7 The Roman Empire

HEINEMANN HISTORY
STUDY
ш
EMPIRE
UNITS
M a r t y n
W h i t t o c k
HEINEMANN HISTORY
STUDY
sROMAN
EMPIRE
UNITS
Martyn
Heinemann
— ~ ~
M
il -
Whittock
Heinemann is an imprint of Pearson Education Limited, a company Roger Wood: 3.8C
incorporated in England and Wales, having its registered office at Woodmansterne Picture Library/Museum of London: 3.9A
Edinburgh Gate, Harlow, Essex, CM 20 2JE.
Registered company number: 872828 W e are also grateful to the following for permission to
reproduce copyright material:
Andromeda Oxford Ltd for Source 3.7B, taken from Atlas o f
M ELBO U RN E AUCKLAND
the Roman World by Tim Cornell and John Matthews, Phaidon
O XFO R D B LA N TY R E
Press, 1982; В. T. Batsford Ltd for Source 1.2B, taken from
CHICAGO PO R TSM O U TH (NH)
England Before Domesday by M artin Jones; Longman Group
IBADAN GABORONE JO H A N N ESBU R G U K Ltd for Source I .ЗА, taken from T he Romans in Britain by
Dorothy Morrison, 1978.
© Martyn Whittock 1991
The moral right of the proprietors has been asserted Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders of
First published 1991 material reproduced in this book. Any omissions will be
rectified in subsequent printings if notice is given to the
B r itis h L ib r a r y C a ta lo g u in g in P u b lic a tio n D a ta publisher.
Whittoc, Martyn J . (M artynJohn)

The Roman Empire. ~ ~
I. Rome (Italy), history, B.C.27 - A.D.476 D etails of W ritten Sources
I. Title In some sources the wording or sentence structure has been
937.06 simplified to ensure that the source is accessible.
T he Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (Trans. G . N. Garmonsway), J. M.
ISBN: 978-0-435312-74-9
Dent and Sons Ltd, 1953: 4.4C
Designed by Ron Kamen, Green Door Design Ltd,
Saint Augustine, City o f G od (Ed. David Knowles), Penguin,
Basingstoke 1972: 4.2B
Illustrated by Je ff Edwards Douglas Hall D. Breeze and B. Dobson, Hadrian's Wall, A llen Lane, 1976:
Stuart Hughes Terry Thomas 2.6B
Julius Caesar, Commentaries (Ed. R. L. A. Du Pontet), Oxford
Printed in China (EPC/22) University Press, 1900: 2.7A
Simon Esmonde Cleary, T he Ending o f Roman Britain, Barnes
Acknowledgements
and Noble Books, 1989: 4.4E
T h e author and publisher would like to thank the following Tim Cornell and John Matthews, Atlas o f the Roman World,
for permission to reproduce photographs: Phaidon Press, 1982: 2.1D, 2.2A , 2.5B, 3.2F, 3.4C
A ncient A rt & A rchitecture Collection: 3.3A , 4.2A K. Greene, Archaeology o f the Roman Economy, Batsford, 1986:'
Archaologisches Landesmuseum, Schleswig: 4 .1 A 3.4D
A rchivio М ою , Rome: 4.6A G ood N ews Bible, Collins, 1976: 3.1A
Ashmolean Museum: 1.1F Catherine Hills, Blood o f the British from Ice Age to N orm an
Bibliotheque N ationale: 4.3E Conquest, George Philip in association with Channel 4 T V
T h e Trustees of the British Museum: 1.2D, 2 .IB , 2.2В, 2.4B, company, 1986: 4.3D
2.5A , 2.9A , 2.9В, 3.12A , D and E, 4.2C , 4.4A J. Liversidge, Roman Britain, Longman, 1958: 2.8A
Sim on Chapman: 4.6C A. Millard, Discoveries from the Time o f ]esus, Lion, 1990: 2.3B,
Com m ittee for Aerial Photography, Cambridge: p25 2.9E, 3.1 IB , 3.12B and C
С. M. Dixon: Front cover, 1.2E, 2.1C , 2.3A and С, 2.6E, R. W. Moore, The Roman Comm onwealth, English Universities
З.ЗС, 3.4B , 3.5B and С , 3.7A , C and D, 3.8A , 3.10A , 3.1 IA Press, 1942: 3.3D
and C, 4 .IC O xford Dictionary o f Quotations, Oxford University Press, 1982:
Sonia Halliday Photographs: 2.2C , 2.4C, 3.5A , 3.8B, 3.8D (F. 1.1C
H. C . Birch), 4.5A and B J. Percival, T he Roman Villa: a Historical Introduction, Batsford,
M ichael Holford: 1.1A, I . ID , 3.5В, 3.9C , 3.11D 1976: 4.1В, 4-3B and C
Israel Museum, Jerusalem: 1.2C M ichael Postan, T he M edieval Economy and Society, Weidenfeld
Lion Publishing plc/David Townsend: 1.2A and Nicolson, 1972: 4-4G
Mansell Collection: p25 J. M. Roberts, History o f the World, Penguin, 1980: 2.6A and C,
A lan Millard: 1.1E 4.5C
