The Patricians and the Plebeians
Sometime before the first surviving written
historical account, Rome was controlled by the
Etruscans, a brutal civilization from the northern part of
the Italian peninsula. Etruscans kings rained terror for
more than a century until the Romans rebelled and
expelled their ruler in 509BCE.
The early Romans were miserable living under a
king, so they created a republic, a form of government in
which elected officials share power.
In place of a king, the Romans elected two consuls
with equal power. The counsels served for only one year
and could not be reelected. The counsels held veto power
over one another. Veto means “I forbid” in Latin, the
language of the Romans. Neither consul could make a
law without the consent of the other. The Romans never
wanted power concentrated in one person again.
The Roman Senate advised the consuls. Senate is
derived from a word meaning elder because many
Romans considered the senators to be the oldest and
wisest of their people.
The consuls and senators came from the patrician
“order” – mostly wealthy landowning families believed
to have descended from the leaders of the rebellion
against the Etruscans.
The plebeians were the merchants, farmers, and craft
workers of Rome. The patricians excluded the plebeians
from the consulship and the Senate, so when the Senate
declared war in 491BCE, the plebeians refused to fight. A
legend says the plebeians withdrew from the city until
they were given the right to elect their own leaders.
Historians later called this the Struggle of the Orders.
The patricians and the plebeians negotiated a
settlement that allowed the plebeians a voice in Roman
government. The plebeians elected tribunes, who
represented their order against any mistreatment by the
consuls or the Senate. Tribunes could veto a law passed
by the Senate or the consuls. The Roman word for a
chamber or a meeting room is camera. The Roman
government was bicameral because both the patricians
and the plebeians had representatives in the Roman
Republic. The Struggle of the Orders ended in 287BCE,
when laws passed by the tribunes were binding for all
Romans.
The patricians and the plebeians agreed on the Law
of Twelve Tables in 449BCE. The Twelve Tables were a
legal code that everyone could see. Citizens could no
longer be changed in secret, and even elected officials
were required to follow the law, though an official could
not be charged with a crime until after he left office.
The patricians and the plebeians shared power in
Rome, but a third order had no voice in how they were
ruled. They were the slaves. Many people captured in
war became slaves. Some were former criminals.
Others–very poor Romans –sold themselves and their
families into slavery to keep from starving. Roman law
considered slaves to be property, so slaves had
no legal rights. As many as one-third of the
Roman people were slaves.
The senate met in the
Forum, a marketplace in
the valley among the hills that
surround Rome. The meetings
usually took place outdoors and
ended at sunset, so a senator could
stop a law from passing by talking
continuously until sunset.
In times of great emergency, the
Romans would select a dictator to rule the
Republic. The dictator had complete
control over Rome, but the dictator
could serve for only six months. The Romans were at
war in 458BCE when the Senate asked Cincinnatus to
lead them as dictator. Cincinnatus organized the Romans
and ended the war in just sixteen days. He could have
stayed in power for the remainder of his term and used
the office to enrich himself, but Cincinnatus returned
power to the Senate and went back to his farm.
The Roman republic never officially ended.
Powerful leaders such as Julius Caesar and Caesar
Augustus began to take authority from senators and
tribunes in the first century BCE. The Romans returned
power to one person after about five hundred years as a
republic.
America and the Roman Republic
More than two thousand years after the Romans
formed their republic, a group of colonists in America
rebelled against the English king and formed the United
States of America. The founders of the new American
nation wrote a Constitution that looked to ancient Rome
as model for their new government.
Like the Roman model, the American government is
bicameral. Each of the fifty states elects two Senators to
represent them in Congress. The United States
Constitution allots seats in the House of Representatives
based the population of each state. Each state has at least
one of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives.
The framers of the American Constitution borrowed
the Roman idea of sharing power among many groups.
The president can veto a law made by Congress, but
under the American system, a vote of two-thirds of each
house of Congress can override the president’s veto.
