2. Facts About the Great Civilization that Lived Long Ago

3.  Italy is a peninsula in the shape of a boot, seeming to kick the island of Sicily.  It has hilly and rocky lands, including mountains like the Apennines going through its center north to south, and the Alps to the north.  Having the mountains and the seas also helped to defend Italy by acting as natural barriers.  A major river of Italy is the Tiber where Rome was built.

4.  Italy was said to be discovered by Aeneas, a Trojan allowed to keep his life after the Trojan War.  He formed an alliance withthe Latins, the people of Italy.  Italy also has different weather in different regions: North Italy has snow and the temperature can be below freezing; South Italy is not too hot, but warm. Rome  Remus and Romulus were descendants of Aeneas, and after Romulus killed his twin brother Remus, he founded Rome, naming it after himself.  The Roman Empire ruled all of the Mediterranean Sea, including going north all the way to Scotland, and going all the way east to the Persian Gulf  Conquering all this land made trade easier.

5. Art  Romans created many forms of art, such as mosaics, works of art that is made of cut up stones, murals which are big paintings on walls, and statues.  When the Romans conquered Greece, they liked the Greek art, so you can see many Greek ideas in Roman art.  Romans like to make statues of what a particular person looked like( they were probably famous) while Greeks preferred to make sculptures of what the most beautiful man or woman looked like.

6. Music  Only slaves and proffesional musicians played music.  Pan pipes, lyres, flutes, and cymbals were all instruments played by the Romans. For recreation, the Romans bathed at the public baths( where water could be heated), chariot races, gladiator fights, and board games were all forms of entertainment. Bath houses also had a palaestra or gym for sports. Recreation

7. The Roman Empire conquered all of the lands of the Mediterranean Sea. The armies had good organization and tactics. Some weapons and men include infantry, archers, charioteers, battering rams, and the ballista( a giant crossbow). The three branches of the military were the legion( only citizens and contained 5,000 men), auxiliaries(non-citizens), and the Praetorian Guard( they stayed in Rome and protected the emperor). You had to serve for 25 years in the military

8. Romans believed in many gods( Celtic, Greek, Syrian, Christianity) Used the Greek gods as their own and kept them the same but changed their name. Sacrificed animals so the gods would help with a problem Constantine the Great helped with the spread of Christianity through Rome. Before Constantine, Christianity was more popular with slaves and poorer people.

9. The Romans had discoveries, but they were mostly in the area of science and engineering Even though they created their own numbers, they didn’t do a lot of math Galen was a Roman doctor who wrote about different illnesses and how to treat them Used aqueducts(right) to carry fresh mountain water to the city. Had sewage systems to keep the city clean

10. Roman legacies include their government, language, and their style of building. The United States government is similar to the Romans’ because we used a lot of the Roman government in our own Latin is still used today because many words come from Latin roots. The Romans had used concrete in their building, just as we do today.

11. Books Odijk, Pamela. The Romans. Englewood Cliffs: Silver Burden Press, 1989. Marks, Anthony, Tingay, Graham. The Romans. London: Usborne Publishing Ltd., 1990. Encyclopedia “Rome, Ancient.” World Book. 2006 th ed. Vol. 16. Chicago: World Book, Inc., 2006. 436-449.

12. Internet Carr, Dr. Karen. Ancient Rome. http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/romans/ (23 March 2009.) http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/romans/ No Author. Italy Geography. http://www.kidport.com/RefLib/WorldGeography/Italy/Ita ly.htm (23 March 2009.) http://www.kidport.com/RefLib/WorldGeography/Italy/Ita ly.htm (23 Donn, Mr. Ancient Rome for Kids. http://rome.mrdonn.org/index.html (23 March 2009.) http://rome.mrdonn.org/index.html (23