Ancient Rome

Mars of Todi

How to use Kidipede's Ancient Rome pages: It's best to begin with the History section, and read through it in order. You'll see that historians usually divide Roman history into three big sections: the Etruscan period, the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire, ending with the rise of Christianity and the fall of Rome.

Next, check out the daily life of the Romans - what kind of food did people eat in ancient Rome? What were their houses like? Did Romans live in apartments as well as houses? Did Roman men really all wear togas all the time? What did Roman women wear? How about kids? What sort of games did Roman kids play? Did they go to school? What about the world of work? What did Roman people do for a living (they worked on farms, mostly). Were a lot of people slaves? What did gladiators do? What about chariot-racing?

To get to know the Romans a little better, check out Roman religion and the Roman gods, and Judaism under Roman rule. It was the Roman emperor Hadrian who made the Jews leave Israel and settle in other parts of the Roman Empire. During the Roman Empire, people were gradually becoming Christians, and you can read about early Christianity here too - John the Baptist, Jesus, Paul, and the other apostles all lived in the Roman Empire. Why did the Romans first persecute the Christians, and then persecute anyone who wasn't a Christian?

Roman aqueduct at Nimes, France

Now that you know about how ordinary people lived, what about rich people? Check out the beautiful temples and baths of the city of Rome, and the triumphal columns and arches that Roman generals built. Educated (rich) Romans spent a lot of time studying philosophy, and reading and writing poetry and encyclopedias. They became doctors and astronomers and engineers, and built great water and sewage systems.

And then, you'll want to know about the fall of Rome - the wars with the Sassanians in West Asia, the civil wars of the 200s AD, and the way that the expansion of Turkic and Altaic people out of Central Asia pushed the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Franks and Vandals to move south into the Roman Empire.

To finish up your study of ancient Rome, try some of the suggested projects. You can do these projects as a school class, or at home if you are homeschooled. Try building your own arch, or a model of the Colosseum. Or do a scavenger hunt for things in your house that Roman people would or would not have had. Want the ultimate ancient Rome project? - take a trip to Rome and see for yourself!