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1. ROMAN CIVILIZATION
Text adapted by Esmeralda Ferti
What was the Roman Empire?
https://www.theschoolrun.com/homework-help/roman-empire
While the Romans were based in Rome in Italy, they ruled over land that went far beyond
the borders of Rome. This was called the Roman Empire, and it covered large parts of land
all around the Mediterranean Sea – even part of Great Britain.
The Romans got this land mostly by fighting battles with other groups of people, like the
Celts in Britain – when the Romans won, they’d get more territory to add to the Empire.
This meant that Roman culture had a huge influence on other cultures, and it’s why
finding Roman artefacts (like coins), and ruins of Roman walls and buildings (like Hadrian’s
Wall) is so common in the British Isles today.
Romulus and Remus
Romulus and Remus were twin brothers. They were abandoned by their parents as babies
and put into a basket that was then placed into the River Tiber. The basket ran aground
and the twins were discovered by a female wolf. The she-wolf nursed the babies for a
short time before they were found by a shepherd. The shepherd then brought up the
twins. When Romulus and Remus became adults, they decided to found a city (start,
establish, set up, originate, create) where the wolf had found them. The brothers

2. quarreled (had a fight) over where the site should be and Remus was killed by his brother.
This left Romulus the sole founder of the new
city and he gave his name to it – Rome. The
date given for the founding of Rome is 753 B.C.
Origins of Rome
The story of Romulus and Remus, of course, is
only a legend. The city of Rome grew out of a
number of settlements that existed around
seven hills that were near the Tiber River.
The villages were near the river for the obvious
reasons of a water supply. The Tiber was also
narrow enough at this point to be bridged. However, the area also suffered because of the
nearness of the river and floods. Each settlement / village was separated from the other
by marshland. Each individual settlement was vulnerable to attack as a single settlement.
By joining together they were stronger. To join together, the marshland had to be drained.

3. This was something that took years to do. The small villages were grouped together
around a central market called forum.
The early people of Rome were from a tribe called Latins. They were from the Plains of
Latium. The Latins were successful farmers and traders and they became rich and
successful. Therefore, Rome from its early days was a rich city. This generated jealousy
and brought the city of Rome into conflict with the surrounding areas. In particular, the
Romans fought against the Etruscans (from the north) and the Samnites. For this reason,
the leaders of Rome invested a lot in having a strong army that did both actions; it
protected the city and expanded its power.
The Italian peninsula is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, near Africa and
connected to Europe in the North side. This strategic location gives it power on controlling
all these places easily. Another advantage was that the Alps on the North protected the
country from invasions. By 300 BC, the Romans controlled most of the Italian peninsula.
The rise of Rome
Text adapted by Esmeralda Ferti
Latins first came under the influence of Greeks and
then Etruscan invaders. In 509 B.C. there was a revolt
that overthrew the Etruscan king. The aristocrats of
Rome established the first republic in history. There
are no kings in a republic, instead, there are elected
officials that run the government.
There were 2 social classes in ancient Rome the Patricians and the Plebeians. These 2
classes had an internal conflict, but in times of danger they united to confront problems.
As in every civilization, when the population grows, the need for land grows, too.

4. Roman army and expansion
Text adapted by Esmeralda Ferti
People all around the world have followed a general rule: “If you have something, you
fight to protect it”. That is the reason why in the Roman Army were accepted only people
from 17 to 46 years old that had a property. These soldiers were very disciplined and well-
trained.
The Romans had an army and a navy, both of them
very famous. The army had many divisions, for
example cavalry, archery, infantry, artillery with
catapults, etc. Most of the soldiers belonged to the
infantry and some others to the Cavalry division.
At the beginning they used the Greek Phalanx
formation (used in the times of Alexander the Great;
it was literally an unstoppable warring machine). One
of the strategies used in battle was the tortoise
formation (also called turtle formation, or Testudo).
Later the formations were smaller and more elastic, they were called Maniples, used to
fight in tough terrain. Many maniples together formed a Cohort of about 400 or 600 men
each. 10 cohorts formed a Legion of about 4000 or 6000 men. (You may also watch the
documentary about Roman battle tactics "Roman Military Technology and Tactics")

