome

When teaching any ancient civilization, it’s always important to have activities that make the content fun and engaging for students. If you liked any of our Ancient Rome activities, you’ll love our Ancient Rome Unit Bundle ! This bundle contains 13 resources and is a great way to supplement your textbook or curriculum materials about Ancient Rome! We’ve had great success with these resources, and our students had a blast!

As of 2024, we now have all of our Ancient Civilizations unit bundles available on our own website, which you can check out here. We believe the organization to be even better than how you can receive the files on TPT, and it also helps if your school district blocks Google Drive files from TPT!

Looking for ideas and inspiration when planning your Mesopotamia unit? If so, this  free Ancient Rome resource guide   can help! It showcases each of our Mesopotamia resources to help you decide which options will be best for your students. For more details about how we put fit these resources together and how long we spend on each activity, you can also download our  free Ancient Rome unit plan !

If you liked this list of 16 Ancient Rome Activities for Middle School, consider watching the corresponding video here.

Are you looking for some new teaching ideas to engage your students in your social studies class? If so, you’ll love our FREE guide: 5 Creative Projects to Ignite Student Engagement in Your Social Studies Class . These activities have both printable and digital options and can work for any social studies subject!

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World history

Course: world history   >   unit 2.

• Rise of Julius Caesar
• Caesar, Cleopatra and the Ides of March
• Ides of March spark a civil war
• Augustus and the Roman Empire

The Roman Empire

• Roman empire
• State building: Roman empire
• Ancient Rome
• The Roman Empire began in 27 BCE when Augustus became the sole ruler of Rome.
• Augustus and his successors tried to maintain the imagery and language of the Roman Republic to justify and preserve their personal power.
• Beginning with Augustus, emperors built far more monumental structures, which transformed the city of Rome.

Augustus and the empire

Imperial institutions, infrastructure, monumental building, foreign policy, want to join the conversation.

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Roman Empire

Our Roman Empire lesson plan explores the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, including the most common historical events and significant contributions of its people.

Included with this lesson are some adjustments or additions that you can make if you’d like, found in the “Options for Lesson” section of the Classroom Procedure page. One of the optional additions to this lesson is to plan a “Roman Empire Week”, with each day focused on a different aspect of Ancient Rome and the Roman Empire.

Description

Additional information, what our roman empire lesson plan includes.

Lesson Objectives and Overview: Roman Empire lesson plan explores the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, including the most common historical events and significant contributions of its people. At the end of the lesson, students will be able to describe and identify the Roman Empire, and its events and people during its period in history. This lesson is for students in 4th grade, 5th grade, and 6th grade.

Classroom Procedure

Every lesson plan provides you with a classroom procedure page that outlines a step-by-step guide to follow. You do not have to follow the guide exactly. The guide helps you organize the lesson and details when to hand out worksheets. It also lists information in the orange box that you might find useful. You will find the lesson objectives, state standards, and number of class sessions the lesson should take to complete in this area. In addition, it describes the supplies you will need as well as what and how you need to prepare beforehand.

Options for Lesson

Included with this lesson is an “Options for Lesson” section that lists a number of suggestions for activities to add to the lesson or substitutions for the ones already in the lesson. One optional adjustment to the lesson is to u se the homework assignment as a class activity and group students in 3s or 4s to discuss the implications if a similar problem occurred today. You can plan a “Roman Empire Week”, with each day focused on a different aspect of Ancient Rome and the Roman Empire. You could also assign each student a different aspect of the empire to research and report to the class, like emperors, Roman Mythology, The Colosseum, Rome, Pompeii, daily life, and more. Finally, you could organize a class period for students to play games like the Roman children.

Teacher Notes

The teacher notes page includes a paragraph with additional guidelines and things to think about as you begin to plan your lesson. This page also includes lines that you can use to add your own notes as you’re preparing for this lesson.

ROMAN EMPIRE LESSON PLAN CONTENT PAGES

What is an empire.

The Roman Empire lesson plan includes four pages. If the countries of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and more came together and a single person ruled over them all, it would be an example of a modern-day empire. We don’t have any empires today, but there have been several major empires throughout history.

Empires are groups of nations and/or people ruled by an emperor, empress, or a powerful government, who the people saw as a supreme authority. Today, some people disagree about whether or not we still have empires, though we all agree that there are no empires like the ones that used to exist. The Roman Empire was a particularly important and powerful civilization which included Ancient Rome and most of Europe.

The Roman Empire

More than 2,000 years ago, the city of Rome was the largest city in the world. It was also the heart of the Roman Empire, which included territories from Europe to Asia to Africa. The Roman Empire lasted for about 1,500 years, from 27 BC to 1453 AD. Ancient Rome’s culture spread throughout the territory and, today, we credit it with influencing many modern things, like our governments, engineering, architecture, language, literature, and more.

