Part 1 Getting to know Rome

Week 1 Style of government

The Roman Empire was not a fixed empire. It changed in size and in
style of government throughout its history. The first section of this
homework looks at how its style of government changed.

Recap from your first lessons - write down definitions of

the following words: (Use a dictionary if you are stuck!)
1) Monarchy - _____________________________________________
2) Republic - ______________________________________________
3) Oligarchy - ______________________________________________
4) Empire - _______________________________________________
5) Emperor - ______________________________________________
6) Autocracy - _____________________________________________

Timeline:
Rome is founded
and develops into
a monarchy.

750B.C.

A man called Augustus

turns Rome into an
autocracy and becomes
Emperor of the Roman
Empire
31B.C.

509B.C
.
Rome becomes an
oligarchical
Republic, ruled
by men in the
Senate.
When Rome was a Republic, most decisions were made by men in
the Senate. When Augustus came to power, he pretended to keep
things the same and simply became a sort of leader of the Senate.
However, as time went on, the Senate became less powerful and
the Emperor became more autocratic (more powerful).

HINT Remember that 43 A.D. is later than 31 B.C. But 43

B.C. is earlier than 31 B.C. Ask for help on the MLE if you
get confused!
TASK:
Use the internet to find out the dates of each event in the left
hand column. Write this in the middle column
Use the timeline on the previous page to decide whether the
event happened when Rome was an Oligarchical Republic or
an Autocratic Empire. Write this in the right hand column
Event

Date

Was Rome a Republic

or an Empire?

Julius Caesar
was
assassinated
The Roman
army under the
Emperor
Claudius
invaded Britain
The First Punic
Wars with
Carthage
Both Gracchi
brothers were
killed
Hadrians Wall
was built
The city of
Rome caught
fire under Nero

Extension: The following quote comes from a book written by the

Roman historian, Tacitus. See if you can work out whether he was
talking about Rome when it was an oligarchical Republic or an
Autocratic Empire
Political equality was a thing of the past; all eyes watched for
imperial command
Explain your answer here:
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________
_________________________________

Week 2 What did Rome look like?

Look at the map of Rome below.:

1) Why do you think the city of Rome was founded by a river?

___________
_____________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Use the internet to find the answers to the following
questions about the city of Rome under the Emperors:
2) Who lived on the Palatine Hill? ___________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
3) Who lived on the Capitoline Hill? _________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
4) Who lived on the Esquiline Hill? __________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
5) What was the cloaca maxima?
__________________________________

_______________________________________________________________
6) What is an aqueduct? __________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
7) What was the coliseum? ________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
8) What was the circus maximus?
__________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
9) What was the forum? _________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
10)

What was the basilica?

________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
11)
What was the senate house?
____________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Extension: Why was the city of Rome susceptible to fires?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________.

Week 3 What was Roman society like?

Roman society was structured into classes. The wealthiest
people were the Senators who had the biggest role in
government and in commanding the army. Next came the
equestrians (knights) who were wealthy enough to own a
horse and often were involved in making money from
trading. Beneath them were the rest of the citizens,
including the proletarii who were so poor that they owned
no property at all. Even lower than them were the noncitizens or slaves, who made up 40% of the population of
the city of Rome.
Task: Read the information above and using it,
draw a pyramid on the next page with 4 layers to
show the structure of Roman society. Make sure
you label each layer and annotate it with pictures

to show that you understand some details about

each class.