CLOTHING AND STYLES ARCHITECTURE
ANCIENT
RO M A N E M P I R E
All over Rome men and women shared similar hair styles
and clothing. Originally they wore a large piece of wool
that they would wrap around themselves. Once they saw
people from Greece and Egypt, Romans adapted wearing
linen tunics under their wool robes. This was more
comfortable for them. Men and women wore leather The Romans are most known for their architecture. Their unique
sandals during the warmer months and leather boots
technologies in architecture brought many new ideas. Some of the
during the cold weather months. Due to the fact that we
most important were the arch, the baked brick, and the use of
live in the North, we wear sandals in the summer when it
cement and concrete.
is warm outside, and boots in the winter for the snowy
weather, just like the Romans.
During the Republican period the Romans built temples and they
Different togas and tunics represented different social made improvements in their city. These improvements included
classes. The color purple represented royalty and high aqueducts, roads, and sewers. The military was responsible for
class, so only people of high class could were the color building and improving the town.
purple.
Augustus was the first Roman emperor. He made many more
Hairstyles are very similar in Ancient times as they are changes. When he built new buildings he made them out of brick
today. Women dyed their hair to a unique golden-red and marble.
color. They would use false hair pieces to make their hair
thicker and longer. These false hair pieces are like our Looking outside of Rome, people began to build amphitheaters
modern hair extensions. Wigs would also be worn for for gladiatorial games. This is when the Forum started to build up.
special events. They could wear their hair down with The Forum is was at the center of many Roman cities. It was used
curls or up. When their hair was up, they would but
for children going to school, selling and buying products, meeting
jeweled hairpins in or would use wooden hair sticks.
friends, or meeting for business purposes. The Forum had stone
pavement and as you walked around their were elaborate buildings
including temples, basilicas, and stores.
Due to the fact that people usually didn’t have hot baths in their
house, Romans built public baths. These areas were like a meeting
place where people could get together. Cleanliness was a huge
factor to Romans so these baths were a great place to socialize.
The Roman baths had swimming pools, hot tubs, and exercise
equipment. They also often had gardens, libraries, and theaters so
that the people could be entertained. Some even had temples! By Kathleen Cronin
ENTERTAINMENT
E D U C AT I O N I N A N C I E N T RO M E
All over Rome there were different forms of entertainment.
Today, we have sports games and arenas that hold thousands
of people just like places in Ancient Rome. Wealthy Families were able to send their children to school. Usually the father of the household was
The most popular and well known is the Colosseum. The responsible for the education of the boys. Mothers focused on teaching the girls how to work the
Colosseum could hold over fifty thousand people. There
was no charge to see a show. At the Colosseum, you could
household.
see mock naval battles, Gladiators battling, and circuses.
Gladiators were slaves who were forced to battle. They Every day the students would attend school. These children had to work seven days a week. Even though
battled for their lives, and hoped they had enough strength
to sustain. At the end of the battle, if the slave was still
each week was scheduled for seven days, quite often there were religious holidays when they did not have to
alive, the emperor of Rome would decide if they battled attend school. Also, on market days school would be cancelled so that students could attend with their
well enough to stay alive. If they battled poorly, they would
be executed. family. Even though there was no “weekend” during the summer months holidays were celebrated and
school would be cancelled for the day.
Horse races were another very popular attraction. People
went to the Circus Maximus to view the horses sprint a six
hundred meter long track. The Circus Maximus could hold Materials for learning were limited and expensive. Today we have paper that we use to write on, but in
one hundred and fifty thousand people. All along the track Ancient Rome, they used the form that Egyptians used. This was the method of Papyrus. Before the boys
people could view all the gods and goddesses because there
were statues. could write on this very expensive form of paper, they had to practice on tablets first. These were wax cover
Roman kids played games just like we do in present times. tablets that the boys would scratch at with sticks. Once they proved that they were trained well enough to
They played games called “Troy” and “Knucklebones”. write, they were given their form of paper and a quill. They would use ink that was a mixture of gum, soot,
These two games were very similar to out games called “Red
Rover” and “Jacks”. The games have been modified over the and ink from a squid.
years, but have the same concept. They could play on stilts,
have ball games, or battles to entertain themselves. Boys in ancient rome learned how to read, write, and calculate numbers. When these boys were educated,
books were not invented yet. They read papyrus scrolls. The teachers would trace out letters and have their
students write over them so that they could understand the form of the letters.
The schoolhouse was one room. The teacher would teach a variety of age groups. Many stools were
scattered about the room for the students to sit at but there was a special seat in the back for the teacher.
If you could not afford to go to school, instead of learning math, reading, and writing, you would learn how
to work the fields. You would learn how to hoe, weed, and plow. Parents needed their children to work and
raise the farm if their family didn’t have much money, because they needed to eat.