Caesar Augustus was the first emperor of the Roman Empire. There were many other emperors after him, like Nero, who was not concerned when the city burned to the ground; Vespasian, who built the Colosseum; Constantine I; Theodosius I; Basil II; and many more. Augustus became the first leader after the assassination of Julius Caesar. Augustus built a strong military, institutions, and lawmaking to help himself become a single ruler. He also laid the foundation for 200 years of peace.

Roman leaders had extensive power, overseeing the senate, setting rules and regulations, holding religious authority and conducting ceremonies, controlling the calendar, punishing and pardoning citizens, and vetoing senate decisions.

The empire grew over the years and became difficult to manage from Rome, so the leaders decided to split it into two empires. The Western empire ruled from Rome, while the Eastern ruled from Constantinople, which we now know as Turkey. The Eastern Roman Empire became known as the Byzantine Empire later on.

Roman Life: Jobs, Family, Food

Rome became famous for the amphitheaters, coliseums, and other places where they held gladiator fights, chariot races, performances, plays, athletic contests, and other events. We also know it for its art, architecture, and other innovations. Today, you might consider New York City a modern Rome. Life back then was very different, though some things have stayed the same.

Romans had many different jobs. In the countryside, farmers grew wheat, which they used to make bread. Poor people often joined the Roman Army in order to earn a regular wage. Merchants and craftspeople made, bought, and sold items in Europe. Craftsmen made dishes, pots, jewelry, weapons, and more. They also had entertainers, like musicians, dancers, actors, chariot racers, and gladiators. Educated Romans, on the other hand, often became lawyers, government workers, teachers, and engineers.

The Romans placed lots of importance on their families. They called the head of the family, the father, the paterfamilias. The father had most of the power, but wives also made some decisions and handled the household finances. Boys went to school while girls stayed home.

Romans began their day with a small breakfast. They ate most of their food at dinner, which started around 3:00. Their dinners were social events that lasted a long time. They ate bread, beans, fish, vegetables, cheese, and dried fruit rather than meat. Wealthy Romans would lie on their sides while servants fed them.

Roman Life: Clothing, School, Religion, and Leisure Time

Romans often wore togas, or long white robes made of wool or linen. Some togas had special colors that indicated the wearer’s status in society. they usually only wore them in public because they were uncomfortable to wear. Poor Romans wore tunics, which looks like an extra long t-shirt. Later on, tunics became popular with all Romans because of how comfortable they were.

Poor children didn’t go to school. Wealthier boys went to school starting at age seven, while tutors taught some girls at home. Schoolmasters, or tutors, were strict. They took education very seriously. Many of the subjects they had were similar to the subjects we have today. They used Roman numerals for math. They also learned weights and measurements, philosophy, and public speaking.

Religion played a big role in people’s everyday lives, though they did not visit temples or churches. Instead, they had small shrines in their homes dedicated to Roman gods and goddesses, who they believed lived on Mount Olympus.

After dinner, people did activities. They enjoyed music, art, dancing, reading, and sports. They  attended plays, the chariot races, and gladiator fights. Men and boys went to Roman baths to wash, sit, and talk. These baths also included gardens, gyms, libraries, and other recreational activities, like modern recreation centers.

The Fall of the Roman Empire

You’ve probably heard of the Fall of the Roman Empire. This refers mostly to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was the world’s biggest superpower for many years. We have several different theories and factors about why it ended.

Tribes defeated the Empire’s military and took control of some territories within the Roman Empire. The slave trade also began to decrease, and Roman society depended greatly on slave labor. The Empire also divided itself in half; this caused problems between the east and west as they fought over resources, territories, and military aid.

The military weakened because they did not have enough soldiers to support the growing Empire and protect its territories; new soldiers also did not care about Rome. Christianity grew in popularity and became the state religion in the late 300s; this lessened the god-like status of the Roman Empire. They also had frequent internal and political issues, leading to instability; this gave their enemies the ability to take over.

The city of Rome is the capital city of Italy today, and is located in the same place as the ancient city. Many original buildings from that time still exist today, like the Roman Colosseum and Forum. The Circus Maximus could hold 150,000 people in its time, and pieces of it still exist in Rome.

Ancient Rome and the Roman Empire had a lot of influence on our lives today, and historians consider it to be one of the most significant periods in history.

