Did the Roman’s do more harm than good?

Know: the consequences of Roman rule Be able to: examine a series of objects in order to reach your own hypothesis as to whether the Romans did more harm than good Understand: the need to examine a range of evidence in order to reach an hypothesis What are we doing today?

Listen to the clip taken from a 20 th century comedy programme. Think: What do you think the Romans gave us? How useful is this as an historical source? Watch & Wonder

Working with your partner, you need to decide which objects the Romans gave us and then select what you think are the three most important! Remember: you must always justify your decision! Paired Priority Pickings!

Source A -The Roman baths at Bath (England). – Source B –A description of the governor of Britain, Agricola. He had just defeated the British in a rebellion. This is written by the Roman Historian, Tactics “ He tried to get them to live in peace. He gave them help to build temples, public squares and good houses…As a result Britons were eager to speak Latin and everywhere you could see the Toga being worn”. Source C - Before the Romans arrived, nobody in Britain knew how to read or write. Stories and knowledge could only be passed on by word of mouth. From Roman times onwards people in Britain would always write things down. The Romans also helped the English language. Many words in English and Welsh have been borrowed from the Latin language. Some examples are: From BBC website: What did the Romans do for us? Source D-The Roman army invaded Britain in A.D. 47. When they arrived here they had to use the tracks that were already in place. These were difficult for the troops to use and slowed them down greatly. So the Romans built a network of roads that linked major centres and would allow them to move quickly and easily between them. Written by a teacher for

Source D: “What chiefly made Trinovantes angry was how the Roman veterans had behaved when they founded the colony at Colchester. They treated the Britons cruelly and drove them from their homes and called them slaves” (Contrast and connections textbook, 1991) – Source E “The Druids were Priests in Britain and were respected leaders of the tribes. They understood the cycles of the seasons and made calendars showing which months were good for certain activities… The Romans were to determined to wipe them out and they chased them all the way off Anglesey, off the Welsh coast”. (Modern day textbook) Source F: Roman rule probably made little difference to most poor Celts, especially in the north and extreme southwest of England. For them life went on much as it had before. Their houses remained simple huts. ( Source G: Suetonius’ army was about 10,000 men strong…A huge number of Britons came to the battle field..then the Romans rushed forward in a wedge. The cavalry charged the enemy. The Britons fled, but got tangled up in their wagons at the rear. A dreadful slaughter followed. Neither men or women were spared. Some writers say about 80,00 Britons were killed. The Romans lost 4000 men… (Roman Historian, Tactics)

EvidenceExplanation

Reflection: did the Roman’s do more harm than good? 1.From your investigative work, did the Roman’s do more harm than good?Challenge: 2. What evidence was the most useful in helping you reach your hypothesis? 3. What evidence would you liked to have examined to inform your decision? Did the Roman’s do more harm than good?

In preparation for next lesson – Option A: for each letter of the alphabet think of a useful connective that could be used in a written/oral answer Option B: for each letter of the alphabet think of a sentence starter that could be used in a written or oral response Here comes the homework!