Year 7 HASS

Ancient
Rome
 Perspective Letter Research Handbook
Name:

Your Assignment
You are to write a letter from the perspective (point of view) of an Ancient Roman class we
have covered in the topic (slave, plebian, patrician or emperor/leader). You will use
information about their lives we have learned in the topic and conduct your own research to
improve your letter.

• Format: Letter
• Word Count: 300-500 words
• Final Copy Due: 7th June (Friday Week 6)

Complete your assignment using the following steps:

1. Use the handbook given to make some notes about the different areas of your
chosen Ancient Roman class.

2. Use your notes to write a letter from the perspective of an Ancient Roman class, to
someone who knows NOTHING about Ancient Rome and its social structure.

3. Include a bibliography of the sources you have used.

4. Proofread your work, and then have a friend check it.

Checklist of Steps
Complete this checklist before you submit your assignment, to make sure that your letter has
everything that it needs.

• Describe the life of an Ancient Roman class, including the different aspects in your handbook.
Include at least three different aspects.

• Use first person “I” words.

• Talk about what your class did in Ancient Rome. What were their roles/responsibilities?
• Use correct letter structure.

• Talk about good and bad things in their life.

• Use the key terms from the glossary given.

• Include a bibliography.

Word Glossary
Try to use as many of these words as you can in your final assignment to get a better grade.

Word Meaning
Colosseum The famous building in Ancient Rome used to entertain all classes with
gladiator fights and even naval battles.
Pantheon A religious temple where Romans would visit to worship one of the many
gods.
Diet A diet is what you eat. In Ancient Rome, you would eat different food
depending on who you were (plebians ate different food to patricians
etc.).
Slaves Slaves were the lowest class in Ancient Rome, often coming from lands
conquered by Roman armies. They would often be seen performing hard
labour jobs but had other jobs such as doctors. Research slaves in Ancient
Rome to find out more.
Plebians Plebians were the poorer half of the Roman middle class. They lived
relatively normal lives and carried out most of the normal jobs held by
Ancient Romans such as bakers, butchers and builders.
Patricians Patricians were the richer half of the Roman middle class. They lived
more luxurious lives than the plebians and had jobs such as working in
the government.
Army An army is a military force that is created to defend the lands of a
country/empire and invade other states. Ancient Rome had a large army
with tens of thousands of men.
Housing Where people lived day-to-day. Each class lived in different types of
housing (insulas for plebians, domus for patricians, palace for emperor).
The Twelve Tables A set of twelve laws created after the plebians got sick of being treated
poorly by those in classes above them. These rules made sure that
plebians always had a say.
Consul The highest authority in Ancient Rome before Caesar took over. Usually
two consuls would rule at once so one person didn’t have too much
power.
Marketplace Where people of Rome would come together to buy and sell their
materials and other things (food, pottery, clothing etc.).
Julian Calendar A new type of calendar put in place by Julius Caesar with 12 months and
365 days of the year.
Circus Maximus A large area for entertainment where chariot races would often be held
for over 150,000 spectators.
 Pompeii A large port city at the base of Mt. Vesuvius. This volcano erupted in
79CE, destroying the city.
Social structure The way the social classes in Ancient Rome were organised (slaves at the
bottom, plebians and patricians being the middle class and
emperors/leaders at the top).
Citizenship The idea that you belong to a certain place, are given rights for being a
citizen of that place and having to accept the rules of that place if you
don’t want to get punished.
Romulus The first King of Ancient Rome, who was apparently taken care of by a
she-wolf, making him incredibly strong.
Agriculture Agriculture is the process of farming crops in order to produce food. It
was the most common job for plebians in Ancient Rome.
Soldier A soldier was someone who fought in the armies of Ancient Rome, doing
what the commanders told them to do.
Slave People who worked for nobles and other rich people.

Research
Use the next few pages to record your research. You will include this research in your letter.

Pick 3-5 of the following areas to focus on for your letter.

• Housing • Military
• Work life • Everyday living
• Entertainment • Religion
• Issues for your class • Food

Now, write some notes on the topics you have chosen. You should aim to have enough information
to write a paragraph on each of your chosen topics.

Topic 1:

What was it like in Ancient Rome?

3x Interesting Facts

Topic 2:
What was it like in Ancient Rome?

3x Interesting Facts

Topic 3:

What was it like in Ancient Rome?

3x Interesting Facts

Topic 4:

What was it like in Ancient Rome?

3x Interesting Facts

•
Topic 5:

What was it like in Ancient Rome?

3x Interesting Facts

•
 Name of Person In a formal letter, you
Street Address always need to put the
Suburb address at the top of the
State & Postcode page on the right side.

You should always address a person

Dear Mr / Mrs ___________________, by Mr or Mrs in a formal letter.

First Paragraph: My name is...I am writing to you because… In this paragraph,

introduce yourself and give
________________________________________________________________ a summary of what you are
going to talk about in your
________________________________________________________________ letter.

Middle Paragraphs
Use the research you have record in your handbook to write one paragraph
for each of your chosen topics. Your paragraphs should tell them a bit about Use your research to write
your way of life, and may also compare your life with the lives of people middle paragraphs with
from other social classes living in Ancient Rome. You should also talk about information. Some tips are:
the roles and responsibilities of your chosen class (what they contribute to
society). In this case, we are talking from the perspective of a plebeian in
Ancient Rome. Talk about how your life is
different to the lives of others
Example paragraph (e.g. plebeian compared to
As a plebian living in Ancient Rome, it is my responsibility to make sure that patrician).
there is enough food for everyone to eat. I would hate for other citizens in
Give interesting information
Ancient Rome to go hungry! I don’t get paid much for my crops of barley; I
or facts about each topic.
even struggle to feed my family sometimes. What does your family eat? We
mostly eat fruit, vegetables and bread because we mainly eat what we grow
ourselves. About once a month, we might be lucky enough to have a roast
chicken or rabbit. Higher classes such as patricians can afford to eat these
fancier foods more often than us, because they have more money to spend
from doing jobs such as government work or commanding armies.

End Paragraph: Thank you for taking the time to read my letter. I hope to
Finish off with a small
receive one from you soon so that I can learn more about your own
paragraph thanking them for
culture.
reading your letter, and about
how you are looking forward
to receiving theirs.

Kind Regards / Yours Sincerely,

Sign off with a polite
farewell (Kind
First Name & Surname Regards/Yours Sincerely or
similar) and your full name.
Grading

See Daymap for a copy of your rubric – you will be graded toward these areas!