Here is a list of the vocabulary words students will learn in this lesson plan:

• Empire: Group of nations or territories ruled by one person or group
• Emperor: The male leader of an empire
• Empress: The female leader of an empire
• Roman Empire: Includes territories throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia
• Ceasar Augustus: The first emperor of the Roman Empire
• Julius Ceasar: Emperor assassinated prior to the Roman Empire
• Byzantine Empire: The name later given to the Eastern Roman Empire
• Paterfamilias: The name the father was called in a Roman family
• Toga: A long white robe made of wool or linen
• Tunic: A T-shirt-like shirt worn mostly by poor Romans
• Schoolmasters: Teachers were referred by this name in Roman schools
• Circus Maximus: A stadium for chariot races, which held 150,000 people

ROMAN EMPIRE LESSON PLAN WORKSHEETS

The Roman Empire lesson plan includes three worksheets: an activity worksheet, a practice worksheet, and a homework assignment. You can refer to the guide on the classroom procedure page to determine when to hand out each worksheet.

A DAY IN OUR LIFE ACTIVITY WORKSHEET

Students will work in pairs to complete the activity worksheet. Each pair will plan their day using the provided information about family life in the Roman Empire, including as many details as possible.

Students can also work alone to complete the worksheet.

MATCHING PRACTICE WORKSHEET

The practice worksheet asks students to match 15 terms with their definitions. They will also answer five questions about the lesson material.

ROMAN EMPIRE HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

For the homework assignment, students will review each reason attributed to the fall of the Roman Empire and tell how that reason could cause problems for a modern city, state, or country.

Worksheet Answer Keys

This lesson plan includes answer keys for the practice worksheet and the homework assignment. If you choose to administer the lesson pages to your students via PDF, you will need to save a new file that omits these pages. Otherwise, you can simply print out the applicable pages and keep these as reference for yourself when grading assignments.

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Roman Civilization – HIEU 322

CG • Section 8WK • 11/08/2019 to 04/16/2020 • Modified 02/01/2024

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Course Description

A history of the Roman state and culture from Romulus to Justinian, emphasizing territorial expansion, the republic, the Roman revolution, maintenance of autocracy, the thrust of Christianity into the Roman world, the fall of the empire and the heirs of Rome.

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the  Academic Course Catalog .

This course provides the student with an understanding of the history of Roman civilization from the founding of Rome to the fall of the Empire.

Course Assignment

Textbook readings and lecture presentations/notes

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations , the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (4)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student is required to create a thread in response to the provided prompt for each discussion. Each thread must be at least 300 words and demonstrate course-related knowledge. In addition to the thread, the student is required to reply to 2 other classmates’ threads. Each reply must be at least 150 words.

Reflection Paper Assignment

The student will write a 3-page research-based paper in current Turabian format that focuses on the causes and origins of the Second Punic War as discussed by the ancient historians Polybius and Livy. The paper must only reference the works of these two historians.

Research Paper: Bibliography Assignment

The student will identify at least 2 primary sources and at least 4 secondary sources for use in the Research Paper Assignment later this term. The paper will focus on the portrayal of the Roman Emperor Commodus and/or the state of the Roman Empire during his reign in film versus his portrayal by contemporaries and scholars. For each source the student identifies in this assignment, the student must provide a substantive synopsis of the source’s content and how it applies to the topic of the Research Paper Assignment

Research Paper Assignment

The student will write a 4–6-page research-based paper in current Turabian format that focuses on the portrayal of the Roman Emperor Commodus (and/or the state of the Roman Empire during his reign) in film versus his portrayal by contemporaries and scholars. The paper must include at least 2 primary sources and 4 secondary sources (e.g., monographs, scholarly journal articles, etc.).

Quizzes (12)

Each Textbook Quiz will cover the Learn material for the module in which it is assigned. Each quiz will: be open-book/open-notes; contain 40 multiple-choice and true/false questions as well as 1 short answer question; and have a 1-hour and 30-minute time limit.

Each Primary Source Quiz will cover the selected primary source material for the module in which it is assigned. Each quiz will: be open-book/open-notes; contain 12 multiple-choice and true/false questions as well as 1 short answer question; and have a 45-minute time limit.

Each Article Quiz will cover the selected article material for the module in which it is assigned. Each quiz will: be open-book/open-notes; contain 12 multiple-choice and true/false questions as well as 1 short answer question; and have a 45-minute time limit.

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• Rome For Kids

Roman Myths

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Ancient Rome for Teachers Activities and Projects

These are free activity and project ideas for kids and teachers to use in your unit study of ancient rome. these activities can be adjusted for any grade. we hope you'll find some ideas you can use..