Every elected official must follow the law. Even the
president can be removed from office by Congress for
what the Constitution describes as “high crimes and
misdemeanors.”
*This is a higher order learning question. You will earn credit for any reasonable answer.
Answer in complete sentences
*1. Use a dictionary to define “patri-,” the root of patrician. List at least two words with this root.
*2. Why is the United States a republic?
*3. Was every class represented in the Roman Republic? Explain your answer.
*4. Explain what a veto was in ancient Rome?
*This is a higher order learning question. You will earn credit for any reasonable answer.
THE PUNIC WARS
Rome fought three wars with Carthage between
daring and difficult journey over the Alps. The Alps are
264 and 146BCE. The wars established Rome as a
a treacherous mountain range that stood between
world power and left the once powerful empire of
Spain and the Italian peninsula.
Carthage in ruins.
Hannibal expected some Italian cities to join his
Carthage was a city in North Africa originally
army, but the cities remained loyal to their conqueror.
founded as a trading post by the Phoenicians. Since
Hannibal’s army won three decisive victories against
historians have tended to label the conflicts by the
Rome in northern Italy despite being outnumbered
Roman name, we know them as the Punic Wars.
more than two to one. In the Battle of Canae,
Punica was a Latin word for Phoenician.
Hannibal’s army surrounded the Romans, killing
By the time of the first Punic War, Carthage had
between 50,000 to 80,000 Roman soldiers—the most
created an empire that stretched across North Africa
destructive battle in ancient history.
and into the southern coast of modern day Spain.
After their humiliation at Canae, Rome changed
Merchant sailors from Carthage traded with cities
their strategy. The Romans sent a new army to
throughout the Mediterranean Sea. To protect its
northern Italy with instructions to withdraw. Hannibal
profitable sea trade Carthage developed a powerful
spent the next twelve years destroying the Roman
navy.
countryside, but his army had no opponent to fight.
The Romans completed their conquest of the
The antipathy, or bad feelings caused by Hannibal’s
Italian peninsula by 263BCE. Rome’s economy
destruction would last for generations and would lead
depended on the plunder of their army. The Roman
to the third Punic War and the downfall of Carthage.
Senate had to keep the army busy, or the army might
A Roman army led by Scipio attacked Carthage in
have turned against the Senate.
202BCE. Hannibal was ordered home to defend his
The first Punic War was fought over Sicily, a
native land. Without Hannibal in charge, the war on
Mediterranean island off the coast of the Italian
the Italian peninsula turned in Rome’s favor. Once in
peninsula. Carthage controlled Sicily in 264BCE, so the
Carthage, Hannibal had a mercenary army in place of
Romans declared war to defend a small group of
his loyal soldiers. Mercenaries are foreign soldiers
Roman fortune seekers Carthage had captured.
hired to fight. The mercenary army was no match for
Rome had a powerful army, but they had little
Scipio's trained forces. Rome defeated Hannibal’s
experience with the sea. The Romans developed an
army and won the war.
innovative technique to win several naval battles. They
Carthage was no longer in a position to hurt Rome
lacked the naval skill to sink ships, so the Romans
after the second Punic War, but in 149BCE, Roman
outfitted their vessels with a hinged bridge. Roman
antipathy toward Carthage continued to linger. A
sailors used pulleys to lower the bridge to face an
Roman senator named Cato ended every speech with
enemy ship. The Roman ship would ram into an
the cry, “Carthage must be destroyed.” Rome attacked
enemy vessel. An iron spike at the edge of the bridge
Carthage and the two sides fought bloody battles in a
attached the two ships, allowing soldiers to cross over
war that lasted almost three years. After a siege in
and attack in hand-to-hand combat—where Rome was
146BCE, the Romans broke through the city walls of
more experienced than Carthage.
