2. The Roman Empire lasted for 500 years.
In ancient Rome, emperors
had absolute rule. They
controlled the government,
the military, and the people.
Nero
One of the most famous
Roman emperors was Nero.
3. At first, the people thought Nero was rather fun.
He was always doing crazy things. One day, Nero
showed up at the Circus Maximus, ready to race!
CircusMaximus
4. The Circus Maximus was a huge outdoor arena,
with seating for 250,000 people. It was used mostly
for chariot racing by the best professional racers.
CircusMaximus
5. There were other circuses around the empire, but
the Maximus was the most famous. There were
races every day. Admission was FREE!
CircusMaximus
6. At the circus, people had a lot of
fun cheering loudly for their
favorite team.
CircusMaximus
If you were cheering for the
gold team, you would wave
something gold. If you were
supporting two teams, you
might wave one color, and wear
another.
7. Nero’s color was purple.
At first, people cheered
loudly for Nero. He tried
very hard to win.
CircusMaximus
Unfortunately, Nero
had little skill as a
racer. In fact, he was
just plain terrible!
10. Next, Nero tried holding
races at night, when no
one could see what was
going on.
Nero
He declared himself
the winner of every
race, even when he
wasn’t racing.
11. That didn’t work. For
some reason, people
stopped coming to
the races at night.
Nero
Nero was unhappy. He
wanted a big crowd on
hand to cheer him.
12. So Nero cheated.
Each chariot was
supposed to be
pulled by four horses.
Nero
Nero hitched 10
horses to his chariot
to give himself a
huge advantage over
the other racers.
13. He still would have
lost every race. He
was that bad. Only
no one dared to beat
him.
Nero
Anyone who tried had
a fatal “accident”
soon after.
14. Since Nero always
won, the 250,000
fans who came to
cheer their favorite
racer found the
Circus Maximus
rather dull if Nero
was there.
Nero
15. The Senate could have
stopped him from
cheating, but the
Senators were afraid of
Nero.
Things never improved
while Nero was emperor,
not at the races and not
in the Empire.
Nero
16. Free Clip Art &
More Stories
1.Free Clip Art for Ancient Rome
2.Free Templates for presentations in PowerPoint
format & how to use them!
3.Ancient Rome for Kids
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