Rome as a Republic (SPQR):  Can you save the Roman Republic?  (Roman Reforms, Donn)

Struggle for Power under the Republic: Patricians vs. Plebeians, classroom simulation, Experiencing a Struggle for Power

Julius Caesar: Gossip at the Forum (classroom play, 1-2 class periods, Donn)   See Pantomime/Theatre for how to behave at the theatre in ancient Rome (Donn)

Roman Legionary - Drill! You might want them to learn about the Roman Legion before this activity here .  Move into Groups: Make Shields and Daggers out of cardboard and construction paper - one shield, one dagger for each students, groups help each other and have a similarity in equipment, just as the ancient Romans would have. Then: March around the school in Turtle Formation. Sneak by open doors of other classrooms in groups of "turtles". (Get permission from the office first, of course.) The kids love this one. There is nothing so eye catching or so noisy as an entire classroom of 6th graders shuffling down the hall in formation without speaking a word to attract attention.

Milestone Advertising: Hand your kids the following Assignment: The Romans did a wonderful job building roads! To help people find their way, while traveling these roads, the Romans more or less invented the milestone which grew increasingly wordy, and increasingly tall, to be easily readable from a vehicle. Some are 6 feet tall. Each milestone usually gave the mileage to the nearest large city, sometimes to an intermediate place as well; and the date and perhaps who paid for the road. We're going to add business advertising! Your job is to create a business ad to add to a milestone, somewhat like billboard advertising. What would you say, to advertise your company's service or product, if you had limited advertising space on one of these ancient Roman milestones? To accomplish your job, first you must create a service or product of interest for ancient Rome, and then create an ad to advertise it. From your ad, it should be easy to figure out what service or product your company offers citizens of Rome. Remember, your ad must be very brief and to the point as you only have limited space! We used our formation skills to and from the computer lab, and one day, simply because it was that kind of day, up and down hallways.

Weigh the Evidence: Rome - Working in small groups, Research: Have students examine a series of sources to determine if Rome left the world with a positive legacy. Have students include a rating on how believable and useful each source is before making their final conclusions. List sources used to make their determination.

The Ancients Walk Amongst Us: Bring in newspapers, magazines, and old phone books. Have scissors and glue handy. Working in groups, have the kids find examples of Roman Gods and Roman Times in advertising and news articles. For example: The Venus Beauty Salon, The Mercury Cafe. Have the kids cut out the examples they find. Have each group arrange their "finds" on a large piece of construction paper or cardboard, and then post on a bulletin board or a wall. 

The Roman Gazetteer . This is certainly not a new idea, but it's always fun. Have your kids create a newspaper for ancient Rome. Put all the pieces together and print copies so that each student has one completed copy. It's great review or introduction to ancient Rome, and a nice piece for students to take home and share with parents. Editorials, Classified, Sports & Entertainment, etc. Preparation:

Take several 8½″ × 11″ pieces of paper, and plan how much room each section of your newspaper will take. (Space is limited!) Hand each student, based on the section they select, a pre-cut piece of paper. As reporters, they must accomplish their job within assigned space limits. This makes putting your newspaper together much easier! For unassigned space, or space left empty from students who do not complete this assignment, simply run an ad - this space available for advertising. Call.... And/or offer empty space as an extra credit project to interested students. As students tend to lose things, and need several copies of blank pieces of paper, have extras blanks available, based on sizing. To stay organized, number the back of various sizes with Roman Numerals. That way, you can have a blank paper stack for each size.

Under each heading, include a short paragraph of background information.

Make a sign-up sheet, that covers all newspaper headings, and post it in your classroom. Have the kids sign-up as reporters under the section they choose. For organizational purposes, note the Roman Numeral "size" next to each section. For example, the cartoon section might be called: Forum Funnies. Example: Consul Claudius sneezed today. At least he accomplished SOMETHING! The gossip section might be called "Rome Wonders"; example: New man about town! Gladiator Claudius gains freedom today! Will he replace Nero as ladies man #1? Keep your eye on this column for updates!

Information about ancient Roman daily life can be found here .

Roman Emperors: Which emperor would you choose to be your leader?

History Mystery: Cold Case Caesar  - Students investigate the assassination of Julius Caesar by weighing 8 different pieces of evidence. Visually stimulating, highly engaging and perfect for Common Core.

A Day in Rome  - A scripted lab where students are taken back in time to experience a day in Rome.[ Teacher Script ] [ Student Worksheet ]

Rome DBQ - A document based question exploring how similar the Roman Empire is to the United States is today. Documents  

Online Game Day: Ancient Rome - Games and Interactive Learning Sites for Kids - I set this activity to work by creating a scavenger hunt sheet of things for kids to find in the sites listed on their exploration sheet. The kids have to site the source for each scavenger find for verification. 