Carthage. Once they subdued the Carthaginian army,
To try to close the gap in naval power, the Romans
Roman soldiers went from house to house slaughtering
captured a Carthaginian warship and used it as a
the people in their homes. After destroying Carthage,
model to build their fleet. They won a few early
the Romans sold the remaining citizens into slavery,
victories and captured most of Sicily, but the
burned the city and destroyed Carthage’s harbor.
inexperience of the Roman navy left them unprepared
Rome annexed Carthage by making the city a part
for a catastrophic storm that destroyed two-thirds of
of a Roman province they called Africa. Africa
their fleet and killed thousands of Roman sailors.
probably comes from a Latin word that means “sunny
Rome raised a second and third fleet, but storms also
land without cold.” The Punic Wars established Rome
destroyed most of the additional ships.
as a powerful nation and the wars were an indication
A Carthaginian general named Hamilcar Barca
that Rome would develop into one of the most
recaptured most of Sicily, but Carthage did not have
powerful empires in history.
the money or manpower to continue to engage in the
conflict. In 241BCE, Carthage surrendered Sicily to the
Romans.
In 218BCE, a generation after the first Punic War,
Hannibal Barca—the son of Hamilcar—commanded an
army from Spain. Hannibal led an army of 40,000
soldiers, 8,000 horses and 37 war elephants in a
*This is a higher order learning question. You will earn credit for any reasonable answer.
Answer in Complete Sentences
1.
Explain why the three conflicts between Rome and Carthage are remembered as the Punic Wars.
*2. Why do you think Hannibal led his army through the treacherous Alps instead of engaging his enemy at sea?
*3. Why does the author suggest that the Romans treated Carthage with such brutality after the third Punic War?
*This is a higher order learning question. You will earn credit for any reasonable answer.
©2011 Mike Dowling. All rights reserved.
Spartacus
Rome needed workers to maintain its wealth. The
first people conquered by the Roman army were
welcomed as citizens, but after 265BC, many
conquered people were auctioned off as slaves. Many
of the great architectural achievements of ancient
Rome were created with the grueling labor of slaves.
A slave named Spartacus led a slave revolt that
threatened the stability of the Roman Republic.
Spartacus was likely from Thrace, a land northeast of
Greece, but we don’t know much about his early life.
Spartacus may have been a soldier in the Roman
army, but was condemned to slavery. He was forced
to train to be a gladiator. In ancient Rome, most
gladiators were armed slaves who went into battle
with other slaves or wild animals for the entertainment
of the Roman people. In 73BC, Spartacus and a group
of other gladiators escaped captivity by seizing
kitchen knives and fighting their way to freedom. The
Romans sent a small force to capture the escaped
gladiators, but the slaves killed most of the Roman
soldiers and took their weapons.
The Roman army believed they cornered the
escaped slaves on Mount Vesuvius by blocking the
only path from the mountain. Spartacus and his
soldiers secretly climbed down a steep cliff using
vines as ropes. The slave army then attacked the
Romans from behind, killing most of the unprepared
soldiers. The slaves continued to win battles with
Roman armies and became folk heroes for many of
the poorest people of ancient Rome. Folk heroes are
popular with common people, but not with people in
power. The ranks of the slave army grew as they
liberated other slaves, and as word of their success
grew, as many as 120,000 of the poorest people of
Rome joined the revolt. Spartacus’ powerful army
plundered the Roman countryside for more than two
years.
The slave revolt ended after a bloody series of
battles near the southern tip of the Italian peninsula in
71BC. Two Roman generals, Crassus and Pompey,
led a force 40,000 soldiers. The slaves were no match
for the superior weapons of the Roman armies.
Spartacus was killed in battle, but six thousand of his
soldiers were taken prisoner and crucified. Crucifixion
is a form of execution where the prisoner is nailed to a
cross and left to die a slow, painful death. The crosses
were placed along the Apian Way, one of Rome’s
most traveled roads. The sight of the crucified slaves
served as a gruesome reminder of the strength and the
brutality of the Roman army.
Crassus and Pompey returned to Rome as heroes.