Museum of London: 4-4F R. R. Sellman, Roman Britain, Methuen, 1956: 2.8B
T h e National Gallery: 4-6B Diodorus Siculus, Library o f History (Trans. С . H. Oldfather),
N ational Museum of Ireland: 4. ID Heinemann, 1939: 2.7B
Nationalmuseet, Copenhagen: 3.2G P. Salway, Roman Britain, Oxford University Press, 1981: 2.5E,
Dr P. J. Reynolds/Butser A ncient Farm: 3.9D 2.6D , 2.8C , 2.9CL.
Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Trier: 3.5A , 3.10B and C A. Thompson, Romans and Blacks, Routledge, 1989: 3.2A , В, C
Chris Ridgers: 4.6D and E
Romisch-Germanisches Museum: 2.9D G. M. Trevelyan, History o f England, Longman, 1926: 4-4D
Tyne & W ear Museum Service: 3.1D
Vatican Museum: 2 .IA
11 22
PART O N E P IE C E S O F T H E P A S T
1.1 Words from th e Past 4
1.2 Pieces o f th e Past 6
1.3 Secondary Sources 8
PART T W O B U IL D IN G A N EM P IR E
2.1 R om an Rise to Power 10
2.2 Rivals for Trade 12
2.3 T h e R om an Arm y 14
2.4 T h e R om an R epublic 16
2.5 Building an Empire 18
2.6 Julius Caesar 20
2.7 C ase Study I : C aesar Invades Britain 22
2.8 C ase Study 2: Claudius Invades Britain 24
2.9 T h e Emperors 26
PA RT TH REE L IV IN G IN T H E E M P IR E
3.1 Citizens 28
3.2 Barbarians 30
3.3 T h e Family 32
3.4 Transport 34
3.5 Trade in the Empire 36
3.6 R om an Towns and C ities 38
3.7 Buildings in Towns and C ities 40
3 .8 Living in Towns and C ities 42
3.9 Life in the Countryside 44
3 .1 0 R om an Villas 46
3.11 Religious Beliefs 48
3 .1 2 T h e First C hristians 50
PART FO U R EN D O F T H E E M P IR E
4.1 T h e Empire in Crisis 52
4 .2 T h e Collapse o f the Empire 54
4.3 T h e Collapse o f the Empire: G aul 56
4-4 T h e Collapse o f the Empire: Britain 58
4.5 Survival in the East 60
4 .6 T h e Im p o rta n c e o fR o m e 62
Index 64
LI V ^ords from the Past
H istorians use prim ary sources to find out
about th e past. Primary sources com e from
th e tim e the historian is studying. T h ey
becom e evidence when they are used to
support a statem ent. For exam ple, Source A
is evidence for the statem ent that
‘Yilbia was a R om an n am e’. Som e primary
sources are w ritten down. M any different
kinds o f w ritten sources have survived from
R om an times. For exam ple, words carved on
buildings, poems and descriptions o f people
and places. Som e o f them are official records
and lists o f who should pay tax. Som e were
m eant for lots o f people to read, others were
m eant to be kept secret. O ften the words
SOURCE
were w ritten in L atin. T h is was th e official
language o f the R om an Empire, although
other languages were also used.
W h e n an historian reads a primary source, he A curse written in Latin on a piece o f lead. It reads: ‘He who
or she needs to ask certain questions about it: stole Vilbiafrom me, may he waste away like water’.
• W h e n was it written?
• W h o wrote it?
• W h y was it written?
• W h ere did the writer get the inform ation from?
• Has it survived as it was w ritten, or has it been copied?
• If it has been copied, could mistakes have been made?
If a num ber of copies o f a w ritten source survive, they can be
compared to see if they tell th e same story. Som etim es, though,
only very few have survived. T h is makes it harder to be sure
th at what happened is exactly as it was w ritten.
T h ere are some ‘words from the past’ in this U n it. T h ey are
w ritten primary sources from R om an times.
In our orchard I saw you
picking
It is impossible for a man to live there fo r half an hour, but vipers
B and many snakes and all other kinds o f w ild beasts live there, and
D ew y apples w ith your
mother....
strangest o f all, the natives say that if a man crosses the w a ll he
H ow I saw you!
im m ediately dies, unable to stand the poisonous air. W ild beasts
O H ow I fell in love!
CC that go there die too!
=3
O
CO
A poem written to a girl by Virgil, a
A description o f northern Britain written in the 6th century AD by Procopius. man who lived from 70-19 BC.
4 T he R o m a n E mpire
D •••
1 Explain what a primary

