ROMANS

1. ROMANS

2. Who were the Romans The Romans were people from a city called Rome. Rome was the greatest city of its time and at one time, it had nearly one million people living there. The Romans were very clever and very good at organising things. How did Rome get its name? 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. The Romans had a story to explain how Rome began. Twin boys, Romulus and Remus, were the sons of Mars (the Roman god of war). An evil uncle took them as babies from their mother and threw them into the River Tiber to drown. The babies floated to land, and a mother wolf fed and cared for them. Later a herdsman looked after the twins until they grew up. Years later, Mars told his twin sons to build a city where they had been found. The city was Rome. One day, Remus made fun of the wall Romulus had built around the city. The twins argued, fought, and Romulus killed Remus. Today, historians and archaeologists agree that people were living in Rome long before 753 BC, but the legend is one of the most famous in world history.

3. Families and houses What was life like for a Roman family? Life for women in Roman times was often hard. The mother was less important than the father in the family. He had the power of life or death over everyone. When a new baby was born it would be laid at its father's feet - if the father picked the baby up it would live, but if he ignored the baby it would be taken away to die. Women were expected to run the home, cook meals, and raise children. If they were wealthy, women were lucky; they had slaves to do the work. Many girls were married at the age of 14. Marriages were often arranged between families. A man could divorce his wife if she did not give birth to a son. Many women died young (in their 30s), because childbirth could be dangerous, and diseases were common.

4. Did Romans go to school? Most children in Roman times did not go to school. Only quite rich families could afford to pay a teacher. Most schools were in towns. Not many girls went to school, but some were taught at home by tutors, who were often educated slaves. Boys from rich families learned history, maths, and literature at school, to prepare them for jobs in the army or government. In poor families, girls and boys had to work, helping their parents. What did Romans write with? For short messages and at school, the Romans wrote on soft wax tablets using a pointed metal stylus. To use the tablet again, or rub out a mistake they smoothed the wax over with the blunt end of the stylus. For important letters the Romans used a metal pen dipped in ink. They wrote on thin pieces of wood or on specially prepared animal skins. Books did not have pages, they were written on scrolls made from pieces of animal skin glued together and then rolled up. We know that Roman women wrote letters, because some of their letters have survived. One was found at Vindolanda, a fort near Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland. It is a birthday party invitation from Claudia Severa to her friend SulpiciaLepidina and was written about AD 100.

5. THE ROMAN ARMY Who was in the Roman army? Only men could be in the Roman Army. No women. Every Roman soldier was a Roman citizen. He had to be at least 20 years old. He was not supposed to get married while he was a soldier. Most soldiers in the Roman Empire came from countries outside Italy including soldiers from Africa, France, Germany, the Balkans, Spain and the Middle East. Soldiers had to stay in the army for at least 25 years! Then they could retire, with a pension or a gift of land to farm. Old soldiers often settled down to old age together, in a military town or colonia. Roman soldiers kept fit by running, marching and practice-fighting. They could march 20 miles (30 km) a day wearing armour. They could swim or cross rivers in boats, build bridges, and smash their way into forts. Each man carried his weapons and shield, some food and camping equipment (such as spare clothes, cooking pot and an axe or spade).

6. What was a legion? There were about 30 legions in the Roman army. Each legion had between 4,000 and 6,000 soldiers, called legionaries. Each legion had ten cohorts. Each cohort was made up of six troops of about 80 legionaries, called centuries. Each century was led by a centurion. A centurion carried a short rod, to show his importance. He could also use his stick to beat any soldier who disobeyed an order. The officer commanding the whole legion was called a legate. Roman soldiers almost always obeyed orders. They usually fought in lines, marching forward with their shields facing the enemy. If they were being fired at from above (with arrows or rocks), the men would lift their shields over their heads for protection. They looked like a tortoise, so they called this formation the testudo (Latin for tortoise).

