Education
Did all Roman children go to school?
No, they didn't. Only the rich ones went, the poor children had to work, so they didn't learn how to write and read.
The family wealth is what determined the future of the children.
Were Romans a polytheistic or monotheistic society?
When did Christiany begin in the Roman Empire?
The Christian religion began when Jesus started preaching in Judea, a small Roman province in the Middle East.
Why was difficult for one emperor to be in charge of the whole Roman Empire?
The Roman Empire grew so large that it became impossible for one Emperor alone to rule.
Besides, the GERMANIC TRIBES kept attacking the borders of the Empire, threatening to destroy it.
Name as many subjects as you remember the Romans learnt at school.
History, philosophy, geography, geometry, music and astronomy.
Describe the Roman gods.
Romans also believed that although gods had special powers, they often behaved like ordinary people. They argued, got jealous and even tried to trick each other.
Describe Christianity during Nero's time.
The Emperor Nero blamed his Christian subjects for the Great Fire of Rome, claiming that they had made the gods angry and he sent hundreds of Christians to the Arena to be torn apart by animals.
Name the two parts of the Roman Empire and its capitals.
Western Roman Empire, which capital was Rome, and the Eastern Roman Empire, which capital was Byzantium or Constantinople.
Each half would have its own Emperor.
What was the most important subject? Why?
One of the most important subjects was Greek because Greek culture was such a big influence on Roman life.
What did Romans believe about proper worship?
The Romans blamed everything that went wrong on people forgetting to worship the gods properly. If you or your family forgot about proper worship or the giving of sacrifices to the gods, then bad things would happen to you.
What happened to Constantine to start believing in God?
Before the battle that won him his position, Constantine saw a cross of light in the sky, which he believed was a sign from Christ.
What happened to the Western Roman Empire after its collapse?
The Empire split into lots of small barbarian kingdoms.
In most of these kingdoms, people still tried to live like the Romans, but the once grand public buildings soon fell into ruins, and the Roman way of life gradually died out.
Who was the teacher of public speaking?
Rhetor.
The rhetor taught his pupils how to write speeches properly and how to present them well.
Did the Greeks copy the Roman gods or the other way around?
The Romans loved the Greek gods so much that they adopted their gods and all the myths and legends about them. They gave them Roman names and changed some of the personalities of the ancient Greek gods to better fit the Roman way of life.
What happened with Christianity during Constantine's time?
Constantine was the first Roman emperor to allow Christians to worship openly. He gave Christians important jobs and paid for their churches. Finally, on his deathbed, Constantine was baptized as a Christian.
In AD 391 Christianity became the Empire’s official religion.
What period started with the fall of the Western Empire?
Historians decided that the fall of the Western Empire marked the beginning of the Middle Ages.
Can you describe a classroom in Roman times?
- Teachers were often slaves brought from Greece by the Roman army.
- Young children recited the alphabet and practised reading and writing.
- Rich families employed a slave called paedagogus, who took the children to school and supervised them while they were in class.
- Nobody had desks, not even the teacher.
- Some pupils wrote on wooden tablets coated with wax.
Name a temple that honoured a god and its history.
The Temple dedicated to the goddess Vesta. Inside it, a fire burned all the time. Many people believed that if the flames went out, the Roman Empire would collapse! The fire and the shrine were looked after by a group of six women. These women were called Vestal Virgins and they were selected from important patrician families.