5. The Roman expansion
Rome expanded in a very successfully way until 390 B.C
when the Gaulic warriors came from the North, sacked
and burned the city.
Rome was able to recover and by 265 B.C defeated Greek
cities in the southern part of Italy. Romans had basically
conquered the entire Italian peninsula. Next target was
the island of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea.
In Sicily there was a city named Messina (friends of
Rome), and there was also another big city named
Syracuse (friends of Carthage). Each of these two big
kingdoms had an excellent armed force; Rome was
recognized for the excellent army and Carthage was
famous for its Navy (the navy was the heart of Carthage). Many were the people that saw
this conflict as the beginning of a great, long and bloody war.
I. First Punic War
It started in 264 B.C and finished in 230 B.C.
The city of Carthage did not have an army of their own, so
when the Navy was out, the citizens counted on the
protection of mercenaries (who are less loyal because
they have no direct link with that territory). On the other
hand the navy doing a great job defending the city from
water. The only way for Romans to get to Carthage was by
crossing the Mediterranean Sea, and that was the reason
why Romans built a big navy. The real problem of Rome
was the lack of experience to fight in open sea. When
Romans went on their way to Carthage, they lost hundreds of ships and soldiers in storms.
It was clear that Romans needed a strategy of attack and they created a method that
consisted in a wooden bridge to board the enemy ships. The wooden bridge was
sometimes unstable because of the movement of the two ships in the sea, but the soldiers
managed to “jump” from one side to the other. Sometimes the opponents would fight on
the bridges. Romans mastered more methods and finally defeated Carthage.

6. II. Second Punic War
It was also remembered as Hannibal’s invasion. Hannibal was a Carthaginian general; he
created an army and in 218 B.C. together with war elephants he crossed the Pyrenees
mts. and The Alps mts. to invade Italy. At first he defeated Roman armies one after
another due to the fact that Carthaginians used war elephants during battles and Romans
had never faced that kind of “enemy”. Nevertheless, Romans did not surrender.
Commander Fabius Maximus applied hit and run attacks to avoid a major battle. The goal
was to win time while the rest of the Roman army traveled to Africa with the purpose of
threatening the city of Carthage. Finally, the Roman general Scipio declared a battle at the
Zama plain, outside of Carthage.
The only option Hannibal had was to start a new journey; so, he left Italy with his army
and went back to Africa to defend the city of Carthage. Though the Macedonians had
made an alliance with the Carthaginians and they had a greater army, General Scipio won
and he took the city. This is how the second battle ended, and Rome was the leading
power in western Mediterranean.
III. Third Punic War
Romans declared war to Macedonia in 197B.C. and conquered
the Hellenistic Kingdom. That made Rome the absolute leader in
all the Mediterranean (commerce was a goal of Rome)
In 149 B.C. Romans declared the third war to Carthage. It lasted 3
years and Carthage fell. All the population was enslaved and the
city completely destroyed by an unstoppable fire. Everybody
realized it was a matter of proud and egoism.

7. Roman numbers
Imagine you were a student in a Roman school. The
chart below would be one of the first things to learn
and use.
1 I
5 V
10 X
50 L
100 C
500 D
1000 M
All the rest of numbers was created by adding (on
the right side) or subtracting (in the left side). The golden rule was to repeat the same
symbol from 2 to maximum 3 times. Example XXXIII would be 33, while XXXIV would be
34, and XXXV would be 35.
Always remember not to add or subtract a number greater than the “central” one.
Roman Republic
Text adapted by Esmeralda Ferti
In Rome there was a continuous conflict of the orders; this refers
to the class struggle between plebeians and patricians. Plebeians
had problems of debts and land hunger. Because of losing their
property for debts, they could not access the army anymore.
In 494 B.C. foreign invaders threatened the city, so the plebeians
just left and refused to fight until internal changes were done.
Patricians had no other option but to accept a decree canceling
debt slavery. As it was expected, the plebeians turned to defend
the city and formed an assembly called Concilium Plebis. They also
gained the right to participate in elections and vote for their officials, the so-called
Tribunes. The Tribunes had the right to Veto laws that seemed unfair.

