Document I - The Common Language of the Roman Empire
As the Roman Empire grew, their language, Latin, stretched to all parts of the empire. One
of the main reasons the Roman Empire thrived was because, along with the languages
conquered tribes might have spoken, everyone in the Empire’s territory had to learn the
official language of the land, Latin.
Latin is the foundation for the languages of French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and
Romanian. These languages are called the Romance languages. Even the German and
English languages have derived words from Latin. The Latin alphabet for the written
language was borrowed heavily from the Etruscan alphabet, which in turn had been
adapted from the Greek alphabet of 15 letters. By 114 A.D., the Latin alphabet had just 23
letters. For the J sound, Romans used I and for U, V, and W, they used V. By the end of the
18th century the alphabet had incorporated the three additional letters we use in our current
alphabet. Today English, as well as most European languages use the Latin alphabet.
Up until 2014, Latin was the official language of only one country, Vatican City. In some
countries, the Catholic Church still speaks and prays in Latin today, although they are
moving away from conducting their official meetings and writing documents in Latin. The
leader of the Catholic Church, the Pope, is still called the Pontifex Maximus (Latin for the
greatest high- priest).
At this point in time, Latin is on its way to becoming a dead language. But it will live on in
the words it has influenced in both English and the Romance languages. Below is a chart of
Latin words and how they have become the basis for English words. Can you find words
we have today that derive from these Latin words?
Latin Word
Aqua
Mater
Medicus
Liber
Spectare
Villa
Magna
Nova
Terra
Prima
Fama
Schola
Mira
Translation
Water
Mother
Doctor
Book
Watch
House
Large, great
New
Land, earth
First
Fame
School
Strange
English words
Maternal
Medical
miracle
Document II - The Roman Calendar
Prior to 46 BCE, the Roman calendar is described as a ‘mess’. It was a lunar calendar
where each new month followed the cycle of the moon, fashioned after the Greek lunar
calendar. This 10-month calendar had 304 named days, followed by an unnamed,
unnumbered period in winter, between December and March. The new year was always
marked on the new moon just prior to the Vernal Equinox (first day of spring). (See the
chart of calendars for the early Roman calendar)
The second Roman king, Numa Pompilius (715 – 673 BCE) introduced the months of
January and February for this unnamed winter period to adjust the calendar to match the
seasons, including a ‘leap’ month since he only accounted for 354 days of our known solar
year. He also adjusted the calendar so all months except February had an odd number of
days, since odd numbers were considered to be lucky. February was the last month of the
calendar year at this time, and considered to be the month of purification.
In 46 BCE, Julius Caesar reformed the calendar to make it more manageable with the ‘leap
days’. This new calendar brought the number of days in a month to either 30 or 31, again
with the exception of February, which became flexible with the one leap day every four
years. He also officially moved the start of the calendar year from March to January. It was
a few years later that the names of the 7th and 8th months were changed to July, to honor
Julius Caesar and August, to honor Augustus.
Even though Julius Caesar accounted for the missing time with a leap day every four years,
his calendar still lost 11 ½ minutes a year from the actual solar year. Over the centuries,
this added up and so in September of 1752, Pope Gregory adjusted the Julian Calendar by
12 days (that year the calendar skipped September 3 – 14.) The rule of leap years was also
changed so that only century years (years ending in 00) that were divisible by 400 would be
counted as leap years. Other than that small modification, we still use the calendar created
by Julius Caesar, even though today we call it the Gregorian Calendar.
All these calendar changes can make it difficult to calculate the actual dates of events in the
past, so we tend to go with the dates named at the time.
Original
calendar of
Rome
Calendar of
Numa
715 BCE
Julian Calendar
46 BCE
Meaning or origin of
the month name
Martius (31)
Ianuarius (29)
January (31)
Janus, god of doorways
and gates
Aprilis (30)
Februarius (28)
February (28/29)
Februarius, the month
of purification
Maius (31)
Martius (31)
March (31)
Mars, god of war
Iunius (30)
Aprilis (29)
April (30)
Latin meaning ‘to
open’
Quintilis (31)
Maius (31)
May (31)
Maia, goddess of
Spring and growth
Sextilis (30)
Iunius (29)
June (30)
Juno, goddess of
wisdom and marriage
September
(30)
October (31)
Quintilis (31)
July (31)
Julius Caesar
Sextilis (29)
August (31)
Augustus Caesar
November
September (29)
(30)
December (30) October (31)
September (30)
7 in Latin
October (31)
8 in Latin
November (29)
November (30)
9 in Latin
December (29)
December (31)
10 in Latin
Total days: 355
Total days: 365/366
Total days:
304
Document III – Legal Systems
The development of law was Rome’s greatest and most enduring accomplishment. Roman
law is founded on the ideas of justice and the rights of the individual. As the Romans saw
it, the purpose of justice was to give every man that which was rightfully his. From this era,
we inherited the beliefs that no man could be accused anonymously and that he was
innocent until proven guilty. The way the Romans made these ideas public was by writing
them on the Twelve Tables. These Tables brought together earlier legal traditions into an
enduring set of laws.
Excerpts from the Twelve Tables:
If anyone summons a man before the magistrate (judge), he must go…
When anyone who has been summoned to court is guilty of evasion, or attempts to flee, he
will be arrested
One who has confessed a debt, or against whom a judgment has been pronounced, shall
have thirty days to pay it. After that, seizure of his person is allowed.
