The Romans lived in Italy from around 753 BC to 476 AD and their empire stretched throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. The document discusses key aspects of Roman culture and society including how Rome was founded according to legend, how the Roman republic and empire were governed, aspects of daily life like baths, clothing, and entertainment like gladiatorial fights. It also discusses the lasting influences of Roman culture on modern languages, calendar, laws, and other aspects of society.

1. romans mosaics art 5º.notebook February 08, 2012
ROMAN EMPIRE
ROMANS
Who were romans?
Where did they live?
When did they live?
http://www.chiddingstone.kent.sch.uk/homework/history/index.html Rome general
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• Rome is now the capital city of Italy. 2,000 years ago it was the
centre of the Roman Empire. Building started in 753 BC
• How was Rome ruled?
• The Romans had a story to explain how Rome began: The republic was ruled by a Senate.
• Twin boys, Romulus and Remus, were the sons of Mars (the Roman god Rich men, called senators, ran the government.
or war). Poor men (called plebeians) had much less power.
• An evil uncle took them as babies from their mother and threw them The plebeians fought for fairer treatment. A plebeian, who was a free
into the River Tiber. The babies floated to land, and a mother wolf fed man (someone who was not a slave), could be a Roman citizen.
and cared for them. Women and slaves though, could not be citizens - so they could not
• Later a man looked after the twins until they grew up. vote in elections.
Years later, Mars told his twin sons to build a city where they had been The Senate could not always control the Roman army. Army generals
found. The city was Rome. One day, Remus made fun of the wall Romulus sometimes fought one another. Rome's best general was Julius Caesar.
had built around the city. The twins argued, fought, and Romulus killed He lived in the 1st century BC and invaded Britain twice. Caesar came
Remus. The legend is one of the most famous in world history. close to being emperor of Rome, but he was murdered in 44 BC. By
then, Rome was more than a city. It was the capital of an empire. The
Romans ruled lands from France to North Africa.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/romans/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRfQH1um6Kk puppets Romulus Remus story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmpuxLZAe38 (brief roman history)
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• Who were the Roman emperors? Gladiators
The word 'gladiator comes from the Latin word for sword, gladius, so it literally means a swordsman.
A Roman emperor was the man who ruled over the empire.The first
emperor was Octavian. He took a new name, Augustus, when he became Thousands of men and women were killed in combat or by animals for the entertainment of the people.
Emperor in 27 BC. Augustus brought peace after years of fighting. Not The best way to get a man to fight to the death is to use a man who has nothing to lose, which is why slaves, criminals, and prisoners­
of­war were ideal for the job. If a man was really good, he might keep winning and get his freedom.
all the emperors were good. Some were terrible.
The emperor had a troop of special soldiers to protect him. They were Gladiator Weapons
Different gladiators had different tools and weapons:
called the Praetorian Guard. However, some of the bad emperors were • Myrmillo: Wore a fish­like helmet and had an oblong shield and a sword.
so unpopular that their Praetorian Guards killed them! • Retiaritus: Fought with a net, brandishing either a trident or a dagger.
• Secutos: Had a shield, sword, heavy helmet, and armour on one arm.
• Sagitarius: fought with a bow and arrow
• Thrax: Armed with a curved sword and a small shield.
Augustus
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2. romans mosaics art 5º.notebook February 08, 2012
Roman Baths (Thermae) What clothes did men wear in Roman times?
Every town had its own bath complex (like a large swimming pool).
The Romans loved washing and bathing and rather it being done in Important Romans dressed in a long robe called a toga
private, the Romans built magnificnt public bath houses in towns across
their empire.
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Important buildings
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How to make a mosaic:
• Language cut out lots of little squares of colored paper, and assemble them into
• The language we used today was developed from the Romans. The Romans mosaics with glue. For the best results, make sure to have some light
spoke and wrote in Latin and many of our words are based on Latin words. red and some darker red, and some light blue and some darker blue,
• The Calendar
and so on, so that you can do some shading. The pieces should be about
• Did you know that the calendar we use today is more than 2,000 years old? It
(1/2 cm) square
was started by Julius Caesar, a Roman ruler. It is based on the movement of the
earth around the sun, and so is called the 'solar calendar.' The solar calendar has The floors of Roman buildings were often richly decorated with
365 days a year, and 366 days every leap year, or every fourth year. The names of mosaics - tiny coloured stone.
our months are taken from the names of Roman gods and rulers. The month Mosaic floors were a statement of wealth and importance.
'July,' in fact, is named after Julius Caesar himself!
• Laws and a legal system
• The laws and ways we determine what to do with someone who is accused of
breaking a law came originally from the Roman Empire.
• The Census
• The Roman Empire was huge and included millions of people living over a
large area. How did they keep track of all these people? Easy! They counted
them! The Roman Empire began the practice of taking a census, or a 'count,' of
all the people within its boundaries every so often. Today, many countries like
ours take a census every 10 years.
The Romans also gave us:
• straight roads
• central heating http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/mosaic/mkmosaic.htm make a mosaic online
• concrete
• aqueducts (bridges for water)
The floors of Roman buildings were often richly decorated with mosaics ­ tiny coloured stones
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"../romans/images/mosaics/part.jpg"Many mosaics captured scenes of history and everyday
Roman life
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3. romans mosaics art 5º.notebook February 08, 2012
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