8. In 450 B.C. plebeians forced the patricians to write down the laws of the country, so the
12 tableswere created and placed in the forum. An example of a law would be: patricians
are not allowed to marry plebeians, etc.
Roman Republican Government
The Roman government was composed by three general bodies: the Senate, the Popular
Assemblies and the Magistrates.
In the SENATE worked 300 state officials that acted as advisors. They were in charge of
controlling public finances (the money from the taxes) and handled all the foreign
relations (like the ambassadors in our times).
While in the popular ASSEMBLIES, citizens would gather
to vote on laws and elected the officials of the
government. In Latin they were called concilium plebis.
Finally, there were the MAGISTRATES that were officials
who put the laws into practice and also governed. Among
them we could mention the 2 Consuls, one representing
the patricians and the other representing the plebeians.
The consuls governed the Republic, of course with the
advice of the senators. Both consuls were elected for 1
year and they acted as chiefs of the state (in few words they were the presidents). Of
course, for being the highest authority, the consuls were also the army commanders and
decided when to go to war or not.
The special characteristic was the right to veto each other, especially when it was a
decision of starting a war. Other officials were the Praetors, judges that could replace the
consuls when they were away. Praetors had military command and were governors of a
province. The last magistrates would be the Censors, people that recorded the wealth
(properties) and residence of the citizens. After registering the data of the population, the
censors appointed candidates to the Senate in order to keep the 300 members. Censors
were elected every 5 years and they only worked for 18 months.
Top 10 facts
https://www.theschoolrun.com/homework-help/roman-empire
 Rome was a republic before it became an empire – it was governed in a different
way, and had rulers that were elected through votes.
 The Roman Empire began in 27 BC, and after that one emperor would rule it until
he died. The first emperor was Caesar Augustus.

9.  Rome had a mix of very good emperors, like Augustus, and very bad emperors, like
Nero.
 The first 200 years of Roman Empire is called the Pax Romana, which means
‘Roman peace’. It was a time of great prosperity for the Romans.
 The Romans had already won a lot of land through battles when it was a Republic,
some of which led by Julius Caesar.
 Roman armies were known for being excellent in battle – they used their weapons
well, they worked well as a team, and they nearly always defeated their enemies.
 The Romans invaded Britain and started ruling it in 43 AD.
 When the Romans were in Britain, they based themselves in London, which they
called Londinium.
 The Romans left Britain in 410 AD because the armies were needed to defend
other parts of the Empire. The Anglo-Saxons were the next group to rule England.
 The Roman Empire lasted for a long time after this. It had already split into two
parts in 285 AD, with the Western Empire ending in 476 and the Eastern Empire
being overthrown in 1453.
Names to know:
https://www.theschoolrun.com/homework-help/roman-empire
 Augustus (63 BC-14 AD) – Augustus was the first emperor of Rome. After Julius
Caesar died, Augustus formed a new government with Marc Antony and Marcus
Lepidus – a triumvirate. It fell apart about 10 years later though, with Augustus the
only one left to rule. He worked out new laws that formed the Roman Empire,
which was then governed by one person for their lifetime.
 Claudius (10 BC-54 AD) – Claudius was the fourth Roman emperor. The invasion of
Britain happened while he was Emperor, and he was responsible for building new
roads and aqueducts across other parts of the Empire.

