St Aiden’s Homeschool Julius Caesar

And

Early Rome

A Complete Unit Study & Activities For young Learners

Presented by Donnette E Davis

Caesar & Early Roman – Unit Study for Early Learnerswww.staidenshomeschool.com

2009

What Was It Like Being Part of a Roman Family?

Life in Roman times for women was quite hard. The father was the mostimportant member of 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 thefather picked the baby up it would live, and if he ignored the baby it would betaken away to die. Mothers and children were never seen as important.From the 1st century B.C. women began to have more rights and could divorceunkind husbands. But they were never seen as really being equal to men.

Did the Romans Go to School?

Most children did not go to school. Parents had to pay for their children to goand they would only teach boys!Schools were also quite scarce, and were always built in towns. Girls and poorer children might be taught to read and write at home but this was rare. Thesechildren would more likely have to help their parents at work from an early age.Some wealthy Roman parents would employ an educated slave called a

pedagogue

to teach their sons. The pedagogue would also take the boy toschool and carried a stick to beat him with if he was naughty or did not work hard.

What did Roman Children Use to Write With?

For short messages and at school they would write on wax tablets using apointed metal stylus . If you made a mistake you smoothed the wax flat with theopposite end of the stylus.For important letters the Romans used a metal pen dipped in ink to write on thinpieces of wood or specially prepared animal skins. Books did not have pages,they were written on scrolls made from pieces of animal skin glued together andthen rolled up.We know that Roman women would also write because some of their lettershave survived. One was found at Vindolanda, a fort near Hadrian's Wall. It is abirthday party invitation from Claudia Severa to her friend Sulpicia Lepidina andwas written at the end of the 1st century A.D.

Caesar & Early Roman – Unit Study for Early Learnerswww.staidenshomeschool.com

2009

Families and Children

What were Roman homes like?

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What sorts of food did the Romans eat?

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What were their table manners like?We have a Roman cookery book written by a man called Apicius. Some of therecipes sound quite modern such as sausages. Others sound rather odd. Wouldyou like to eat calves' brains with roses?

Find out what Romans ate for food and how they ate it. Then make upyour own menu for a Roman birthday party.

Many Roman families included slaves who could be bought or sold like animalsor objects. They were never paid for their work. However some slaves could betreated well by their owners and were even freed. A few slave girls evenbecame the wealthy wives of people who had bought them.

Find out about the lives of slaves in Roman times. Who do you think would end up as a slave?

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Many slaves had committed serious crimes and Roman judges madethem slaves instead of sending them to prison. Was this a good idea?

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Perhaps the Roman Empire could not have existed without the work ofslaves?Discuss the answers to these questions with the rest of your class. Do you allagree with each other?

What do you think it would be like if your library was filled with scrollsinstead of books? Here is how you can make a scroll:

You will need: A roll of sticky tapeA sheet of paper Two wooden spoons1. You will need to stick one side of the sheet of paper to the handle of awooden spoon. Do this using the sticky tape. You must then do the same withthe opposite end of the paper as well.