source is, in your own words.
2 Give three examples of the

types of written primary
sources which may survive
from Roman times.
3 a What questions does an

historian have to ask about
LU written primary sources?
О
CCL b Which is the most
ZD
important question to ask?
О
CO Explain your answer.
A carved stone found on Hadrian’s Wall. It dates from about AD 142. It is written
4 Can you think of five written
in Latin. It reads: ‘A detachment of the Twentieth Legion o f Valeria and Victrix
primary sources which would
made this’.
be useful to an historian
studying life in your school?
Greek writing on a piece of pot from
E Egypt. It says that a man, named
Pekysis, paid his taxes on
Say why each of them would
be useful.
12 July, AD J44.
He paid 16 silver 5 Which of the sources in this
coins. Unit could an historian use to
IXI find out about the personal
O
OC feelings of people in the
past?
O
CO
6 In what ways could Sources
D and E be useful to an
historian?
7 Look carefully at Sources A,

D, E and F. Why would you
find it difficult to read the
information written on these
sources?
8 How can you tell from

Source B that Procopius
never visited northern Britain?
Writing in a book made from wooden boards. This was found in Egypt and dates
from the 1st century AD. It is written in Greek.
T he R o m a n E m p i r e
su I ieces o f the Past
4 Remains o f a house in Jerusalem. It
was burnt in AD 70, when the city was
captured by a Roman army.
N o t all primary sources are w ritten down. T h ere are many

different types o f non-w ritten primary sources. M any o f these
sources have survived from the R om an Empire. Som e o f them
are big, like buildings. O thers are small, like coins and tools.
T h ey m ight have been precious objects to the people using
them or just ordinary, everyday things. AU of these things can
tell us about life in th e past.
Som e sources have been found by accident, others have been

carefully searched for. A rchaeologists are people who study
remains from under the ground. T h ey dig into the ground to
find these remains. T h is is called an excavation. H ere are some
different sources w hich com e from the tim e of the R om an
Empire.
Sandal from Masada, in Israel. From

about a d 74 ■
6 T h e RoMftN E m p i r e
Silver bowl from Mildenhall,
England. It was probably buried Р \<к \м л Л \£л .. .
in about AD 360, to protect
it from robbers. I a Why might an
archaeologist decide to do
an excavation?
2 a How might objects under

the ground be found by
accident? Think of as many
ways as you can.
b What five objects of yours
could help archaeologists
to learn about your life?
What would each object
tell them?
3 a Look at Source A and

describe what you can
see.
b What else would you need
to know about this house,
in order to describe life in
it?
4 Look at Sources В, C, D and

E. What information does
each source give to an
historian?
^ Picture of a woman holding a pen

and writing tablet. This is from
Pompeii, in Italy. It dates from the
1st century AD.
T he R o m a n E m p i r e 7
1.3 Secondary Sources
Secondary sources usually com e from later th an th e tim e being Because the Romans were
studied, and they are always based on other sources. O n ce B clever and hardw orking, and
historians have studied primary sources, they write down what did most things better than
the Britons, they soon ruled
they have learned about the past. W h a t they write down is a O
DC over all the land.
secondary source.
=5
O
CO
Books w ritten by historians do n ot always agree. Historians may
have used different primary sources. T h ey may have understood R .J. Unstead, ‘Cavemen to Vikings’,
them differently. You must rem em ber this w hen you read a 1953.
history book. T h ese different ways o f understanding th e sources
are called opinions. Som etim es the people who wrote the The condition o f the people
im proved. Peace brought
primary sources had different opinions, too. Historians must
prosperity, a busy trade
decide w hich opinions are best supported by the evidence.
sprang up. Along w ith this
corn trade came progress in
N o t all secondary sources are w ritten down. If som eone draws a
the m ining o f tin, lead and
picture of w hat life was like in R om an tim es or builds a model
copper and the m aking o f
o f a R om an town, these would also be secondary sources. LU weapons and dyeing and
O
OC pottery.
T h e w ritten sources in this U n it tell you about life in Britain ZD
O
before the Rom ans cam e, and how it changed w hen Britain CO
becam e part of th e Empire. T h ey do n ot all agree w ith one
G. T. Warner and C. Marten,
another! Look at them very carefully.
‘Roman Britain’, 1923.
A n artist’s impression o f how people lived in Britain before the Romans

invaded. From Dorothy Morrison, ‘The Romans in Britain’ ,1 978.
Technically, Roman Britons were able to produce good quality For much o f rural Britain
pottery, and a much w id e r range o f iron tools. Farming benefited the Roman invasion o f a d
from the introduction o f tools and equipm ent w h ich enabled more 43 m eant little change. In
heavily forested land to be cleared. Wessex and the South
о Dow ns life continued much
ОС O
ZD OC as before.
О ZD
CO m-s&m O
WmSmImmIl
CO
J. Wacher, ‘Roman Britain’, 1978.
S. Woodellt ‘The English Landscape’,
1985.
The tribes o f the south-east o f England [before the Romans By the late Iron Age, low land
arrived] were skillful farmers, artistic metal w orkers and w ell Britain was covered w ith
organized. Their rulers must have lived in a degree o f com fort. villages, hamlets and farms.
O n the w hole, the country was peaceful and prosperous. This pattern was changed a
O
OC little during the Roman
IЭ
O period but it remained
CO substantially the same. M any
R. Collingwood, ‘Roman Britain’, 1923. Iron Age com m unities passed
O unaltered into the Roman
period.
O
CO
T. Rowley, ‘Villages in the Landscape’,

1987.
•••
1 Events in history sometimes take place for 3 What primary sources might the historian have
different reasons. These are called causes. used as evidence for Source A?
Events in history often make other things happen.
These are called co n seq uences. Read Sources 4 Study Sources D, E, and F. For each complete the
C and D. They both say that a consequence of following table:
Britain becoming part of the Roman Empire was
that life improved for the people living in Britain. So u rce A g re e s or Reason
a Give one improvement mentioned in both disag rees
sources. with В, C or D
b Give one improvement mentioned only in
Source C, and one improvement mentioned E Disagrees E says tribes
only in Source D. before the
Romans were
2 a Read Source B. According to this writer, why skillful and well
did the Romans beat the Britons? organized. A
b The writer of Source B gives no evidence to makes them
back up his opinion. Does this make it more or look hopeless
less likely that you will agree with him? Explain compared with
the reasons for your answer. the Romans.
T he R o m a n E mpi r e 9
♦I Ivom an Rise to Power
A ccording to a R om an legend, th e city o f R om e was begun in
753 BC. T h e legend says th at its founder was a m an nam ed
Romulus. H e and his brother Rem us had been brought up b
a wolf! T h is is a story. Its aim was probably to show how
special the city o f R om e was. A later legend said th at
Romulus was the son of Mars, th e R om an god of war. /|
A rchaeologists have discovered that, by the 6th

century BC, there were a num ber o f im portant
regions in Italy. O n e of these was Etruria, where
the E tru scan people lived. T h ey were skilled in
m etalwork, land drainage, trading, building and
road m aking. A n Etruscan (Tarquin II) had made
him self King of R om e, a tow n beside the river Tiber.
It was sited at a place where the river could be crossed
by a bridge. Ships could also reach R om e from the
M editerranean sea.
A mirror made by an Etruscari
In 5 0 9 BC, a num ber o f wealthy Rom an fam ilies forced the king to metalworker. It shows a person telling
leave the city. R om e becam e a Republic (a place ruled w ithout a the future by looking at an animal’s
intestines.
king or a queen). R om e began to grow in im portance. O th er cities
were captured. T h eir rulers were allowed to keep th eir power as
long as they supplied m en for the R om an army and stayed loyal to
Rom e. T h is army made R om e strong.
In 3 9 0 BC, Rom e was attacked and looted by tribes from Gaul