10.  Nero (37-68 AD) – Nero became the Roman emperor after Claudius. He spent a lot
of money building theatres and having athletic competitions, and he became
pretty unpredictable. If he thought someone was threatening his power, he’d
usually have them killed. He was emperor during the Great Fire of Rome, and some
people thought he started it himself so he’d have room to build a new palace.
Whether or not that’s true, the Roman senate became more and more frustrated
with him and told him he was going to be arrested
and put to death. Rather than have that happen,
Nero killed himself.
 Hadrian (76-138 AD) – Hadrian was the 14th Roman
emperor, and ruled during a very successful time for
Roman Britain. He is known for having a wall built
along the border of England and Scotland (Hadrian’s
Wall) and for rebuilding the Pantheon, a temple to
the gods that the Romans believed in. He is also the
third in a group of five emperors called ‘the Five
Good Emperors’.
 Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD) – Marcus Aurelius was the last Roman emperor of
the Pax Romana, and also the last of the ‘Five Good Emperors’. The Roman Empire
expanded even further during his reign.
 Constantine (272-337 AD) – Constantine the Great was proclaimed emperor in
York. He was the first emperor who was also a Christian, and he tried to unify the
Roman Empire again after it had been split into the East and West. He moved the
capital from Rome to a new city which he called Byzantium, later called
Constantinople after him. Today, it is called Istanbul, which is the largest city in
Turkey.
 Hannibal (247-183 BC) – Hannibal was a military leader from Carthage, who fought
against the Romans in the Punic Wars. He is known for bringing an army of soldiers
and elephants over the Pyrenees Mountains and the Alps into northern Italy,
which at first was successful in fighting against Rome. The Roman military
eventually worked out how to beat Hannibal’s army and won, but Hannibal’s
tactics are still thought to be pretty impressive today.
Clothing
Souce: https://www.ducksters.com/history/ancient_rome/clothing.php
What materials did they use? Most of the clothing worn in Ancient Rome was made of
wool. Wool was made throughout Italy and much of the Roman Empire both in the home
and commercially. Sometimes clothes were made from rare materials such as linen from
Egypt, cotton from India, and silk from China.

11. Did they use bright colors? Men generally wore white or off-white colored clothing. There
were certain colors or markings that showed the status of a man. Women wore white
clothing until they were married. Once married, they wore clothing in a variety of colors.
Economy
Source: https://study.com/academy/lesson/economy-of-ancient-rome-lesson-for-kids.html
The Romans made coins out of different metals, including
silver, gold, copper, and bronze. Roman coins usually had a
picture of a person on them, just like our coins do today.
But instead of using the same person for each type of coin,
the Romans used coins to remember special people or
events. For example, the Roman Emperor usually put his
face on coins that were made
while he was Emperor.
Buying and Selling Food in Ancient Rome
The Roman economy was mostly based on agriculture, or
farming. In the city of Rome, there wasn't much room to grow
food. So people in the city had to get their food from outside the
city.

12. At first, food for the city of Rome came from small farms in Italy. These
farms were run by families who lived on the farm and sent their extra
food to the city. But as Rome grew, the farms changed. Rich people
bought all the land and sent slaves to work on it. So slaves became a
very important part of the Roman economy because they grew all the
food for the city.
Roman baths
Source:https://www.ancient.eu/Roman_Baths/
Baths for bathing and relaxing were a common feature of Roman cities throughout the
empire. The often huge bath complexes included a wide diversity of rooms offering
different temperatures and facilities such as swimming pools and places to read, relax,
and socialise. Roman baths, with their need for large open spaces, were also important
drivers in the evolution of architecture offering the first dome structures in Classical
architecture.
Architecture
Socrce: https://www.ducksters.com/history/ancient_roman_engineering.php

13. Roman engineering had a large influence on Roman architecture. Arches were used a lot
due to their strength. The Romans also used domes as they enabled them to build large
ceilings with wide open spaces.
Fun Facts about Roman Engineering
 The Romans built over 400,000 km of roads including 29
highways that lead to the city of Rome.
 The Latin word for road is via. The plural of via is viae. Roman
roads generally had the name via in them, like the Via Appia or
the Via Flaminia.
 All the aqueducts in the city of Rome together totaled around
500 miles in length.
 The Romans were among the first civilizations to harness water
power.
 It is estimated that the Romans built over 900 bridges in their
empire.
The Colosseum is an amphitheatre that was built around 70 BC. It was used mainly for
gladiator fights and could hold at least 50,000 spectators.