Roman Worksheets, free downloads

• Object to Explore, Roman Statute
• Object to Explore, Roman Toy Doll
• Roman objects | 1107K
• Roman kitchen | 793K and Roman kitchen - answers | 809K
• It's all Latin to me worksheet | 1592K   and  It's all Latin to me - answers | 1282K
• Object time line | 501K and Object time line answers | 271K
• Explore the Romans | 894K and Explore the Romans - answers | 655K
• Roman clothes | 1573K

Choose Your Own Adventure from over 70 different classroom activities and possible assignments

Online Quiz: Free Interactive Quiz Questions with Answers about Ancient Rome for Kids and Teachers

New Teachers: Easy desk arrangements for the classroom - I move my desks around all the time, depending upon the activites I'm doing that day. It took me forever to realize I can have the kids move their desks, after I mark the spots with masking tape. You don't want to have the kids moving desks into formations all the time, but occassionally it's a smart thing to do. Tell them you need their help prior to movement. That's trust. They will want to help you. 

Free Use Lesson Plans, Classroom Activities, and Projects:

In ancient Rome, like many of the ancient cultures, religion affected every aspect of their daily life. But so did politics. Under the Republic, they loved to hear the great orators down in the Forum, the central marketplace, while they did their shopping and visited a temple or two. It was a great place to meet friends and catch up on all the gossip.

Our Free Lesson Plans

Rome as a Republic (SPQR):  Can you save the Roman Republic?  (Roman Reforms)

Julius Caesar: Gossip at the Forum (classroom play, 1-2 class periods)

Daily Life: Compare daily life under the Republic and under the Empire - what changed and what stayed the same?

Classroom Activities: Our Classroom Activities for Ancient Rome

Ask Mr. Donn: Ancient Rome Interactive Quiz Questions with Answers for Kids and Teachers

Free Activities and Projects by many teachers

Over 90 Ancient Rome Activities and Projects   - These activities can be adjusted for any grade. We hope you'll find some ideas you can use in your classroom.

Several Free Lesson Plans under each Topic, many with activities:

Ancient Rome - Complete Units and Overviews

Geography (several lesson plans)

Vocabulary Lesson Plans and Online Activities

Romulus & Remus

The Etruscans (Rome as a Kingdom)

Roman Expansion - Roads, Legion, Provinces

Punic Wars and Hannibal

Roman Republic - SPQR

Cicero, Caesar, Fall of the Republic

Roman Empire & Emperors

Roman Empire Splits & the Fall of Rome

Gods, Goddesses, Myths - several lesson plans

Rise of Christianity - several lesson plans

Holidays and Festivals

Daily Life, Homes, Women, School (many lesson plans)

Roman Entertainment - Circuses, Coliseums, Gladiators, Theatre - several lesson plans

Art & Architecture - several lesson plans

Achievements, Inventions

Ancient Rome Unit (Mr. Roughton)

Ancient Rome Review Activity (Mrs. Masters)

Explore Ancient Rome

Ancient rome for kids.

Quick Comparison: Ancient Greeks vs. Ancient Romans

Geography, Natural Resources, Maps

Three Periods in Roman History

Rome as a Kingdom

The Etruscans

Horatius at the Bridge

Rome as a Republic

Comparison, US and Roman Republic Governments

Crime and Justice

Republic Fails

Rome as an Empire

Overview of Roman Government

Improvements

Status of Women

Two Roman Empires

Barbarians Attack

Rome Falls (Review)  