The Senate selected them to be consuls, but Crassus
and Pompey were soon to come into contact with the
greatest general in Roman history: Julius Caesar.
Answer in complete sentences
*1. Why do you think the slave revolt led by Spartacus was successful for two years?
*2. The text says, “The powerful slave army plundered the Roman countryside for more than two years..” What
do you think countryside means?
*3. Spartacus was a folk hero to many people in ancient Rome. Who might be considered a folk hero in today?
*This is a higher order learning question. You will earn credit for any reasonable answer.
©2011 Mike Dowling. All rights reserved.
*This is a higher order learning question. You will earn credit for any reasonable answer.
©2011 Mike Dowling. All rights reserved.
Julius Caesar
Rome was growing and quite wealthy after the
second Punic War, but the republic faced serious
problems.
Many Roman politicians took bribes and often
encouraged violent mobs to help them rise to power.
Soldiers returning home from years at war could not
find work because rich landowners used slaves to do
the work once done by poor Romans.
The republic also became embroiled in several
civil wars. A civil war is a war within a nation. Many
Romans wanted a strong leader, and the ambitious
Julius Caesar was an obvious choice.
Gaius Julius Caesar was a patrician and popular
general when he was first elected consul in 59BCE.
Marcus Biblius was Caesar’s co-consul, but Caesar
paid no attention to the wishes of Biblius and the
Senate.
Caesar ordered the redistribution of lands to the
poor, a decision that made him very popular with the
Roman people but angered angered many wealthy
landowning senators. Biblius attempted to veto
Caesar’s act, but Caesar’s mob attacked the co-consul.
The terrified Biblius retired to his home and left Caesar
in control of the Roman government.
The Senate tried to block Caesar’s decisions, so he
formed a partnership with his former enemies, Crassus
and Pompey. Historians often refer to this alliance as
the First Triumvirate. A triumvirate is a partnership of
three equal rulers. Neither Crassus nor Pompey were
consuls, but the three generals were so popular with the
Roman people that they were able to ignore the wishes
of the Senate.
Under Roman law, an official could not be arrested
while he was in power. Knowing the Senate would
have him jailed as soon as he left the consulship,
Caesar arranged to be appointed governor of a Roman
province in Gaul. Gaul was a territory northwest of the
Italian peninsula.
Upon taking office in Gaul, Caesar used his
personal fortune to raise a private army. For the next
nine years Caesar led his troops across western Europe,
killing or enslaving millions and conquering lands that
added to the Roman Republic.
In 49BCE, the Senate ordered Caesar to disband his
personal army and to return to Rome as a private
citizen. Caesar once again feared arrest, so he ignored
the order and marched his army back to Rome.
Caesar’s orders clearly told him not to bring his troops
across the Rubicon River. When Caesar reached the
river, he knew he faced an important decision. Caesar
knew that if he obeyed the Senate and disbanded his
army, his career would be over; but if he marched his
troops across the river, the Senate would order Pompey
and his army to retaliate. Today when people say they
are “crossing the Rubicon,” they refer to a very
significant decision that cannot be undone.
As Caesar’s army approached Rome, many
frightened senators fled the city. Pompey announced
that “Rome cannot be defended,” and retreated south
with his army. The remaining senators named Caesar
dictator. For the next several months,
Caesar and his army pursued Pompey
throughout the Mediterranean until
Pompey led his army to Egypt.
When Caesar arrived in Egypt, he
met Ptolemy XIII, the ten-year-old
ruler of the ancient land. Hoping to
gain favor with Rome, Ptolemy
presented Caesar with Pompey’s decapitated head.
Caesar then met and fell in love with Cleopatra, the
older sister of Ptolemy XIII. Caesar spent a year with
Cleopatra, and then returned to Rome as a conquering
hero.
