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The Romans captured and ruled many places between 500 BC and AD 476. The centre of their huge empire was the city in . By about 265 BC, Rome controlled most of Italy and the empire kept growing. Sometimes the Roman army capt ured an entire country, while some countries did not want to fight and were happy to become a part of Rome.

Each new country wanted the Roman army to protect it from other invaders and they were made a province of Rome, run by a Roman . In return for the protection of Rome, the provinces paid taxes to Rome and obeyed Roman laws.

The Roman Empire kept spreading until it got too big and it could not keep everyone safe. Slowly it lost its provinces and as a result, it lost its power.

The first Romans were farmers, living in small villages on seven neighbouring hills. They flourished and prospered, and by 753 BC they had founded the city of Rome.

By 270 BC, Roman soldiers began to conquer nearby lands. By 30 BC, they ruled most of the countries borde ring the Mediterranean Sea. In the 1 st century AD they marched north to conquer Britain, Germany and France and soon after AD 100 they had conquered most of the Middle East as well.

The Roman Empire grew rich from taxes collected from these conquered peo ple and also through the trade that they did. Essential food, especially corn, and many valuable luxury goods were shipped to Rome from distant lands and sold to rich citizens in the city’s shops and markets.

Roman power finally collapsed in AD 476.

ROM AN FACTS

 By AD 100 there were 60 million people living in the Roman Empire.  Everyone in the Roman Empire was governed by Roman laws.  Our word ‘civilization’ comes from the Roman word ‘civitas’ which means city. Romans believed that cities were where the b est - educated and most elegant people lived. They thought country people were slow - witted.  Conquered people resented Roman rule. As a British chieftain said, ‘They make a wasteland and call it peace.’  At its most powerful, the Roman Empire stretched from Scotland to the shores of the Black Sea.  The Romans believed their empire brought good government to conquered lands . They appointed to rule conquered provinces, to collect taxes and make regular reports back to Rome.  In the 4 th and 5 th centurie s AD, the Roman Empire was threatened by invasions of warlike tribes, the Huns, Vandals and , who rode from the steppes of Central Asia to attack the empire’s eastern frontier.

TASK 1

On a page in your book, answer the following questions using full sentences.

1. What did the first Romans do as an occupation? 2. Where did they have their villages built? 3. List three things that changed when a country was conquered by the Romans. 4. Why did the Roman Empire eventually collapse? 5. One of the warlike tribes who threa tened the Roman Empire was the Vandals. When we talk about vandals today, we think of something different. Why do you think we call them this and what does this tell us about how the Vandal tribe may have behaved?

TASK 2

On a separate page with your nam e on it as a footnote, set out the answers to the following questions.

1. Look at the quote from the British chieftain. What do you think he meant by this. What was he saying about the way in which the Romans created peace in a country that they came to? D o you think that the British chieftain willingly joined the Roman Empire? What makes you think this ? 2. Look at the map of trade routes in the Roman Empire. Make a list of the things that they had sent to Rome. 3. Create a timeline that sets out the dates ment ioned in the body of the text and what each date was important for.

TASK 3

Goods such as spices, olives, wine and oil needed to be stored so that they did not spoil during the long sea voyage f rom distant parts of the Roman E mpire. To do this, the Roman s used a type of storage jar called an amphora . Use the website en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphora to answer the following questions about amphorae. You will only need to use the sections of weights and measures and production to find the answers. 1. What were a mphorae made from? 2. How was the inside of the amphorae sealed? 3. What were stamps on the amphorae used to show? 4. How big were the largest amphorae? 5. What was the standard size of amphorae? You will notice a diagram showing what an amphora looked like. Using th is diagram, create a paper and pencil design of an amphora. You will need to show 3 views of it, including notes about what you are showing:  Looking down on top of it.  Looking at the front of it.  Looking at the side of it.

You need to show your design to another class member and get written feedback from them about what they like about your design and what could be improved. Use this feedback to do a second design again making sure that you have included notes. Show both of the designs and the written fe edback you received to your teacher and when your design has been approved, use Makers Empire to create a 3D version of your design. A voting process based on what you have been asked to do will be conducted by staff to select the top 3 designs to be prin ted.