(now France). Despite this, the Rom ans recovered. T h e n , in three
brutal wars, they defeated the tribes from the Italian hills. Betw een
280 and 275 BC they fought the G reek king, Pyrrhus. H e had been
helping the G reek settlers, living in Italy, to resist the Rom ans. By
265 BC, most o f southern Italy was controlled by Rom e. Land controlled by
Greek settlers
Early Rome and its neighbours
Invasion by Gauls,
390 вс
Г Etrwia
Rome- 4
GREECE *
0 km 500
/ X% \J 0 miles 500
1 0 T he R o m a n E m p r e
A Roman coin, made in 96 BC. It
в celebrates a Roman victory over
Italian tribes at the battle of
Tell me, all you w ho have
journeyed through many
lands, have you seen a more
Lake Regillus. This took place rich ly farmed land than
in 499 вс. The Roman gods, Italy?
Castor and Pollux, are shown
on the coin. The Romans
believed that these gods helped
them to win the battle. They The Roman writer Varro, who lived in
believed that after the battle, the the 1st century BC.
оgods watered their horses at Rome.
О£ This coin shows this scene.
=Э
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CO
^ A statue o f Romidus and Remus

from the city o f Rome.
.. .
1 a Make a timeline to show some of the important 3 Look at Source B, and its description.
dates in early Roman history. Mark down all the Flow useful would this be as evidence for what
dates mentioned in this Unit, actually happened at the battle of Lake Regillus?
b Mark on your timeline the point when you think Give reasons fo r your answer.
Rome began to be powerful. Write a short
paragraph explaining your choice. 4 Flow could an historian use Sources A, B and C as
evidence concerning the beliefs of the Romans
2 a Look at Source D. According to Varro, what and Etruscans?
was special about Italy?
b From the other information in this Unit, can you 5 What skills did the Etruscans have? Why would the
think of two other reasons why Rome was so Romans have found them useful?
successful?
2.2 R ivals for Trade
As R om e becam e more powerful, it was able to con trol what was
*0 1
bought and sold in Italy. T h is buying and selling o f goods is
called trade. T h e Rom ans found they had trading rivals. T hese 1 a Why were Rome and
were other people who wanted to buy and sell things in Italy. Carthage rivals?
G reek traders had set up cities in Italy and Sicily. Tarentum and b Give one way in which the
Syracuse were two im portant G reek cities in Italy. S o o n they war with Carthage made
were at war with R om e. the Romans try out new
ways of fighting,
In n orth A frica there was another great trading city, called с Give five reasons why
C arthage. Its people were skilled sailors and shipbuilders. Rom e Hannibal failed to win the
and C arthage were soon rivals. Betw een 264 and 241 B C the war in Italy.
rivalry turned into warfare. T h e Rom ans built th eir first navy to
fight the C arthagin ian fleet. T h e Romans' captured th e island o f 2 Most of our primary sources
for the war with Carthage
Sicily and it becam e the first R om an province, in 241 B C . A
were written by Romans.
province was a foreign land captured and ruled by th e Rom ans.
a How trustworthy do you
think these would be as
T h e C arthaginians tried to m ake up for the loss o f Sicily. T h ey
evidence?
captured territory in Spain. From 2 1 8 -2 0 1 B C , a second war was
b Would they be good, or
fought w ith R om e. T h e C arthaginians were led by a skilled
bad things for historians to
general, Hannibal. H e led an army across th e Alps and into
use if they wanted to find
Italy. He defeated the Rom ans at th e Battles o f Lake Trasim ene out about this war? Explain
and C ann ae. Despite this, Rom e survived. T h e towns o f central the reasons behind your
Italy stayed loyal to R om e. T h e R om an general, Fabius answer.
M aximus, avoided any more great battles. H annibal was n ot able
to capture Rom e itself. Soo n he was running short o f supplies. 3 a Source B celebrates a
Roman victory. How many
T h e Rom ans struck back. T h ey attacked th e C arthaginian cities years were there between
in Spain. T h e R om an army crossed to A frica to threaten this victory and when the
C arthage. H annibal was forced to leave Italy. H e w ent to defend coin was made? What
does this tell you about
C arthage itself. In 202 B C , he was defeated at the B attle of
the importance of this
Zama. In 150 B C a third war broke out. T h is tim e the Rom ans
victory to the Romans?
were determ ined to take no chances. In 146 B C , they totally
b Read Source A. Make a list
destroyed the city o f C arthage. A new R om an city was built
in your own words of the
nearby. things that this treaty
stopped the Carthaginians
The Carthaginians w ill not injure the people o f any other city of
from doing,
the Latins w ho are subjects [under the control] o f Rome. As far as
с How useful would you find
the Latins w ho are not subjects, they shall keep their hands off
Source C1 if you tried to
their cities, and if they take any such city they shall hand it over to
find out what the city of
O the Romans unharmed. They shall build no forts in Latin
Carthage was like before
OC territories.
ZD 146 вс? Give reasons for
O your answer.
CO
Treaty between Rome and Carthage in 201 BC.
1 2 T he R o m a n E m p j r e
Roman coin from 125 BC. It celebrates the Roman victory
over Carthage, at the battle o f Panormus. This battle was
fought in 251 BC . In this battle the Romans captured over
I OO Carthaginian war elephants.
The site of
the Roman
city of
Carthage.
Trade routes at the time of the wars with