7. LEISURE Did the Romans have free time? Most people in Roman times did not have much spare time as they were too busy working. However, they did like games. Soldiers often played board games with counters and dice. Counters and boards for their games have been found. Archaeologists aren't always sure of the rules! Hunting was also popular. People hunted animals for fun as well as for food. The Romans introduced fallow deer to Britain, just for hunting. Some things the Romans did for fun were horrible. They enjoyed fights between gladiators, and fights between people and animals. These bloodthirsty shows were put on in front of crowds in large arenas called amphitheatres. Roman emperors paid for free shows at theatres and amphitheatres. It was a good way to make themselves popular.

8. Why didn't the Romans need many machines? The Romans were good at building roads and bridges, but not so keen on machines. They had slaves to do nasty jobs and heavy work. The Roman crane, for example, didn't have an engine. It was powered by slaves or animals. The Romans invented war machines, like catapults, worked by twisted ropes and springs, and a reaping machine, for cutting corn. But the Romans never needed machines to take the place of slaves. How did Romans heat their homes? Rich Romans liked to be warm and cosy. They had central heating at home, in villas and in public baths. The heating system was kept going by slaves, who kept a fire blazing in a furnace to heat warm air. The warm air moved around the building through spaces under the floors and between the walls. The underfloor space was made by raising the floor on top of piles of tile or stone. The Roman heating system was called a hypocaust. TECHNOLOGY

9. ROADS AND PLACES How did people travel in Roman Britain? In Roman times people travelled on land on horseback, in carts pulled by oxen, or walking. Before the Romans, Britain had no proper roads. The Roman soldiers built good roads. All the roads they built were remarkably straight. The Romans knew that the shortest distance from one place to another is a straight line, but their roads did zigzag sometimes, to make going uphill easier. The Romans built their roads on foundations of clay, chalk and gravel. They laid bigger flat stones on top. The road sloped from the middle to ditches either side, so rain water drained off.

10. INVASION What was Britain like before the Romans? Before the Romans invaded, Celts lived in Britain. There were lots of different tribes ruled by kings or chiefs. Chiefs often fought one another. A chief would lead his warriors into battle in chariots pulled by horses. For defence against enemies, they built forts on hilltops. These hill-forts had earth banks and wooden walls. In Celtic Britain there were no towns. Most people were farmers living in villages. They made round houses from wood and mud, with Thatched roofs. There were no roads. People travelled by boats on rivers, or along muddy paths. Some British Celts crossed the sea to trade with other Celts in the Roman Empire

11. FOOD Libum Stuffed dormouse Libum is a Roman cheesecake, it was a sweet treat made from, Riccotta cheese, honey, flour, egg and a bay leaf for extra flavouring. As a snack Romans used to enjoy was stuffed dormice (yuck). They stuffed them with sausage meat. Some Romans liked to eat snails fattened on milk, peacocks' brains and flamingos' tongues. Roman flour contained a lot of dust and bits. This made bread so coarse that it wore down people's teeth Romans liked fun foods, such as a roast hare with bird's wings stuck on, to look like a flying horse! At dinner, slaves gave guests small hot bread rolls to wipe their plates clean

12. Juno was the wife of Jupiter and queen of the gods. She was the goddess of women and marriage. Her bird was the peacock. Bacchus was the god of wine. He was accompanied by Maenads, or wild dancing women GODS Diana was the goddess of the moon. Her twin brother Apollo was the god of the sun.

13. ROMAN NUMERALS • Roman numerals are the way Romans used to count. • A letter repeats its value that many times (XXX = 30, CC = 200, etc.). A letter can only be repeated three times. • You put the letters together to make numbers • Next time you look at a clock with Roman numerals, look closely. Try and work out the numbers that are there. Will you remember? • Roman Numerals originate from Ancient Rome; it was the number system that the Romans created. If you refer to the List of Roman Numerals, it is evident that only seven letters are used; I, V, X, L, C, D, M. Roman Numerals were not, and still are not, used only for counting.

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