ROMAN TOWN TOUR PROJECT
WORLD HISTORY - STALCUP
In all the lands they conquered, the Romans built towns that they could feel at home in.
Each town was built to a plan. The Romans liked everything to be organized and
orderly. The streets were laid out in a criss-cross pattern. Usually they would have two
main streets that divide the town. Smaller streets led off these at right angles.
Every Roman town contained the buildings that are in this map.
A Roman town in Greece would look the same as one in Britain.
1. Forum
The forum was like a town square important government buildings like law courts and
offices were built around it and market stalls were sometimes set up inside it. It was
often the centre of the city where people met and did business.
2. Baths
The thermae or bath houses were not only places for washing but some people went to
meet friends and spend spare time. Large bath houses had restaurants games rooms
snack bars and even libraries. Baths could be very hot where people sat round as in a
sauna or very cold. Men and women either had separate bath houses or used the same
one at different times.
3. Amphitheatre
The amphitheatre was where shows were put on some of these seem cruel to us today.
People could watch wild animals fighting each other or attacking people. There were
also gladiator fights where two men would fight each other until one of them was dead.
4. Basilica
The basilica was in the centre of the town and was like a town
hall. Important government buildings like law courts and offices
were built inside it.
5. Christian Church
A place to worship God.
6. Temple
The temple was where the Romans went to worship their gods the Romans believed in
many different gods. When they took over a new land they often took over the gods
worshipped there as well. Some emperors were worshipped as gods after they died.
Later, Christianity spread through the Roman empire and became the official religion
in AD 312.
7. Town House
Rich people lived in houses but poor people lived in blocks of flats sometimes three or
four stories high.
8. North Gate
Many towns had walls around them with gates to let people and animals in just like
today there were often traffic jams some places tried avoid this by only allowing carts
into the town at night.
People could not be buried inside the town walls tombs were often seen along the roads
leading into a town the tombstones described who was buried there just as they do
today.
Aqueducts
The Romans were very good engineers their towns had sewers and
piped water supplies. Sometimes water had to be brought from far
away an aqueduct was a kind of bridge that carried water across
the valley.
Project info:
http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/nettsch/time/rlife.html
THE PROJECT
The Assignment
1. Each student must construct a model Ancient Roman building listed above of their
choice or a model of the aqueduct system. The size of the model is to your
discretion, however, it must resemble the buildings in model format (similar to a
dollhouse). You determine the magnitude of the model but please take into
consideration that display space is limited.
2. A paragraph describing the building, its uses, and importance must accompany the
project.
Resources and Materials
Glencoe Textbook
Resources listed on course website: www.loveofhistory.com
Encyclopedia
Examples of Supplies that may be used for construction:
Styrofome
Cardboard/cardboard boxes/shoe boxes/hat box
Pre-cut wood
Any craft supplies
What you need to bring to class:
All supplies you intend to use to construct your model Roman building
Colored Pencils/Markers
Scissors
Tape/Glue/Hot Glue/Hot Glue Gun
Printed Color pictures (only B&W is available in class)
Construction Paper (if needed)
Time Allotted
Class time is given to complete this project. You may bring everything to class to complete
your project. Our class format will be followed – 1) Current Events 2) Lecture 3) Project
4) Homework
You may take your project home to complete it however you must have it to work on during
the class time allotted.
Scoring Rubric
Building/Aqueduct Model
Construction (50pts)
Resemblance to Ancient Roman Building (50pts)
Overall Appearance (50pts)
Paragraph Description (50pts)
TOTAL POINTS 200
Extra Points Possible – Build a Ancient Roman town replica using the scoring rubric above.
EXTRA POINTS POSSIBLE: 50pts