The Senate elected, then re-elected Caesar consul,
breaking the Roman tradition that a consul serve only
one year. While in power, Caesar settled 80,000 of his
soldiers in colonies, built buildings and monuments
throughout the city, and reformed the calendar.
When Caesar came to power, the calendar was out
of alignment with the seasons. Caesar instituted the
Julian calendar of 365¼ days. Caesar added a month
to the calendar and named it July for himself. Caesar’s
calendar is closely related to the calendar we use today.
In 44BCE, Caesar arranged to be named dictator for
life. A dictator is a ruler with complete control. The
Senate had appointed dictators in the past, but only in
great emergencies and for a period of no more than six
months.
Caesar ignored the Senate and ruled without their
consent. Many Senators became enraged because
Caesar broke with Roman tradition and behaved as if
he were a king. On March 15, 44BCE, a mob of sixty
senators stabbed the dictator to death in the Roman
Forum. Ironically, Caesar fell to his death at the foot
of a statue of Pompey, the general who Caesar
defeated.
With Caesar dead, Rome fell into a period of civil
wars that would lead to the end of the Roman Republic
and the creation of the first Roman Emperor.
*This is a higher order learning question. You will earn credit for any reasonable answer.
©2011 Mike Dowling. All rights reserved.
Answer in complete sentences
1. Why did many Roman people feel the need for a strong leader in 59BCE?
2. What is a dictator?
3. Why did the senators kill Julius Caesar?
4. Was Julius Caesar a good or bad leader for Rome? Use at least two facts from the article to support your statement.
2015 Mike Dowling, www.mrdowling.com, All rights reserved.
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Caesar Augustus
Octavian was the son of Julius Caesar’s
niece. The first eighteen years of Octavian’s life
were unremarkable, but a surprise in Julius
Caesar’s will eventually resulted in him
becoming Caesar Augustus, the ruler who
transformed Rome into the greatest empire of
the ancient world.
Julius Caesar was so popular with the
Roman people that the Senate named him
dictator for life. For five hundred years, the
Roman government relied on two consuls
serving one-year terms and taking advice from
the Senate. But as dictator, Julius Caesar ruled
without considering Roman tradition or having
to consult the Senate. Finally, in 44BCE, a group
of enraged senators stabbed the dictator to
death.
Caesar’s will decreed that Octavian would be
his heir and was to be treated as his adopted
son. Caesar’s decision made
Octavian one of the richest men
in Rome. It also provided
Octavian with something even
more valuable: the right to call
himself Caesar.
Two months after Julius
Caesar’s murder, Octavian came
to Rome to claim his inheritance,
but Marc Antony dismissed the
young man. Octavian spent the
next several months gaining
Caesar Augustus
support with the Roman people.
He also raised an army. Soldiers throughout
the empire were loyal—not to Rome—but to the
name Caesar. By the end of 44BCE, both Marc
Antony and Octavian commanded armies, but
the two men avoided civil war by making a deal.
In 43BCE, Octavian joined Antony and
another general named Lepidus in a
partnership historians call the Second
Triumvirate. The triumvirate raised money by
branding more than 300 wealthy Romans as
enemies. They seized the property of the newly
designated outlaws and offered rewards to
anyone who would kill them. The enemies of
Octavian and Marc Antony who could not
escape from Rome were killed.
Octavian and Antony forced Lepidus into
2015 Mike Dowling, www.mrdowling.com, All rights reserved.
retirement in 36BCE. Five years later, Octavian
became the sole ruler of Rome upon the death
of Marc Antony.
Octavian earned the loyalty of the Roman
soldiers by providing the men with land. The
soldiers retired, but because Octavian was
Caesar, he knew he could count on their support
if the Senate challenged his authority.
Octavian lived a modest life to avoid the fate
of Julius Caesar. He lived in a small house and
traveled without bodyguards. Unlike Julius
Caesar, Octavian was respectful to the senators.
Later in his career, Octavian allowed other men
to serve as consuls, but the Senate knew that
Octavian controlled the military, so he was the
actual ruler of the Roman Empire.