Carthage
Trade routes between
Greek cities
♦J I he Roman Army
O n e o f the reasons for R o m e’s success was its army. A s R om an For a w h ile they [Jewish
power grew, more people were made to jo in th e army. A t first fighters] kept at bay those
the soldiers were the better-off citizens. T h ey copied G reek w ho were bringing up the
armies and fought on foot w ith long spears. To begin with, they siege machines, but the first
o f the catapults and
were sent hom e w hen a war ended. T h ese part-tim e soliders
stonethrowers drove them
paid for th eir own weapons and armour.
back. Then the Romans
brought battering rams and
As the R om an Empire grew, the army had to fight further away O
OC broke through the city w all.
from hom e. Being a soldier becam e a full-tim e job. T h ey were =D
no longer sent hom e at the end of the fighting. T h ese full-tim e O
CO
soldiers were well trained and disciplined. T h ey had to be tough
and confid ent in the use o f a num ber o f weapons. The Jewish historian Josephus describing
the siege of Gamla, AD 70.
R om an soldiers were grouped into large numbers called legions.
E ach legion was made up o f 5 ,0 0 0 heavily armed foot soldiers
and some cavalry. T h e legion included engineers, surveyors,
stone masons and carpenters, as well as other craftsm en. A s well
as fighting m ajor battles, the legions built forts, bridges and
roads. W h e n they were on a cam paign, they built a camp
fortified w ith banks and ditches at the end o f each day’s march.
4 Romanlegionariesbuildinga fort.
The campaigns o f the Emperor Trajan
(who ruled between AD 98 and 117)
are shown on a massive column known
as Trajan’s Column. This is one o f the
scenes.
1 4 T he R o m a n E mpire
T h ey trained regularly. A t C aw thorne in Yorkshire, they built They make a desert and call
practice camps where they trained in attacking forts held by the it 'peace'.
enemy. O nly citizens o f the Empire could jo in the legions. T h ey
jo in ed for 25 years. W h en they retired they were given m oney O
QC
(th ree gold coin s) and land to farm. ZD
O
CO
M ost o f the actual fighting was done by soldiers called
auxiliaries. T h ey were n o t citizens o f th e Empire. T h ey were The Roman historian Tacitus, writing
made citizens w hen they retired. T h ey included cavalry from in about AD 90. He is describing how
Sp ain and Hungary and archers from the M iddle East. the Roman army treated the lands o f the
enemies o f Rome.
A fter about AD 100, th e Empire stopped growing. T h e army
th en spent m ost o f its tim e keeping hold o f the lands th at it had
captured. T h is took a lo t o f m en. M ore and more non-citizens
•••
were recruited as auxiliaries to defend the forts on the borders
o f th e Empire. I In what ways did the Roman
army change after ad 100?
Tribespeople, from outside th e Empire, were also employed.
T h ey were put in regiments called num eri. Like th e auxiliaries, 2 a Look at Sources A and C.
the num eri often defended forts on the frontiers. T h ey were n ot What different views do
they give of life in the
made citizens w hen they retired.
Roman army?
b If historians only had one
of these sources, how
would it affect their views
of what Roman soldiers
did for a living?
3 Look carefully at Source C.

How did the Roman
stonemason make the
emperor look different from
the ordinary soldiers?
4 Does Source D give a good

or a bad impression of the
Roman army?
5 Design a recruiting poster for

the Roman legions. Describe
a soldier’s work, the skills he
would need and the benefits
of being in the Roman army.
4 A Roman emperor speaking to his

soldiers, as shown on the Arch of
Constantine.
T he R o m a n E mpire
2 .4 T h e Roman Republic
W h e n the last king had been overthrow n in 5 0 9 BC, Rom e
becam e a republic. Power was held by a num ber o f rich families.
T h ey m et together in th e senate and were called senators. T h e
senate was the m ain law m aking group in Rom e.
E ach year, two senators were elected as consuls to run the city.
T h ese consuls were elected by a m eeting o f all the citizens. T h e
voting was arranged so th at the rich had more say th an the poor
in the elections. T h e consuls were advised by th e members of
the senate. In an emergency, the two consuls chose one m an to
be a dictator for six m onths. A dictator had a lot o f power. AU
o f these people were m en. W om en were n ot allowed to take
part.
O th er m en were elected as magistrates. Som e helped the

