The Roman Republic

CK_3_TH_HG_P091_145.QXD 4/11/05 10:56 AM Page 125 Ottoman Turks seized the city in 1453 CE and made it the capital of their empire. After the establishment of modern Turkey, the capital moved to Ankara, and Constantinople was renamed Istanbul in 1930. B. Background The Legend of Romulus and Remus Rome probably began as a small, unimpressive village of farmers and shepherds, but in later days the Romans liked to tell a different story. Like many other people all around the world, they developed legends about their founders—stories that are not historically accurate but were important to the people who told them. The legendary story about the founding of Rome linked the Romans to the gods and also to the ancient Trojans. Central to the mythology of the ancient Greeks was the Trojan War. Homer describes some key episodes in this war, including the exploits of the hero Achilles, in his epic poem the Iliad. Homer’s other epic poem, the Odyssey, tells of the wanderings and adventures of another Greek warrior, Odysseus, on his way back to Greece after the Trojan War. As Rome grew and prospered, it, too, need- ed a national epic to explain and glorify its origins. The Roman poet Virgil com- posed the Aeneid to fulfill this need. Virgil lived many years later, during the time of the emperor Augustus, when Rome had already grown powerful. He had almost completed his great epic poem when he died in 19 BCE. Virgil’s epic begins with the fall of Troy and the end of the Trojan War. The Teaching Idea poem tells the story of Aeneas, a great Trojan hero descended from the goddess Venus, who wanders the Mediterranean looking for a new home and has many Have students retell the legend of adventures reminiscent of Odysseus. At last, Aeneas reaches Italy and the gods Romulus and Remus by making a film- reveal the glorious future of Rome to him. Aeneas marries the daughter of the strip (or cartoon strip) of the events in king of Latium (an ancient region of central Italy), and their son founds Alba the story. Give each student a strip of Longa, which would be the forerunner of Rome. white paper, 4 inches high by 14 inches long. Have students divide the This epic story of Aeneas, in turn, provides the setting for the legend of strip into 2-inch boxes; they will need Romulus and Remus. According to the legend, Romulus and Remus were twins to draw six lines. In each box they descended from Aeneas. Their grandfather, Numitor, was one of the kings of Alba should draw a scene from the story Longa, and their father was the war god Mars. (It was not uncommon for the and use speech bubbles like those in Greek and Roman gods to have romantic relationships with mortal women.) The comic strips to add words to the twins’ grandfather, Numitor, was driven from power by his brother, Amulius, just story. before the twins were born. When the children were born, the wicked Amulius had them put them in a reed basket and set adrift on the Tiber River. Amulius thought the boys would drown. He did not want them to live, lest they should grow up and challenge his rule. But the twins were lucky. The basket did not sink; instead, it lodged on the riverbank, where the boys were discovered by a mother wolf. The mother wolf sensed that the babies were hungry and nursed the human babies along with her own cubs. They survived and were raised by a herdsman. When they grew up, Romulus and Remus took revenge on Amulius and restored their grandfather Numitor as king. According to the legend, the twins then founded Rome at the spot along the Tiber where they had been rescued. The year of Rome’s founding is traditionally set at 753 BCE. The two brothers argued and Romulus killed Remus. Romulus History and Geography: World 125 CK_3_TH_HG_P091_145.QXD 4/11/05 10:56 AM Page 126 II. Ancient Rome became the first king of Rome and ruled for many years until he mysteriously dis- appeared in a storm. After his death, Romans believed that Romulus’s father, the god Mars, took him up to the heavens in his chariot. Later Romans worshipped Romulus as the god Quirinus. Some Roman coins of later years showed Romulus and Remus being suckled by the she-wolf. This image became an important Roman symbol. 