The Roman Empire
• Rome: Around 2750 years ago, many small villages came together to form the city of
Rome. For more than 1000 years, Rome was the most important city in Europe. 1
million people lived there.
• Empire: An Empire is where one country controls several other lands.
• Roman Empire: Rome controlled Italy and all of the land around the Mediterranean
Sea. This empire controlled much of Europe and stretched from the Middle East
across North Africa. 50 million people lived in the Roman Empire.
How do we know about ancient Rome?
• Many artefacts, like coins and pottery, have been found in the ruins of Rome and
Roman towns such as Pompeii.
• Books/Writing: All Romans could read, even slaves. Writers like Cicero and Plutarch
can tell us a lot about how the Romans lived. They wrote in Latin.
• Art: Images, carvings and statues can tell us about how the Romans looked and
dressed. Roman wall paintings were called ‘frescoes’.
• Buildings: The ruins of old buildings, such as the Colosseum can tell us about Roman
architecture.
How was ancient Rome ruled?
• At first, Rome was ruled by kings, but then Rome became a republic. This meant that
Romans could choose their government. Roman citizens elected people to the
Senate.
• Two types of citizen in Rome-
1. Patricians - rich landowners
2. Plebeians - ordinary workers and farmers.
• All citizens were supposed to have equal rights but the Plebeians were poor and had
no time for politics, so the Patricians had all the power.
• Woman and slaves were not allowed to be citizens. They made up two thirds of the
population.
• Julius Caesar, an army general, became so popular that he took control of Rome in
45BC and ruled without the senate. This was the end of the Roman Republic.
• Caesar was killed in 44BC by Brutus who was jealous of his power and wanted to
keep the senate as it was.
• For more than 15 years, there was civil war in Rome.
• Caesar’s adopted son became the first emperor of Rome in 27BC. His name was
Emperor Augustus and after this the Roman Empire was always ruled by an
emperor.
How did the Romans control their empire?
• The Roman Empire was divided into provinces, which were ruled by governors. The
governors sent grain and taxes to Rome.
• The Romans built good roads all through their empire.
• Communication and trade: Messages and goods could be sent to and from
Rome very quickly.
• The army could move fast if there was a crisis.
The Roman Army
• The Roman army was very powerful and unbeaten for centuries.
• The army was divided into 30 legions, each with 5,000 soldiers.
• The best soldiers were called legionnaires. Only a Roman citizen could be a
legionnaire. They had to serve for 16 years.
• Non-Roman soldiers were called auxiliaries. They had to serve 25 years, and then
they could become a Roman citizen.
• Soldiers had to be male and over 20 years old. They could not marry.
• Training and Discipline:
• Roman soldiers were very fit. Their training was intense. They marched for
hours carrying heavy loads.
• The Roman Army was very disciplined. Punishments were harsh, so soldiers
rarely disobeyed.
• Weapons and Defence:
• Roman soldiers wore protective clothes such as a metal helmet, body armour
and they carried a strong shield. They also wore a belt showing their rank, a
wool tunic, and studded sandals.
• The soldier used weapons such as a sword, called a gladius and a spear,
called a pilum.
• When the army faced an enemy, they used special tactics to stay safe, like
walking in straight lines or using the ‘Testudo’ (tortoise) formation.
• The army also used ballistas and catapults to fire arrows and hot tar at the
enemy.
A Visit to Ancient Rome
• The city was surrounded by strong walls with gates to let people in and out.
• The streets were lined with houses, blocks of flats and shops. People threw
their rubbish on the streets so they were filthy.
• The forum
• This was the market place.
• It contained many banks, temples and businesses.
• It was a great meeting place and was very busy when a market was
held, which was every 8 days.
• It was also a great place for making speeches. This was called orating.
• Aqueducts were like bridges that carried water into the city. It was then
pumped into public fountains, public baths and the homes of the wealthy.
• Public toilets were common in ancient Rome. They had long stone benches
that sat up to 100 people. Water ran beneath the benches and washed the
waste away. Shared, wet sponges were used instead of toilet paper!
• Public baths
• Baths were very popular in ancient Rome. Most Romans went every
day.
• They contained exercise rooms, a hot room called a caldarium and a
cold room called a figidarium.
• Men and women bathed separately.
• Romans met their friends at baths and had business meetings there
too.
• Entertainment
• The Colosseum was the greatest amphitheatre in the Roman Empire. It
held gladiator fights and other ‘entertainment’.
• The Circus Maximus was a huge race-track. Romans held chariot races
here.
The Roman Family
• Family life was very important to the Romans.
• The family included the father, mother and children, as well as married
sons, their wives and children.
• The oldest male was in charge. He was called the paterfamilias.
• The children obeyed him even when they were grown up.
• He arranged the marriages of his children.
• He could beat his family and sell them into slavery.
• He decided whether a baby lived or died when it was born. Most
preferred to have sons.
• Women in the Roman family:
• The main job of the mother was to run the household and raise
the children.
• She gave orders to the slaves who did all the work.
• Poorer women worked in the markets and shops.
Roman Homes
• Patricians
• Wealthy Romans lived in a house called a domus, surrounded by a
high wall for protection.
• The hall was called the atrium and the ceiling was open to the sky.
• There was an open garden in the middle of the house called a
peristyle, containing a pool called an impluvium, as well as a
walled back garden with stables.
• There were also bedrooms, a dining room, kitchens and slave
quarters.
• The front rooms were opened onto the street and were used as
shops.
• Inside the domus, there was very little furniture, but it was
decorated with flowers, statues, mosaics and wall paintings.
• Olive oil lamps were burned in the evening for light.
• Plebeians:
• Poorer Romans lived in blocks of flats called insulae.
• They were up to eight storeys high, and had shops on the ground
level. The higher up you lived, the cheaper your rent would be.
• Whole families were crammed into a one room flat.
• Plebeians only used their flats for sleeping. They went to bed at
sunset as they had no oil lamps.
• There were no fireplaces, so they couldn’t cook. They had to buy
food from a shop called a thermopolia.
• There was piped water to the ground floor only, so plebeians had
to carry water upstairs in huge jars. There were no toilets –
plebeians used public toilets by day, and chamber pots at night,
which they emptied out the window into the street!