consuls. E ach year they carried out a census. Som e organized
sacrifices to th e gods o f R om e. T h is kind o f governm ent made The letters ‘SPQR’ stand for ‘Senate
R om e well organized. However, there was often rivalry betw een and People of Rome’. These letters
the wealthy fam ilies. T h ese fam ilies were supported by their were put on buildings and on army
standards. They helped explain who ran
followers or clients. Rivalry could lead to violence.
the government of Rome. These letters
are from a modern draincover in the
M any poorer citizens, called plebeians, were n o t happy. T h ey
city of Rome.
did n ot own m uch land and were often in debt. T h ere was
rivalry betw een the plebeians and the rich members o f the
senate. In 4 5 0 BC, plebeians took action to have Rom an
laws properly w ritten down. T h ese were called T h e
Twelve Tables. T h e plebeians had two m ain
ways o f putting pressure on th e wealthy
B
people in R om e. T h ey could refuse to fight
in the army and they could th reaten to
leave R om e and set up th eir own city.
T h ese threats som etim es made the
wealthy pay atten tio n to the demands
o f the plebeians. In 4 9 2 BC, some
plebeians were appointed as tribunes.
T h ese m en had th e power to defend the
plebeians from injustice. However,
R om e was m ainly under the co n trol of
the rich. In tim e, though, some o f these
were w ealthier plebeians.
O
OC
A Roman copper coin made in AD 23 . =>
O
The letters show that it was made CO
‘By permission of the senate’.
•••
1 a Which group of people had the m ost say in the 3 Look carefully at Source C. Write an
government of Rome? archaeologist’s report on what you can see of this
b In what way did the Roman senators control the site. You will need to include:
life of the city? • a careful description of what you can see
• a simple sketch of some of the evidence
2 a Which sources give us information about how • a comm ent on how important you think this
Rome was governed? Explain what each source area of Rome was.
tells us.
b At the time when the coin (Source B) was 4 Why do you think the Italian government stamped
made, the senate had lost much of its power to ‘SPQR’ on something modern (Source А)?
an emperor. Can you think of any reason why
the emperor was still happy to have these
words stamped on coins?
SOURCE
2.5 B uilding an Empire
A fter the war w ith C arthage, R om an power spread. Rom e was B
I set on the Romans, lim its
neither o f space or tim e. I
building an Em pire. T h is is w hen one country conquers and have given them an Empire
controls other countries. It was n o t planned out beforehand. As w ith o u t limits.
O
the Rom ans defeated enem ies, they captured many cities and OC
ZD
people. M ore people were brought into the R om an army. Rom e O
CO
could th en conquer more land. Every tim e th e R om an army
won, it got larger and becam e more experienced. The Roman god Jupiter, in a play
written by Virgil, in the 1st century BC.
V ictory also made some im portant Rom ans very wealthy.
Com m anders o f armies found th at war made them famous. T h is
The gods desire that the city
made them want to fight more wars. A fter defeating C arthage,
o f Rome shall be the capital
Rom e turned on G reece. Som e G reeks, in M acedonia, had
o f all the countries o f the
opposed R om e. By 148 BC, M acedonia was beaten. S o o n other
w o rld . They shall practise
G reek people cam e under R om an control. A new province,
w arfare so that no humans
called A sia, was set up in 133 BC. It included many G reek cities. shall be able to resist the
O
OC armies o f Rome.
R om an armies were soon w inning battles from southern France ZD
O
(G au l) to Egypt. It seemed as if there were no lim its to R om an CO
power. U n til the R om an army was defeated in Germ any, in
The Roman writer Livy, writing in the
AD 9, it looked as if n othing could stop the legions. 1st century BC.
E ach new province added to the Empire was run by a governor,

who was a m em ber o f the senate. T h e provinces paid taxes to D o n 't forget Romans, it is
the R om an authorities. W ith the conquest o f G reece, many your special skill to rule all
new ideas spread across the lands under R om an con trol. For the peoples; to impose the ways
first tim e, many different people were being ruled by the same o f peace. Show m ercy to the
governm ent. R om e was changing peoples’ lives. defeated and crush those
proud men w ho w ill not
C ountries th at were n ot ruled by the Rom ans found th at it was surrender!
wise to keep on the right side o f them . In this way, R om an
power and influence spread far beyond th e borders o f the lands
th at they ruled. The Roman writer Virgil, writing in the
1st century BC.
Roman coin showing the

A Greek god Apollo, The Romans felt they had
10 BC.
absolute moral right on their
side. The Romans fe lt they
could treat m inor kingdoms
in their pow er exactly as they
O wished, or exterm inate w hole
Ш
OC tribes.
O ZD
OC
ZD O
CO
O
CO Ill
w m P. Salway, ‘Roman Britain’ , 1981.
1 8 T he R o m a n E m p i r e
Lands controlled by Rome by ad 117
BITHYNIA
CAPPADOCIA
!• Antioch
SYRIA
•Jerusalem
1 a Which, of Sources B-E, is a secondary source? 3 a The Roman Empire was large and successful.
How can you tell? People were glad to be members of it.’ How
b Do you think the Romans planned to build an much of this statement can be supported by
Empire? looking at the map?
с Give reasons why the Empire grew. b How could an historian use Source A as
evidence that Greek ideas spread through the
2 Read Source E. Now look at Sources В-D . Can Roman Empire?
you find any evidence in Sources В, C and D
which agrees with the opinion of the modern
historian in Source E?
T he R o m a n E mpire 1 9
2.6 Julius Caesar
D espite the victories of R om e over its enem ies, there was unrest There is a story o f him
throughout Italy during the early 1st century BC. M any Italian [Caesar] jokin g and playing
farmers had been ruined by th e wars w ith C arthage. M any spent at dice w ith some pirates
w ho captured him . O ne of
long years w ith th e army. T h e rich treated the poor farmers
his jokes was that he w ould
badly In Rom e itself, the powerful citizens com peted for power.
c rucify them when he was
T h e armies were loyal to th eir com m anders, and n ot to the
O freed. The pirates laughed,
R om an senate. OC
ZD but crucify them he did.
O
Successful generals becam e very powerful. O ne, nam ed Sulla, CO
returned to R om e as a dictator. He destroyed his enem ies and
J. M . Roberts, ‘History of the World’,
gave th eir land to his supporters. O n e o f Su lla’s supporters was
1980.
Pom pey. He defeated pirates who threatened food supplies to
R om e. He had won great victories in the M iddle East. Som e
Caesar w ou ld have sought
members o f the senate opposed Pompey because they were
glory and booty [loot]
afraid o f one m an becom ing too powerful. Pompey join ed with
whatever the situation, as part
other generals and defeated his enem ies in th e senate.
o f the normal career o f an
O
OC am bitious noblem an.
O n e o f Pompey’s friends was Julius C aesar, who becam e a ZD
consul in 59 BC. H e led th e R om an army in G aul. S o o n he had O
CO
conquered G aul. H e even led two expeditions to Britain. In
Rom e, his enem ies ordered him hom e. T h ey feared th at he was Dobson, ‘Hadrian’s Wall’ , 1976.
getting too powerful. As a governor, it was against the law for
him to lead his army out of G aul. H e broke this law. H e crossed Caesar marched q uic k ly to
th e river R u b icon (th e boundary of his province) in 49 BC, and Spain to defeat seven legions.
invaded Italy. H e faced enem ies in Italy, and in the R om an They were then m ild ly treated
provinces o f Spain, Egypt and A frica. His old friend Pompey in order to w in over as many
now tried to co n trol him . Caesar fought back. H e chased as possible o f the soldiers.
Pompey to Egypt, where Pompey was murdered. W h ile he was