39 Latin as the Language of the Romans The area in which Rome was established was known as Latium. The people spoke a language known as Latin. As the Roman Empire expanded through Italy and beyond, the Latin language spread as well. It spread through the Roman legions (as the Roman army units were called) and through Roman governors and Teaching Idea officials. While Greek was the lingua franca, or common language, of the Eastern Roman Empire, Latin became the dominant language of the Roman Empire. Use the Core Knowledge Sequence to find some Latin phrases commonly used Latin itself developed over the years, and eventually it helped create several in English speech. (Students will study new languages. As soldiers came in contact with inhabitants in other areas, such Latin phrases in Grade 7.) You can also as France (Gaul) and Spain (Iberia), new languages developed. They were based find Latin phrases on paper money, on a mix of native languages and Latin. These languages are known as the state seals, and similar places. Make a Romance languages and include Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and short list of the Latin phrases, and ask Romanian. The word Romance comes from the word Roman. Although English is students if they know the definition or not a Romance language (it’s a Germanic language), a great many English words the context in which the phrase is are based on Latin. Many of them came into English through Old French, which used. Challenge students to use these is a Romance language. The Normans who invaded and conquered England in 1066 phrases as they have conversations CE spoke French, and many of the words in their vocabulary eventually entered with each other. For example, you English. Other English words were borrowed from Latin later on. might encourage a student to seize the Many important literary works were written in Latin. Virgil wrote his poetry day or enjoy the present by saying, in Latin. Other Latin classics include the mythological stories collected in Ovid’s “carpe diem!” Metamorphoses, the prose of Julius Caesar, the histories of Tacitus and Livy, the satires of Horace, and the letters of Cicero. Later on, Latin became the language of the Christian church: it was the language used by church fathers like St. Augustine and St. Jerome. Latin continued to be important even after it ceased to be spoken as the everyday language. In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, many religious and scholarly works were written in Latin because it was assumed that educated people in many countries would be able to read Latin, whatever their native language might be. Roman Deities Originally, the Romans were farmers who worshipped spiritual forces associated with family and agriculture. While there were national deities, the Lares and Penates were specific spirits associated with each family. The Lares were thought to protect the home and the good fortune of a family, whereas the Penates were believed to protect its storeroom. Vesta, the spirit of hearth and home, was con- sidered the guardian of the Roman people’s family. The Romans also adopted and adapted the deities of the Greeks. The Greek god Zeus, the chief of the Greek deities, became the Roman god Jupiter, chief of the Roman deities. Hera, the wife of Zeus, became Juno, the wife of Jupiter. Aphrodite metamorphosed into Venus, and Hermes, the Greek messenger, into 126 Grade 3 Handbook CK_3_TH_HG_P091_145.QXD 4/11/05 10:56 AM Page 127 Mercury, the Roman messenger. Like the Greek deities, the Roman deities had human forms and characteristics and played certain roles in legends. Teaching Idea Here is a list of some other Roman gods, with the Greek equivalents in Students in Core Knowledge schools parentheses. should have studied Greek gods and goddesses in Grade 2. You may wish to review what they learned and build Apollo (Apollo) Diana (Artemis) on that foundation. A good way to Neptune (Poseidon) Minerva (Athena) learn about the gods and their char- Cupid (Eros) Vulcan (Hephaestus) acter traits is by reading aloud from Mars (Ares) Pluto (Hades) books of Greek and Roman mythology. Bacchus (Dionysius) The Founding of the Republic Teaching Idea Talk with students about the United States government. How is our repub- The Senate, Patricians, and Plebeians lic similar to or different from the For many years, Rome was ruled by Etruscan kings, but in 509 BCE, the peo- Roman Republic? How is our Senate ple rose up against a particularly cruel king named Tarquin and drove him out. In similar to and also different from the that same year, the Romans set up a republican government, a government in Roman Senate? which there was no king; rather, the people chose their own rulers to serve for fixed periods of time. At the time, this was a new type of government. It would later be imitated by many other countries, including the United States. In these earlier years, Roman society was divided into two classes, patricians and plebeians. The former were rich property owners; the latter, who were the majority of Romans, were farmers, craftworkers, merchants, and traders.

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