1. 6th Grade UBD - Unit 6 - Roman Culture Life and Legacy

2.  How did the spread of Roman culture influence life throughout the Empire?

3.  Power Relationships- Men ruled Roman society. It was very hierarchical, traditional, and family-centered.  Roman Genius- Rome created order over a large area with many different people and languages. Romans did this by developing roads, aqueducts, a common form of money, and a code of law. All of this allowed the spread of Rome’s cultural achievements.  The Development of Language- Latin is a practical language and could absorb new ideas of other cultures and still keep its own identity. Although people do not speak Latin today, it has had a huge effect on the descendants of the Roman Empire.

4. Video- Civilization or Enslavement?

5.  Power in the family rested in the hands of the paterfamilias (father of the family). Below him were other men of the family, then the women, children, and enslaved people.  A small group of rich men of the patrician class formed the governing body. This was the Senate.

6.  Plebeians were greater in number than patricians, but they could not take part in government.  Plebeians began to fight for increased political power. This led to posting the Twelve Tables. These were the basic codes of law in ancient Rome.

7.  Roman culture and influence spread through the ancient world and continues to influence people and nations today.

8. Video- Everyday Life in Roman Cities

9.  The center of Roman society was the called the familia, or family. Family was important to the people of ancient Rome..  A pyramid-style hierarchy, or order, determined the roles of every person within the society.

10.  Ancient Roman society was organized into 3 classes: patricians, plebeians, and slaves.  Patricians were the ruling class, and plebeians were commoners.

11.  The center of Roman society was the family, or familia.  Societal roles were determined by a pyramid- style hierarchy.  The father was the head of the family, or the paterfamilias, and had absolute power.

12. Key Term Paterfamilias- In this type of society the father was the absolute ruler of the family. Below the father were the other male members of the family, including sons, uncles, and cousins.

13.  The bottom of the pyramid consisted of women, children, and slaves.  Women focused on domestic chores and managed household slaves.

14. Video- Slavery in Ancient Rome

15.  As the Roman Empire grew, its slave population soared. Slaves worked in a variety of roles, including mining, farming, and domestic work.

16. Key Term Gladiators- Men who fought against one another or against large animals as a form of entertainment for others.

17. Video- Gladiator Combat

18.  Some slaves were forced to fight to the death as gladiators.  Gladiators were professional fighters.  There were no laws to protect slaves, and they had no rights.

19.  Because of the harsh conditions slaves lived in, Romans feared a slave revolt.  To prevent slave revolt they used the possibility of manumission, the ability to buy one’s freedom.  Even so, slave revolts did happen. A famous example is a slave revolt led by the gladiator Spartacus. After years of fighting, his rebellion was harshly suppressed.

20.  Since slaves did much of the work in the Roman Empire, many plebeians had no jobs and fell into poverty.  Plebeians were forced to survive on food handouts from the government.

21.  The increasing inequality of Roman society led to tensions between the upper and lower classes.  To appease the lower classes, patricians used a tactic called “bread and circuses.”

22.  Bread and Circuses refers to distracting the people from their long-term problems by offering them food handouts (bread) and entertainment such as chariot races and gladiator fights (circuses).

23.  Chariot races were held in a large U- shaped stadium called the Circus Maximus.  Another stadium, called the Colosseum served as an arena for gladiator fights and other entertainments.

24. Key Term The Colosseum- A type of arena erected to entertain the public with spectacles such as mock battles, huge fights between gladiators or between men and animals.

25.  The games were an expensive but an effective way of keeping the poor entertained.  The state also provided free or low-cost grain to the poor to keep them happy.

26.  Like sports fans today, the Romans pass through the gates and head for their seats. Where they sit, however, depends on who they are. The emperor and his guests are seated nearest to the field on a magnificent platform.

27. Reading Handout- Sports Through the Ages

28.  Roman engineers and architects developed styles and ways of doing things that were their own.  Public baths spread throughout the empire.

29.  Many Roman buildings and roads throughout the empire still exist today because of the invention of concrete.  Rome used Greek building styles. However, it built larger, taller, and heavier buildings than the Greeks built. Romans did this by adding their own ideas, such as vaults, arches, and the use of concrete.

30.  After a civil war in the Roman Republic led to the founding of the Roman Empire, Emperor Augustus set out to organize Rome’s territories and establish boundaries to create unity throughout the empire. Called the Pax Romana, this period of relative peace lasted 200 years.  The Romans used a census to determine who to tax and how much to tax each individual or family.  As the empire grew, the Roman government levied a common tax paid with money called tributum, or tribute.

31. Video- Roads and Aqueducts

32.  The Romans constructed a vast network of roads to hold the empire together.  These roads made it possible for Roman armies to control the population in all areas of the vast empire.

33. Key Term Legionnaire- A type of soldier who fought in the armies of the Roman Empire. Rome’s armies were composed of legions, and each legion had about 6,000 soldiers.

34.  The roads were built to last—in fact, some of them are still used today.  The Romans provided water to their cities using aqueducts that carried water over long distances for drinking, irrigation, and baths.

35.  Public baths were a part of daily life in ancient Rome.  At these baths, men would discuss business, politics, and local gossip.  Women had smaller, less luxurious baths.

36.  Roman artists adopted techniques used by the Greeks and applied them to art forms such as landscaping and portraiture.  The Romans also specialized in making practical art, such as jewelry, coins, fountains, and mosaics.

37.  The Romans used an architectural element called the dome in some of their buildings, such as the Pantheon.

38.  Roman culture often imitated what it admired and improved on what it needed from other cultures.  As a result, it came up with useful inventions, such as concrete.

39.  Latin became the common language of the Roman Empire.  Latin became the official language of the Roman Catholic Church.

40.  Latin is still used in terms for law, science, and mathematics. The spread of Latin changed the languages of some Europeans. This change resulted in the forming of various Romance languages.  English contains many Latin-based words.

41.  Latin was the common language of the empire.  It helped unite the diverse cultures within the Roman Empire.  It influenced the development of many modern languages.

42.  Today, many modern languages, including French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian, are called Romance languages because they developed from Latin.

43.  With the decline of the Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity, Latin became the spoken and written language of the Roman Catholic Church.  Classical Latin continues to be used in science, mathematics, and legal terminology.

44.  Rome’s legacy has been ensured by the multiple ways the rest of the world has recognized, admired, and adopted aspects of its unique character.