there, Caesar becam e involved in a civil war th at was taking
place betw een th e Egyptians. For a short while he was the lover J. M . Roberts, ‘History o f the World’,
of C leopatra, the Egyptian Q ueen. By 45 BC, Caesar had 1980.
defeated most o f his enem ies.
There is much debate on
Julius Caesar put his friends in places o f power in th e senate.
w hether he had a long term
Th ey elected him dictator for life. H e ruled R om e as if he were plan in life, always intent on
a king. M any powerful senators were frightened o f him . T h ey supreme power, or was an
felt h e had too m uch power, so on 15 M arch 4 4 BC, a group o f opportunist. [A person w ho
them murdered him . makes the most o f any
situation w h ich w ill help
O them but does not plan it out
OC in advance.]
ZD
O
CO
P. Salway, ‘Roman Britain’ , 1981.
Some of Julius Caesar’s actions. f ) < o t \ М л Л л Л Л ...
1 a Look at the list of Julius

Gave land to poor citizens.
Caesar’s actions. These
Reformed the laws. actions would have had
Ruled like a king. different con seq uences.
Some actions would have
Built many fine buildings.
been popular. Some would
Put his friends in powerful positions. have been unpopular.
Named a month after himself (July). Decide which actions from
the list should go under
Wore purple robes, like a king.
each of these headings.
Introduced a new calendar.
Popular actions
Helped many people in Spain and Gaul to become citizens. Unpopular actions
Put up his own statue among the statues of the old kings of Rome. b Are there any actions
which would have been
popular with some people
but unpopular with others?
A bust [head and shoulders] o f Which ones are they?
Julius Caesar.
2 a Sources A and C give very
different impressions of
Caesar. Why do you think
he might have acted so
differently in these two
situations?
b According to the writer of
Source D, what is it about
Caesar that historians
cannot agree on?
с Look at Source B. Which
side of the argument
mentioned in Source D
does this writer seem to
support?
3 Which of the sources in this

Unit would be least helpful in
making a study of the life of
Julius Caesar? Explain your
answer.
O
OC
=D
O
CO
■ '--V! 4 &
T he R o m a n E mp i r e 21
2.7 C a s e Study I: Caesar Invades Britain
In 55 and 54 B C , Julius Caesar led an army to Britain. N o There is an infin ite num ber of
R om an general had ever done this before, but this did n o t m ean men, very many buildings
th at the Rom ans knew nothing about B ritain. For many years and very large herds. They
b o th G reek and R om an traders had travelled to B ritain to buy use either bronze or gold
LU
O money. There is tim ber of
and sell goods. A lso, the Rom ans had conquered large areas of
Cd every kind.
G aul (now France) and turned it into a province. In G aul, the ZD
O
Rom ans heard many stories about the island o f B ritain. T h e CO
Rom ans also knew th at some o f their enem ies in G au l were
Julius Caesar writing about Britain.
being helped by people from Britain.
He lived from 100-44 BC.
W h en Caesar led his expedition in 55 B C , he cam e to discover

more about B ritain and its people. He also cam e to frighten Their w ay of life is modest
those British leaders who were helping his enem ies in G aul. A and they are free from the
victory would also have made him more famous. Caesar did n ot luxuries w hich com e from
bring a large army w ith him . Bad w eather m eant th a t even being rich. The island is
some o f these soldiers were unable to cross the sea. th ic k ly populated, much tin
is also carried from the
O
W h en Caesar reached Britain he found that the British were CC British Isles to Gaul.
ZD
armed and ready for him. A t first, his soldiers were too frightened O
CO
to leave their boats. It was only when the standard bearer of the
T en th Legion leapt into the water that the others followed. Diodorus Siculus, writing in about
30 BC.
Eventually, Caesar’s soldiers fought their way ashore. However,
four days after he landed, a storm wrecked many o f Caesar’s ships.
He was forced to repair them and take his m en back to Gaul. Britain has gold and silver
and other metals. The ocean,
In 54 B C he cam e back with a larger army. M arching inland, too, produces pearls.
through m odern K ent, he fought a num ber o f battles against the O
CC
British. N ext, he crossed the river Tham es. Som e o f the British ZD
w ent over to the R om an side. In the end, Cassivellaunus, the O
CO
leader o f the British, asked for peace. C aesar took some British
hostages, to make sure th at their fam ilies were friendly towards The Roman writer Tacitus who lived
R om e. H e also demanded th at th e British should pay a sum o f from AD 56-115.
m oney to the Rom ans every year. T h e n Caesar returned to
G aul. B ritain did n ot actually becom e a R om an province until
it was invaded again in A D 43.
Two thousand years ago R om an writers disagreed about how

worthwhile the invasion o f Britain was. In this U n it you will
exam ine some o f these primary sources. It is im portant to
remember that one o f the reasons why modern historians disagree
about what happened in history is because primary sources do not
always agree. Each o f the sources in the U n it describes Britain.
Tl The R o man Empire

