HISTORY

Origin of Rome
founded by Romulus
and Remus, twin
sons of Mars, the god
of war, on 21 April
753

Romulus became the

first king of Rome,
which is named for
him

Left to drown in a
basket on the Tiber
(she-wolf)

Romes era as a
monarchy ended in
509 B.C

seventh king, Lucius

Tarquinius Superbus
(portrayed as cruel
and tyrannical)

Rome turned from a

monarchy into a
republic
(res publica, or
property of the
people.)

THE EARLY
REPUBLIC
The power of the
monarch passed to two
annually elected
magistrates called
consuls; they also
served as commanders
in chief of the army.

issues of legal
procedure, civil rights
and property rights and
provided the basis for
all future Roman civil
law.

In 450 B.C., the first

Roman law code was
inscribed on 12 bronze
tabletsknown as the
Twelve Tablesand
publicly displayed in the
Roman Forum

300 B.C., real political

power in Rome was
centered in the Senate

After Caesar followed the many emperors of Rome - and there were truly very many of them.
So, here are some of the most famous ones.

Augustus
Claudius
Nero
Titus
Trajan
Hadrian
Diocletian
Constantine
Romulus Augustus
Justinian
Constantine XI

Rome's first emperor. He also added many territories to

the empire.
He conquered Britain.
He was insane. He murdered his mother and his wife and
threw thousands of Christians to the lions.
Before he was emperor he destroyed the great Jewish
temple of Solomon in Jerusalem.
He was a great conqueror. Under his rule the empire
reached its greatest extent.
He built 'Hadrian's Wall' in the north of Britain to shield
the province from the northern barbarians.
He split the empire into two pieces - a western and an
eastern empire.
He was the first Christian emperor. He united the empire
again chose his capital to be the small town Byzantium,
which he renamed Constantinople.
He was the last emperor of Rome, nicknamed Augustulus
which means 'little Augustus'.
He was the last 'great' emperor. He conquered many
territories, created the 'Justinian Code' and built the
fantastic church Santa Sophia.
The last emperor of Constantinople. He died defending his
great city against the Turks.

Four

classes of
people

The lowest class were the

slaves. They were owned by
other people. They had no
rights at all

The next class were

theplebeians. They were
free people. But they had
little say at all.

The second highest class

were
theequestrians('knights'
). the 'riders', as they were
given a horse to ride if they
were called to fight for
Rome. had to be rich.

The highest class were

the nobles of Rome. They
were called 'patricians'. All
the real power in Rome lay
with them

Rome's most famous citizen was no

doubt Julius Caesar. He was a Roman
politician and general who, without
having any orders to do so,
conquered the vast territory of the
Gauls to the north of his province in
In the year 49 BC Caesar crossed the
France.
small river between his province and
Italy, called the river Rubicon, and
conquered Rome itself which he then
ruled as a dictator.
His military campaigns also took him
to Egypt where he met the famous
Cleopatra.
His life though was ended as he was
infamously murdered in the senate in
Rome.
So famous and respected was Caesar
that a month of the year is still
named after him and his heirs today,
July (after Julius Caesar). Also the
great English poet Shakespeare wrote

The Roman Republic was a

very successful
government. It lasted from
510 BC until 23 BC - almost
500 years

The greatest challenge the

Roman Republic faced was
that of the
Carthaginians(Hannibal,
the great
Carthaginian general

The Roman empire in the end was overrun by

millions of barbarians from the north and east of
Europe. It is believed to have happened two or
three times in history that huge migrations took
place across Europe, where peoples moved to
settle in new territories. The great migration
proved too much for the Romans to stem. Their
armies were designed to defeat other armies, not
entire folks and peoples flooding toward them. The
collapse was completed when Rome itself was
conquered by the Visigoth Odoacer and his men in
the year AD 476.

EDUCATION
In the early days, when
Rome was a kingdom,
kidsdid notgo to school
Education took place in
the home and was done
by the family.
All this teaching was
done by other males in
the household.
Girls were taught by the
females in the
household.

Teachers taught more than just

reading and writing. They also
taught math and Greek
literature. But the main subject
was Oration or public speaking.
School started before sunrise
with students working using
candles or oil lamps. They took a
break for lunch and siesta, then
worked again until late afternoon
The goal of education in
ancient Rome was to be an
effective speaker.

EDUCATION
At age 12 or 13, the boys of the
upper classes attended
"grammar" school, where they
studied Latin, Greek, grammar,
and literature.

School: Children, educated

outside of the home, were sent
to the house of a tutor, who
would group-tutor.

At age 16, some boys went on to

study public speaking at the
rhetoric school, to prepare for a
life as an orator.

Tutors:Wealthy parents might

hire a private tutor. Intelligent
and gifted slaves also taught
children, educated in the home.

Parents:Children, in poorer
homes, did not have slaves to
teach them; their parents taught
them, as they did in early Roman
days.

ABACUS