Titleoflesson:RomanRepublicInvestigation

YourName:JoshuaGuastella

Lengthoflesson:55mins

ContextofLesson:Theclasshasbeenstudyingworldreligionsandjustfinishedtheunitlast
week.Beforetheystarttheirnextunitstudyingthefallofclassicalempires,Ithoughtitwould
behelpfulformetointroducetheRomanRepublicbeforeitwasanempireandtobridgethe
gapbetweenthetwounits.ThatiswhyIselectedanactivityontheRomanRepublicandI
pickedoutonethatdealtwiththeirgovernmentbecauseourgovernmentresemblesmanyof
theirpoliciesandgovernmentstructures

Overview:StudentswilllearnabouttheRomanRepublicandwillinvestigatehow
democratictheRomanRepublicreallywas.

Centralproblem/Essentialquestion:HowdemocraticwastheRomanRepublic?

Standard:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.9Compareandcontrasttreatmentsofthesame
topicinseveralprimaryandsecondarysources.

Objectives:

Studentswillknow/beableto:

BeabletoseetheresemblancesbetweentheUnitedStatesgovernmentandtheRoman
RepublicandalsohowtheRomanRepublicwasaquestionabledemocracyandnota
puredemocracy.
Beabletoaccuratelyandeffectivelycompareandcontrasttreatmentsofthesametopic
inprimaryandsecondarysources.

Anticipatedstudentconceptionsorchallengestounderstanding:Somestudentsmayhavea
difficulttimeunderstandingthedifferencebetweenaprimaryandsecondarysource.That
iswhyduringthelessonIwillbegoingoverwhateachstandsforandhowtodifferentiate
betweenthetwotypesofsources.

Materials/Evidence/Sources:

PrimaryandSecondaryDocuments

GuidingQuestions

PowerPointPresentation

InstructionalSequence:

1.Beforewegetintoourlessontoday,Iwantedtohaveeveryonethinkaboutthe
questionwhatisademocracy;cananyonesharewithmewhatcomestomindwhen
theythinkofdemocracy?

(sampleanswers:formofgovernment,allpeoplearefree,forthepeople,peopleelect
representatives)?(3mins)

2.Aseveryonecansee,democracycanmeandifferentthingstodifferentpeople.Soitis
essentialtohaveacleardefinitionofwhatademocracyisforourlesson.

Slide1:
1. governmentbythepeople
2. astatehavingsuchaformofgovernment:TheUnitedStatesandCanadaare
democracies
3. characterizedbyformalequalityofrightsandprivileges
4. thecommonpeopleofacommunityasdistinguishedfromanyprivilegedclass

Thishelpsushaveacleargrasponwhatademocracytrulyis.

Slide2:
ShowexactlywhereonthemapRomeisandhowtheRomanRepublicstartedinthe
greenareasandspreadtotheorangeareastomakeuptheRomanEmpire.

Slide3:
NowinRome,societywasdividedupintotwosocialclasses:
Patricians-wealthy,land-owningclassthatheldmostpower
o Madeupaverysmallportionofthepopulation
Plebeians-commonpeopleincludingfarmers,artisansandmerchants
o Majorityofpeoplefellintothisclass(PeopleofRome)

Slide4:
TheRomanForum,whichwasatthecenterofRomanpubliclife,wasusedformany
differentpurposes.Theyuseditasamarketplace,soldgoodsthere,hadgladiator
matches,andtheRomangovernmentmetthere.

Slide5:
TheromanrepublicisoftenheldupasamodelfortheUnitedStatesgovernment.
HistorianscontinuetodebatewhethertheRomanRepublicwastrulydemocratic.
Today,wearegoingtoexploreRomespoliticalsystemandinvestigatethequestion:
HowdemocraticwastheRomanRepublic?

GetstudentsintopairsandhavethemreadovertheRomangovernmenthandout(5
mins)

GooverthethreequestionsonthelastslideofthePowerPoint.
Question1Senate,MagistratesandConsuls,andAssembly
Question2themajorityofthepeople(theplebeians)wereonlyallowedtobeapartof
theAssembly,whereastheminorityofthepeopleandthewealthyclass(thepatricians)
 wereallowedtoholdthehighestpositionsinthegovernment,intheSenateandthe
magistratesandconsuls.
Question3Socialclassisveryimportantbecauseonlycertainpeopleineachsocial
classcouldserveinacertainbranchinthegovernment.
3.WearenowgoingtocontinuetoinvestigatetheRomangovernmentbylookingata
primarysource.Cananyonetellmewhataprimarysourceis?

SomeofthebestprimarysourcesontheRomanRepubliccomefromGreekhistorians
whointeractedwiththeRomansduringtheirrisetopowerovertheGreeks.Weare
goingtoreadanaccountfromoneoftheseGreekhistorians,Polybius.(10mins)

(Shareoutanswerstothequestions)

PolybiuswasaGreekhistorianwritingduringtheheightoftheRomanconquestofthe
Greekworld.Heprovidesahighlycomplimentaryaccountofthegovernment,claiming
itcombinesthebestfeaturesofmonarchy(theConsuls),aristocracy(theSenate)and
democracy(theAssemblies),withthepeoplewieldingthemostpower.

Asseenintheprimarysource,theRomangovernmentisquitecomplex,anditis
challengingtotellhowdemocraticittrulywas.Tocontinueourinvestigation,weare
goingtolookattwosecondarysources.Cananyonetellmewhatasecondarysourceis?
Nowwearegoingtoreadasecondarysourcebyahistorian(10mins)

(HavestudentsreadMillarsargumentthenshareoutanswersasaclass)

MillarbaseshisargumentondocumentaryevidencerecordsofRomanelection
speechesandourknowledgeofthestructureoftheRomanconstitution,whichgavethe
supremepowertocreatelawstothepeopleintheAssemblies.

Nowwearegoingtoreadanothersecondarysourcebyanotherhistorian(10mins)

(HavestudentsreadWardsargumentthenshareoutanswersasaclass)

Wardprovidesanoverviewofwhatdifferenthistorianshavearguedregarding
democracyintheRomanRepublic.Wardquestionshowmanyeligiblevotersactually
votedinelections.HenotesthatbecausemostelectionswereheldinRomeand
irregularlyscheduled,mostRomansdidnotparticipateinthem.Healsopointsoutthe
Romancitizenshadnoroleinsettingthelegislativeagendaorinselectingcandidates.

Finalconclusion:nowwearegoingtotakeeverythingwejustlearnedandcompareand
contrasttheviewsofthethreeauthors.Usehistoricalevidence.(restofthehourto
completeandturninbeforetheyleave)

Assessment:Throughouttheactivity,theteacherwillaskquestionsofthestudents.The
teacherwillalsowalkaroundduringtheactivity,makingsurethestudentsareanswering
theguidedquestionseffectively.

Attachallhandouts,texts,images,lecturenotes,etc.

PrimaryandSecondaryDocuments

GuidingQuestions

PowerPointPresentation