Connections in the Roman

Empire
 Paris Sydney
Alexandria Nairobi
Athens Moscow

• What differences are there between these two sets of countries?

• Which ones would you like to visit? Why?
• What would you see if you visit Paris? What would you see if you visit
Sydney?
• An empire is a group of peoples or provinces ruled by the strongest one of
them
• Not all the people of an empire have the same language,religion,or
physical appearance
• They don’t earn their living in the same ways but they do have the same
ruler

• The Life of an empire:an empire usually begins when a number of regions

unite under one ruler,either willingly or by force
• During the height of an empire,culture and economy usually flourish

• The empire’s decline:political and economic problems often lead to the

weakening and downfall of empires
• Regions that are of the empire may rebel against the power that controls
them
• Region after region breaks free of the control of the nation that ruled them
• While empires can decline,the cultures within them often continue to
develop long after the empires have ended
-What are the modern day countries that were part of the Roman empire ?
-For how long did the Roman empire exist?
-what was the type of government of the Roman empire?
• Answers:
• 46 countries in 3 different continents made up the Roman empire: most of Europe (England,
Wales, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium,
Gibraltar,Moldova, Ukraine), coastal northern Africa (Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco,Egypt),
the countries in the Balkan Peninsula: Croatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia,
Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bulgaria,Romania, Albania, Greece, and the European part of
Turkey.

• The Roman Empire started in 27B.C. and the Eastern Roman Empire(Byzantine empire) ended in
A.D.1453

• The Roman government took on my different forms. Rome and the Roman Empire was ruled by
an Emperor. Then, by two consuls who were elected by the citizens of Rome. Rome was then
known as a Republic.
Travel within the Empire
• For the Romans, the distance from Rome to Paris seemed greater
than it seems to us. Why do you think? Explain
• People in the Roman empire knew a little about the world away from
home.Why?
• Peasants and lower class members rarely travelled beyond their
villages.Why do you think?
• For those who travelled,what do you think were their mode of
transportation? List few?
• How was the pace of travel?
• Routes to the East whether by land or sea were long ,difficult and
dangerous
• Sailors depended on winds to reach their desired ports
• Sailors have no navigational charts or compasses
• Most travelers died from starvation,dehydration,malnutrition…
• Because of all these dangers ,very few people travelled beyond the
boundaries of the empire
• Today,all kinds of people travel all around the world.how do people
travel nowadays?
Communication then and now
• At the time of the Roman empire, messages could be sent only one
way . How was that ?
• People asked travelers to deliver letters to faraway places
• Messengers on foot can only cover 25 miles a day
• The official Roman postal service ,who uses horses or horse –drawn
carriages covered an average of 100 miles a day
• A letter that was sent from a general in Rome can take up to 30 days
to reach Britain
• How has communication changed since 1500 A.D.? Explain
• Think about this question with your talk partner then share your
discussion with the whole class.
 Lines of Latitude

• Lines of Latitude are east-west circles around the globe

• They are called parallels
• They show us the climate (cold ,moderate and hot)
• They don’t meet and not equal
• In the middle ,there is the equator (0 degrees)
Lines of Longitude
• Theses lines are called meridians
• They show us the time
• They all meet at one point
• They are equal half circles
• They circle the globe from north pole to south
Pole
• The prime meridian which runs through
Greenwich ,England is 0 degrees longitude.
(Activity find location)