Patricians & Plebeians

Pater Familias, Family

Daily Life for Patricians

Daily Life for Plebeians

Daily Life in the Countryside

Roman Houses and the Atrium

Clothing & Hair Styles

Occupations and Jobs

Kids & School

Wedding Customs

Gods, Goddesses, Myths, Religion

Gods & Goddesses

Roman Council of 12 Gods

Rise of Christianity

Holidays & Festivals

Grand Pantheon

Roman Legion

Roman Letters Home, Inscriptions

Roman Roads

Provinces, Expansion

The Romans in Britain

Entertainment

Pantomime, Theatre

Circus Maximus, Chariot Races

Art and Architecture

Roman Architecture, the Great Builders

The Aeneid by Virgil

Hannibal and the Punic Wars

Julius Caesar

Roman Emperors - Augustus, Trajan, Diocletian, Constantine, Valens

Achievements and Inventions

How the planets got their names

Roman Mosaics

Achievements, Contributions - Concrete, Aquaducts, and more

Roman Calendar

Roman Numerals

Interactive Games

Play Free Interactive Online Games about Ancient Rome

Interactive Quiz Questions with Answers about Ancient Rome by Topic

Ancient Rome Five Themes of Geography

Ancient Rome - The Roman Republic

Ancient Rome - The Roman Empire

Daily Life in Ancient Rome

Ancient Roman Entertainment

Ancient Roman Religion, Festivals, Holidays

Ancient Rome - Rights of Slaves, Children, and Women

Ancient Roman Art, Architecture, Inventions, Achievements

Ancient Rome for Teachers

Ancient Rome Lesson Plans & Units

Ancient Rome Activities and Projects

Ancient Rome Free Use PowerPoints

Investigate Real Life Artifacts in the Museum of the Ancients

Engaging History Lessons - Interactive Quizzes - Free Downloads

Mr. Dowling

Ancient Rome

Ancient rome teaching resources, share this story, choose your platform, related posts.

The Birth of Christianity

Constantine and the Fall of Rome

Latin and Other European Languages

Roman Technology

© 2024 • Mike Dowling • All Rights Reserved.

Open Yale Courses

You are here, hist 210: the early middle ages, 284–1000,  - transformation of the roman empire.

The Roman Empire in the West collapsed as a political entity in the fifth century although the Eastern part survived the crisis.. Professor Freedman considers this transformation through three main questions: Why did the West fall apart – because of the external pressure of invasions or the internal problems of institutional decline? Who were these invading barbarians? Finally, does this transformation mark a gradual shift or is it right to regard it as a cataclysmic end of civilization? Professor Freedman, as a moderate catastrophist, argues that this period marked the end of a particular civilization rather than the end of civilization in general.

Lecture Chapters

• Introduction
• Catastrophe
• The Roman Army and the Visigoths
• Another Kind of Barbarian: The Huns
• Accomodation

Ancient Rome: A Thriving Civilization Assignment

Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate Southern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa, parts of Northern Europe, and parts of Eastern Europe. Rome was preponderant throughout the Mediterranean region and was one Of the most powerful entities Of the ancient world. It is often grouped into “Classical Antiquity” together with ancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greece-Roman world. The Romans are still remembered today, including names such as Julius Caesar, Cicero, Augustus, etc.

Ancient Roman society contributed greatly to government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language, society and more in the Western world. A civilization highly developed for its time, Rome professionalisms and greatly expanded its military and created a system of government called rest public, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France. It achieved impressive technological and architectural feats, such as the construction Of an extensive system of aqueducts and roads, as well as large monuments, palaces, and public facilities.

Don’t waste your time! Order your assignment!

Government and military The three major elements of the Imperial Roman state were the central overspent, the military and provincial government. The military established control of a territory through war, but after a city or people was brought under treaty, the military mission turned to policing: protecting Roman citizens (after 21 2 AD, all freeborn inhabitants of the Empire), the agricultural fields that fed them, and religious sites. Without modern instruments of either mass communication or mass destruction, the Romans lacked sufficient manpower or resources to impose their rule through force alone.

Cooperation with local power elites was necessary to maintain order, elect information, and extract revenue. The Romans often exploited internal political divisions by supporting one faction over another: in the view of Plutarch, “it was discord between factions within cities that led to the loss of self-governance”. Communities with demonstrated loyalty to Rome retained their own laws, could collect their own taxes locally, and in exceptional cases were exempt from Roman taxation. Legal privileges and relative independence were an incentive to remain in good standing with Rome.

Roman government was thus limited, but efficient in its use of the resources available to it. Society. The Roman Empire was remarkably multicultural, with “a rather astonishing cohesive capacity” to create a sense of shared identity while encompassing diverse peoples within its political system over a long span of time. The Roman attention to creating public monuments and communal spaces open to all-??such as forums, amphitheaters, racetracks and baths-??helped foster a sense of “Romances”.

Roman society had multiple, overlapping social hierarchies that modern concepts of “class” in English may not represent accurately. The 0410 decades of civil war from which Augustus rose to sole rower left traditional society in Rome in a state of confusion and upheaval, but did not affect an immediate redistribution of wealth and social power. From the perspective of the lower classes, a peak was merely added to the social pyramid. Personal relationships-??patronage, friendship (animistic), family, marriage-??continued to influence the workings of politics and government, as they had in the Republic.

By the time of Nero, however, it was not unusual to find a former slave who was richer than a freeborn citizen, or an equestrian who exercised greater power than a senator. Roman law Roman courts held original jurisdiction over cases involving Roman citizens throughout the empire, but there were too few judicial functionaries to impose Roman law uniformly in the provinces. Most parts of the Eastern Empire already had well-established law codes and juridical procedures.

