Ms. Soles Social Studies: Europe & Russia Lesson 44

Ancient Rome Awaits! Let’s go! Google Earth

Topics to Cover Today: “The Glory of Rome” Roman Roads Aqueducts Roman Structures Roman law

There are famous sayings: ”All roads lead to Rome”, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. They each refer to the impressive Roman Empire. Let’s look at some of the reasons those expressions came to be!

The Romans used great public projects to make the city the most advanced of the ancient world, and to create the largest empire of the era. Many of the roads, bridges, and aqueducts of ancient Rome are still used today.

The Romans built many roads throughout their empire. The roads made it easier to travel, move troops, and trade with faraway provinces. It also made it easier to collect taxes. Roman roads followed an exact design. The expression, “All Roads Lead To Rome” refers to the fact that Rome was the center of ancient civilization.

A Roman Street in Pompeii

Take a closer look at the Roman Roads: px?SearchText=Ancient+Rome

The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km of roads, including over 80,500 km of paved roads.Roman RepublicRoman Empirearmiestrade

Layers of Construction

Roman engineers brought water into the city by building pipelines called aqueducts. Nine aqueducts provided the Roman people with 38 million gallons of water every day. Parts of the Roman aqueduct system still supply water to fountains in Rome.

Aqueduct of Segovia

The combined length of the aqueducts in the city of Rome is estimated between 490 and a little over 500 miles. However, only 29 miles (47 km) were above ground, as most Roman aqueducts ran beneath the surface of the ground. Building underground helped to keep the water free from disease and helped protect the aqueducts from enemy attack. miles

Many aqueducts were built to supply water to industrial sites, such as gold mines, where the water was used to prospect for ore by hydraulic mining, and then crush and wash the ore to extract the gold.gold mines hydraulic mining

The Romans built many huge stadiums called amphitheaters. People would gather in amphitheaters to watch shows with clowns, jugglers, and acrobats. Some of Roman entertainment was very cruel. People would watch fights between wild animals and gladiators.

“ Pollice Verso” Painting by Jean-LeonGerome

The Plovdiv Roman Stadium is among the largest Roman structures in the Balkans. The massive edifice is 180 long and had a capacity of over 30,000.Roman Balkans

Gladiators were usually slaves or criminals who fought with swords against animals or one another. A skillful gladiator might win his freedom by defeating an opponent. More often, the gladiators lost their lives.

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The Coliseum

The greatest Roman amphitheater, the Colosseum, still dominates the Roman skyline. Only a portion of the Colosseum remains standing. Earthquakes have destroyed some of the structure. Also, engineers used some of the stone from the Colosseum to build later Roman buildings.

Some of the stone used to build St. Peter’s Basilica, the church in the Vatican where the Pope lives, actually came from the Colosseum.

Exterior of Coliseum Cross-Section of Coliseum

The Hypogeum (Meaning Underground) The Christian Martyrs Last Prayer

Perhaps the greatest Roman engineering achievement was the sewer. Because Rome is in a valley among seven hills, there is nowhere for dirty water to go. The sewer system made it possible for Rome to become the largest city in the world.

This “greatest sewer” of Rome was originally built to drain the low-lying land that ran through the Forum (Stone Pipes used)Forum

Roman Law The system of written laws that the Romans left the world is very valuable. They chose to determine laws and write them down, rather than depending on just word of mouth. As the laws became more lengthy and complex, groups were given the task of organizing them into a system, which is used by many European countries today.

The development of Roman law actually took more than 1000 years. It began before 439 BC as “Twelve Tables” and led to “The Justinian Code after 500 AD.

The Twelve Tables were drawn up on twelve ivory tablets, which were posted in the Roman Forum so all Romans could read and know them. It was not just a statement of all law, but a sequence of definitions of different private rights and procedures. They generally took for granted such things as the institutions of the family and various rituals for formal transactions.Roman Forum

The Justinian Code This is a collection of works of law issued from 529 to 534 AD by Justinian I. It was the result of this emperor’s desire that Roman Law be made simple and clear. There were three categories, “Natural Law”, “Law of Nations”, and “Civil Law”.

The Roman laws protected all citizens, which, in the beginning, included only the free people living in Rome. Eventually, it came to refer to people all over the Roman Empire. This included the rich and the poor, which is the basis for most modern laws today.

Painting: “The Roman Senate”

Topics Review Roman Roads Aqueducts Structures Law

Good-bye for now! Back to the present AND to America! Google Earth

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