In 27BCE, Octavian arranged for the Senate
to grant him the honorific title Augustus, which
means “respected one.” During his rule, the
Roman people knew Octavian only as Caesar,
but historians, to avoid confusion with his
famous granduncle, generally refer to him as
Octavian before 27BCE and Caesar Augustus
after that.
Caesar Augustus ruled for 41 years, a period
that saw Rome develop into a military empire,
so historians consider him to be the first Roman
Emperor. He restored peace and order to Rome
after years of civil war, made sure the lands
throughout the empire were well run and that
taxes were fair. He built roads and bridges,
government buildings and massive public baths.
“I left Rome a city of marble,” Caesar said,
“though I found it a city of bricks.”
The armies of Caesar Augustus conquered
most of Western Europe, North Africa and the
Middle East. The Romans claimed all of the
land surrounding the enormous Mediterranean
Sea, which they nicknamed “a Roman lake.”
Rome’s army was so powerful that it
protected citizens from attack from the tribes
who lived beyond the empire. Historian
Edward Gibbon later described the two
hundred-years of peace that began with the rule
of Caesar Augustus as the Pax Romana, or the
“Peace of Rome.”
Answer in complete sentences
1. How did the Second Triumvirate raise money without imposing higher taxes on the Roman people?
*2. How was Octavian’s relationship with the Senate different from that of Julius Caesar? Use facts from the
article to defend your answer.
*3. Do you think Caesar Augustus was popular with the Roman people? Use facts from the article to defend
your answer.
*This is a higher order learning question. You will earn credit for any reasonable answer.
The Roman Empire after Caesar Augustus
Caesar Augustus showed great respect for the
Senate, but later emperors made no secret
of their power. The Senate continued to
exist after the reign of Augustus, but
senators had little say over the affairs of
the empire. Some of the emperors who
followed Augustus ruled wisely. Others
were foolish and cruel.
Nero was perhaps the most notorious emperor
in Roman history. Nero became emperor at the
age of seventeen after his mother conspired to kill
his stepfather.
Once Nero came to power, he ordered his
mother’s execution. He also killed two wives and
a stepbrother. Not only did Nero rule the empire
ruthlessly by day, at night he prowled the streets
of Rome assaulting women.
Nero believed himself to be the most talented
person in the Roman Empire. Never before had
an emperor performed on a stage as an actor or
singer. Many Roman nobles considered Nero’s
performances to be outrageous and lacking
talent, but no one would risk torture or
death by criticizing the emperor.
In AD67, Nero toured Greece. He
participated in many games and
contests, but no rival dared to beat the
emperor. As Nero devoted himself to his outside
pursuits, he lost ruling power. A year after his
tour of Greece, Nero faced an attack from his
soldiers. His guard claimed Nero cried out,
“What an artist the world is losing,” as he stabbed
himself in the neck.
It was under the emperor Trajan that, by
AD117, the Roman Empire reached its greatest
size. The empire extended from Britain and
Spain, across France, southern Germany, and the
Balkan Mountains. The empire also included
North Africa and stretched as far east as the
Caspian Sea. By that time, the empire completely
surrounded the vast Mediterranean Sea, which
later historians described as being a mere “Roman
lake.”
In AD121, the emperor Hadrian built a wall
across northern England to keep out invaders
from Scotland. The Romans called the Scots
“barbarians,” possibly because their Celtic
language reminded the Romans of the sounds
made by sheep. In time, the Romans
used this term for any civilization they
considered uncultured. Eventually,
another group of barbarian warriors—
from Germany—would lead to the end of
the Roman Empire.
Answer in complete sentences
*1. Based on the test, do you think that managing the Roman Empire in AD117 was easy or difficult? Defend your
answer.
*This is a higher order learning question. You will earn credit for any reasonable answer.