In general, it was Roman policy to respect the moss regions (“regional tradition” or “law of the land”) and to regard local laws as a source of legal precedent and social stability. The compatibility of Roman and local law was thought to reflect an underlying us genetic, the “law Of nations” or international awe regarded as common and customary among all human communities. If the particulars of provincial law conflicted with Roman law or custom, Roman courts heard appeals, and the emperor held final authority to render a decision.

Local languages and linguistic legacy References to interpreters indicate the continuing use of local languages other than Greek and Latin, particularly in Egypt, where Septic predominated, and in military settings along the Rhine and Danube. Roman jurists also show a concern for local languages such as Punic, Goulash, and Aromatic in assuring the correct understanding and application of laws and oaths. In the province of Africa, Punic was used for legends on coins during the time of Tuberous (1 SST century AD), and Punic inscriptions appear on public buildings into the 2nd century, some bilingual with Latin. 56] In Syria, Palmer soldiers even used their dialect of Aromatic for inscriptions, in a striking exception to the rule that Latin was the language of the military The arts People visiting or living in Rome or the cities throughout the Empire would have seen art in a range of styles and media on a daily basis. Public or official art-??including sculpture, monuments such as victory columns or triumphal arches, and the iconography on coins-??is often analyzed for its historical significance or as an expression of imperial ideology.

At Imperial public baths, a person of humble means could view wall paintings, mosaics, statues, and interior decoration often of high quality. In the private sphere, objects made for religious dedications, funerary commemoration, domestic use, and commerce can show varying degrees of aesthetic quality and artistic skill. A wealthy person might advertise his appreciation of culture through painting, sculpture, and decorative arts at his home-??though some efforts strike odder viewers and some ancient connoisseurs as strenuous rather than tasteful.

How to cite this assignment

Related assignments:.

• Comparing Ancient Rome to the United States Assignment
• Ancient Rome vs. United States Assignment
• Dbq Ancient Rome and Greece Assignment
• Ancient Rome vs Ancient Greece Assignment

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Written Assignment Unit 1: Greek and Roman Civilization

Related Papers

David M Pritchard

Classical Athens had 3 distinct groups. The largest, by far, was the Athenian descent group, whose members were the offspring of Athenian fathers and Attic women. The second largest group consisted of metics. It included resident aliens who had registered as such with the Athenian state, as well as their dependants. The smallest group were the slaves. Within the Athenian descent group, gender dictated radically different statuses. Athenian males enjoyed the highest status of Attica’s residents. As classical Athens was a consolidated democracy, male citizens equally enjoyed extensive legal and political rights, as well as the obligation to fight in the armed forces. Athenian men had the right to own land and became, usually after their marriages, the masters of households. Their female relatives had a much lower status. As a woman had no share in Athenian democracy, she was never considered ‘a citizen’ or, for that matter, ‘an Athenian’. Instead, she was called an astē (‘a woman belonging to the city’) or an Attikē gunē (‘an Attic woman’). Free males believed that their female relatives should concentrate on being homemakers. Nevertheless, even within her household, an Attic woman was treated as a perpetual minor and was always subordinated to her master, whether he be her father, husband or adult son. I often give public lectures about the position of Attic women in democratic Athens. In this public lecture, I am going to focus instead on their male relatives slide 4. In spite of their equal rights, the classical Athenians drew social distinctions among themselves. The most important of these distinctions was between ‘the rich’ and ‘the poor’. The Athenians did not employ these terms vaguely to describe the overall prosperity of some free men relative to others. Rather the terms described 2 distinct social classes, who, in reality, had different ways of life and civic obligations. A striking feature of legal and social statuses in democratic Athens was that individuals constantly performed them. For their part, rich Athenians demonstrated their superior social status by practising leisure pursuits that were too expensive and time-consuming for the poor, by wearing distinctive clothing, and by paying taxes and performing civic obligations that they alone could afford. The legal statuses of metics and slaves were no less performative. While resident aliens did not enjoy the same rights as citizens, they had access to metic-only courts and were allowed to make good livings. In exchange, they had to line up regularly to pay a small metic tax, to register an Athenian as a sponsor and to perform metic-specific military roles. While such obligations were not onerous, performing them made abundantly clear who belonged to this lower legal status group. Metics who did not comply could be, if caught, enslaved, since they, it was judged, had been pretending to be citizens. Slaves clearly had the lowest legal status. However, some of them did live independently and so had lives that were not so different socially from poor citizens. Yet, what set slaves apart from all free men was that they faced bodily punishments: their owners could, whenever they wished, assault them physically and sexually.