When two parties wish to settle their dispute among themselves, even while they are on
their way to appear before the judge, they shall have the right to make peace; and whatever
agreement they enter into, it shall be considered just, and shall be confirmed ( decided).
The setting of the sun shall be the extreme limit of time within which a judge must render
his decision.
Females should remain in guardianship even when they have become adults.
If one has broken a bone of a freeman with his hand or with a club, let him pay a penalty of
three hundred coins. If he has broken the bone of a slave, let him have one hundred and
fifty coins. If one is guilty of insult, the penalty shall be twenty-five coins.
Marriages should not take place between plebeians and patricians.
Document IV - Architecture
The Romans were some of the greatest builders in the ancient world. They took many ideas
about architecture (the science of building) from the Greeks. The Romans also had
innovative architecture of their own. They learned how to use columns and arches in their
buildings from the Greeks and the Etruscans. They improved on the arch by using it to
invent the dome, a roof formed by many arches put together.
Many ancient Roman structures like the Pantheon, the Colosseum and the Roman Forum
are still standing today thanks to the development of Roman cement and concrete. The
Romans first began building with concrete over 2,100 years ago and used it throughout the
Mediterranean in everything from aqueducts and buildings to bridges and monuments.
Roman concrete has proved remarkably durable thanks to its unique recipe, which used
slaked lime (a mineral) and a volcanic ash known as pozzolana to create a sticky paste.
Combined with volcanic rocks called tuff, this ancient cement formed a concrete that
would not break down over time. Pozzolana helped Roman concrete become hard very
quickly, even when used underwater, helping them build elaborate bathhouses, bridges and
harbors.
Arches have existed for about 4,000 years, but the ancient Romans were the first to use
them to build their bridges, monuments and buildings. The clever design of the arch
allowed the weight of buildings to be evenly distributed along various supports, preventing
massive Roman structures like the Colosseum from falling under their own weight. Roman
engineers improved on arches by flattening their shape and placing them apart from each
other to build stronger supports that provided large, empty spaces when used in bridges and
aqueducts. Along with columns, domes and vaulted ceilings, the arch became one of the
defining characteristics of the Roman architectural style.
The Pantheon of Rome
The Roman Colosseum
The Roman Arch
Aqueducts carry water great distances to
reach the cities.
Document V - Aqueducts and Running Water
Roman cities began to grow quickly to be the largest and most populated in the world.
Water was very scarce. The Romans had to find ways to bring water into the cities. It’s to
the plumbing engineers of the Old Roman Empire that the Western world owes it a great
debt. Their solution was to take water from wells or natural springs miles away from the
city and bring it across the countryside. They built stone structures called aqueducts to
carry water for the cities fountains, as well as provide running water in many Roman
homes. The aqueducts went through mountains, across valleys, or even across towns. The
Romans made more than 200 aqueducts. Many can still be seen today.
The Greeks had already developed hot and cold water systems, but they never developed
hot water systems as extensively as the Romans. Furnaces heating hollow bricks located
under the entire floor supplied warm air to heat buildings, in particular the bath houses.
The Romans also developed a way to heat water for their baths, a place where many
Romans would spend their afternoons soaking and visiting with friends.
Roman Heating System
Roman Bath House
Document VI - Roadways
It is often said that “all roads lead to Rome,” and in fact, they once did. The road system of
the Ancient Romans was one of the greatest engineering accomplishments of its time, with
over 50,000 miles of paved road leading out from the center of Rome. Although the Roman
road system was originally built to help quickly move troops throughout the empire, it was
also used for travel by civilians, both then and now.
The Romans were the first ancient civilization to build roads paved with stones, which
made it easier to travel during or after bad weather. Mud or gravel could slow down, if not
completely stop, many vehicles pulled by animals or other people, not to mention
discourage travelers on foot. Roman engineers, however, did not stop with just paving
Roman roads. Roads were crowned – that is, they were higher in the middle than on the
sides to allow water to run off – and they often had gutters for drainage along the shoulders.
Probably the most incredible engineering accomplishment in the Roman road system was
how well the roads were built. Up until about a hundred years ago, people were still using
these roads. In recent years, instead of building new roads, modern engineers have simply
covered many of the old Roman roads with a coat of asphalt. Many are still major
roadways for cars today.
The Ancient Roman network of roads:
Constantine became the emperor of Rome in 306 AD, and was the most powerful person in
his part of the world. His conversion to Christianity had far reaching effects on Christianity
today. Followers were now safe from persecution, and Christian leaders were given many
gifts by the Emperor. Constantine’s adherence to Christianity ensured exposure of all his
subjectst o the religion, and he had no small domain. He also made Sunday an official
Roma holiday so that more people could attend church, and made churches tax-exempt.
However, many of the same things that helped Christianity spread subtracted from tis
personal significance and promoted corruption and hypocrisy. Many people were attracted
to the Church because of the money and favored positions available to them from
Constantine rather than from piety. The growth of the Church and its new-found public
aspect prompted the building of specialized places of worship where leaders were
architecturally separated from the common attendees, which stood in sharp contrast to the
earlier house churches that were small and informal.