Roman Technology
Caesar Augustus had complete power in Rome,
but he showed great respect for the Senate. Later
emperors made no secret of their power. The Senate
continued to exist, but senators had little control
over the affairs of the empire. Some of the emperors
who followed Augustus ruled wisely. Others were
foolish and cruel.
Nero was perhaps the most notorious emperor in
Roman history. Nero became emperor when his
mother conspired to kill his stepfather. Once Nero
came to power, he ordered his mother’s execution.
Nero also killed two wives and a stepbrother. Nero
ruled the empire by day, but at night he prowled the
streets of Rome assaulting women.
Nero believed himself to be the most talented
person in the Roman Empire. Never before had an
emperor performed on a stage as an actor or singer.
Many Roman nobles considered Nero’s
performances to be outrageous and lacking talent,
but no one would risk torture or death by criticizing
the emperor. In AD67, Nero toured
Greece. He participated in many
games and contests, but no rival dared
to beat the emperor. As Nero devoted
himself to his artistic pursuits, he lost
ruling power. In AD68, Nero faced an
attack from his soldiers. His guard
claimed Nero cried out, “What an artist
the world is losing,” as he stabbed
himself in the neck.
The Roman Empire reached its greatest size in
AD117 under the emperor Trajan. The empire
extended from Britain and Spain, across France,
southern Germany, and the Balkan Mountains. The
empire also included North Africa, and stretched as
far east as the Caspian Sea.
In AD121, the emperor Hadrian built a wall
across northern England to keep out invaders from
Scotland. The Romans called the Scots
“barbarians,” possibly because their Celtic language
reminded the Romans of the sounds made by sheep.
In time, the Romans called all of the people they felt
were uncultured “barbarians.” Barbarian warriors
from Germany would later lead to the end of the
Roman Empire.
The Romans used great public projects to make
their capital city the most advanced of the ancient
world, and to create the largest empire of the era.
The Romans particularly excelled at building roads.
The roads made it easier to travel, move troops,
collect taxes and trade with faraway provinces. The
expression, “All Roads Lead To Rome” refers to the
fact that Rome was the center of the ancient civilized
world. Many of the roads, bridges and aqueducts of
ancient Rome are still used today.
Roman engineers brought water into the city by
building water bridges called aqueducts. Nine
aqueducts provided the Roman people with 38
million gallons of water every day. Parts of the
Roman aqueduct system still supply water to
fountains in Rome.
The Romans built many huge stadiums called
amphitheaters. People would gather in
amphitheaters to watch shows with clowns, jugglers
and acrobats.
Some Roman
entertainment was very cruel.
People would watch fights
between wild animals and
gladiators. Gladiators were
usually slaves or criminals
who fought with swords
against animals or one another.
A skillful gladiator might win
his freedom by defeating an opponent. More often,
the gladiators lost their lives.
The greatest Roman amphitheater, the
Colosseum, still dominates the Roman skyline.
Only a portion of the Colosseum remains standing.
Earthquakes destroyed some of the structure. Some
of the stone used to build St. Peter’s Basilica, the
church in the Vatican where the Pope resides, came
from the Colosseum.
Perhaps the greatest Roman engineering
achievement was the sewer. Because Rome is in a
valley among seven hills, there is nowhere for dirty
water to go. The sewer system made it possible for
Rome to become the largest city in the world. The
population of the city of Rome swelled to more than
one million people at the height of the empire.
*This is a higher order learning question. You will earn credit for any reasonable answer.
2011 Mike Dowling, www.mrdowling.com, All rights reserved.
Answer in complete sentences
1. List four examples of Roman technology.
*2. How do you think Rome’s many roads eventually helped lead to the downfall of the city?
*3. Roman leaders encouraged some of the more bloodthirsty elements of Roman entertainment. Do you think
this type of entertainment is good or bad for a society? Explain your answer.
*4. What problems would have occurred in Rome if the city that large did not have an adequate sewage system?
*This is a higher order learning question. You will earn credit for any reasonable answer.