ketevan Nadareishvili

Ajit Tambay

Classical Athens had three distinct groups. The largest, by far, was the Athenian descent group, whose members were the offspring of Athenian fathers and Attic women. The second largest group consisted of metics. It included resident aliens who had registered as such with the Athenian state, as well as their dependants. The smallest group were the slaves. Within the Athenian descent group, gender dictated radically different statuses. Athenian males enjoyed the highest status of Attica’s residents. As classical Athens was a democracy, male citizens equally enjoyed extensive legal and political rights, as well as the obligation to fight in the armed forces. Athenian men had the right to own land and became, usually after their marriages, the masters of households. Their female relatives had a much lower status. As a woman had no share in Athenian democracy, she was never considered ‘a citizen’ or, for that matter, ‘an Athenian’. Instead, she was called an astē (‘a woman belonging to the city’) or an Attikē gunē (‘an Attic woman’). Free males believed that their female relatives should concentrate on being homemakers. Nevertheless, even within her household an Attic woman was treated as a perpetual minor and was always subordinated to her master, whether he be her father, husband or adult son. I analyse the position of Attic women in democratic Athens elsewhere. This chapter focusses on their male relatives, their foreign neighbours and the douloi (‘slaves’) that both groups of free men, along with the Athenian state itself, owned. In spite of their equal rights, the classical Athenians drew social distinctions among themselves. Before the democracy, Solon had divided them into four income-classes. In classical times, however, this archaic-period division became increasingly redundant. Instead, the most important distinction for classical Athenians was between ‘the rich’ and ‘the poor’. They did not employ these terms vaguely to describe the overall prosperity of some free men relative to others. Rather the terms described two distinct social classes, who, in reality, had different ways of life and civic obligations. A striking feature of legal and social statuses in democratic Athens was that individuals constantly performed them. For their part, rich Athenians demonstrated their superior social status by practising leisure pursuits that were too expensive and time-consuming for the poor, by wearing distinctive clothing, and by paying taxes and performing civic obligations that they alone could afford. The legal statuses of metics and slaves were no less performative. While resident aliens did not enjoy the same rights as citizens, they had access to metic-only courts and were allowed to make good livings. In exchange, they had to line up regularly to pay a small metic tax, to register an Athenian as a sponsor and to perform metic-specific military roles. While such obligations were not onerous, performing them made abundantly clear who belonged to this lower legal status group. Metics who did not comply could be, if caught, enslaved, as they, it was judged, had been pretending to be citizens. Slaves clearly had the lowest legal status. However, some of them did live independently and so had lives that were not so different socially from poor citizens. Yet, what set douloi apart from all free men was that they faced bodily punishments: their owners could, whenever they wished, assault them physically and sexually.

ochanda bruce

Kimberly Webb

This research strives to analyze the reasons behind the discrepancies in gender equality between classical Athens and Sparta. I do so by analyzing the values and beliefs in these societies, and have come to the conclusion that the militaristic society of Sparta heavily influenced the equality of Spartan women.

Larisa Pechatnova

George Th. Mavrogordatos

Barry R . Weingast

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11.7: Assignments

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Assignments

Weekly Quiz

Primary Source Readings  Synopsis Points: 20

How to write a primary source synopsis

• Begin by reading the complete assignment from start to finish- do not attempt to summarize as you go, you will miss the main point and write too much. Give yourself time to read, think over and digest the material.
• Briefly introduce each author at the beginning of the paragraph devoted to their work. Example – “ Dante Alighieri was a Medieval Italian poet and politician who wrote in the vernacular. He is most famous for his conception of the afterlife in his ‘Divine Comedy’, a selection from which I will summarize now.”
• Every reading has a beginning, middle and end. Make sure your synopsis includes these parts.
• Let the author guide you. If most of the original document is devoted to a single topic then it must be important. Your summary should reflect this emphasis.
• It is acceptable to analyze. “ The author used strongly descriptive terms to reveal the miseries of the Industrial Revolution and advocate for a Communist economic system. “
• It is not acceptable to editorialize. “ The author is super biased against capitalists and thinks Communism is actually workable, even though history has proven otherwise .”
• Don’t worry about the details. Since this summary is concise, eliminate the less important topics.
• Include a few sentences at the conclusion of your assignment comparing the stance of each writer.
• Edit. After you have finished your synopsis, set it aside for a few hours or a complete day. Return and reread. Have you left your reader with a complete understanding of the theme and major points of the writer? Have you summarized the position of the piece fairly? Have you left out any significant ideas?

Check the due dates carefully. All work is due at 11:55 P.M. on the due date. Due dates are subject to change at the discretion of the instructor who will inform the students via the Announcements on the course Homepage.

• Assignments. Authored by : Julianna Wilson. Provided by : Pima Community College. Located at : http://cc.pima.edu/~lumen/his101/Week%209/week-9-4.html . License : CC BY: Attribution