Twice he [Caesar] crossed the
narrow sea and, fighting
many battles there, he hurt
the enemy more than gained
riches for his ow n men. It was
not possible to take anything
оfrom people w ho were poor.
ОС
=Э
О
CO
The Roman writer Plutarch who lived

from AD 50—125.
He [Caesar] also invaded

Britain and defeated the
natives from w hom he took a
large am ount o f m oney as
w e ll as hostages. Fresh w ater
pearls seem to have been the
O attraction w hich led to his

QC invasion.
ZD •• •
O PU
CO :¾)I
ШШ I 1 a Why do historians disagree with each other about why Caesar
came to Britain?
Suetonius, writing in about AD 120.
b Look at Sources A-G in this Unit. Make a list of anything
mentioned in them which might have made Britain seem
attractive to Caesar,
The inhabitants o f this island
с Now put your list in order of importance. Put the m ost important
refuse m oney and get w hat
at number I , the next m ost important at number 2, and so on.
they need by
tn Q\ /
swapping
K~\\ / r \ A / - i n m КЧГТ
Explain your first choice.

O things rather than by buying.
oc
2 a Each of Sources A-G describes Britain. What else would you
need to know about the writers of these sources, in order to
decide if they can be trusted?
Solinus, writing in about AD 200. b Sometimes a source is biased. This means that it only tells one
side of a story. It can give too good, or too bad, an account.
Which source gives the m ost biased account against the
Some suppose that the
British?
Britons are named this
Explain why you made this choice.
because they are 'brutes'.
They are a people livin g in
3 a Look at Source A. Why did Caesar think Britain was attractive?
the ocean, cut off by the sea.
b Now look at the other sources. Which sources agree with
It is as if they w ere outside
O Source A?
OC the w orld.
ZD с Which sources disagree with Source A?
O d Which sources give you information, not mentioned by Caesar?
CO
(You may find that some sources appear in more than one
Isidorus Hispalensis, writing in about answer.)
AD 620.
T he R o m a n E m p i r e 2 3
2.8 C a s e Study 2: Claudius Invades Britain
Julius C aesar visited B ritain tw ice. H e fought battles but did n ot
B
The Britons made a valiant
effort to defend the line of
m ake B ritain a province o f th e R om an Empire. A later emperor,
C aligula, planned to m ake B ritain a province o f the Empire. He the river M edw ay and were
o nly driven off after a fierce
even w ent as far as bringing a great army to G aul for the
tw o-day battle. Claudius then
invasion but, at th e last m inute, he called it off.
put in an appearance to
claim the victo ry his
In A D 4 3 , Em peror Claudius ordered an invasion o f B ritain. He
O subordinate [junior] had
had been made emperor w hen C aligula was murdered. Claudius OC already w on.
ZD
w anted people to th in k he was a good general. H e invaded O
B ritain to prove this. His excuse for th e invasion was th at a CO
British king friendly to R om e, V erica, had been driven out o f

R. Selman, ‘Roman Britain’, 1956.
his lands by his enem ies.
T h e R om an army landed near Richborough, in w hat is now

K en t. It was led by A ulus P lau tiu s. In a great battle, fought at He had received the
th e R iver Medway, the B ritish were throw n back. W h e n Aulus surrender o f eleven British
Plautius reached th e Tham es, he stopped his advance while he kings, defeated w ith o u t
casualties, and brought
waited for Claudius to arrive from Rom e. Claudius was in
barbarian peoples beyond
B ritain for sixteen days. During this tim e, he defeated the
the ocean for the first tim e
B ritish who opposed him in south-east B ritain. T h e ir capital, at
under Roman rule.
C olchester, was captured.
Claudius w ent back to R om e, but th e army continued w ith the

conquest o f B ritain. T h e N in th and Fourteenth Legions Inscription in Rome, from the 1st
advanced n orth and west from C olchester. T h e Seco n d Legion century AD.
continued a m arch along th e south coast. Its general,
Vespasian, captured over twenty B ritish forts, in Hampshire,
D orset and Som erset. mk; C la u d iu s to o k th e triu m p h
\J w ith o u t any effort o f his
In this U n it you will read different primary sources giving own.
accounts o f th e invasion. O n ce again, they do n o t all tell the
O
same story. You will also read different secondary sources. T h is OC
=>
will show you how historians use different primary sources and O
com e to different conclusions. CO
TheJewish historian Josephus, writing

In ad 43 the Emperor Claudius fin a lly invaded our island w ith four in the 1st century AD.
legions o f Roman soldiers. They landed in Kent and marched
inland. Some Britons w elcom ed them , some fought hard against
them , but b it by bit they conquered the w ho le o f w ha t we now
O call England and Wales.
OC
ZD
O
CO
J. Liversidge, 'RomanBritain', 1958.
H aving crossed to Britain, Claudius join ed the forces w h ich were
w aiting for him at the Thames. Taking over com m and, he crossed f i ' C t x A /л Л л Л Л *-*
it and, com ing to grips w ith the forces assembled to oppose him ,
1 a Which of the sources are
he defeated them and captured Colchester.
о primary sources? How can
ОС
ZD you tell?
о b According to Source B,
CO
what events had taken
Cassius Dio, who lived from AD 160-230. place before the arrival of
Emperor Claudius?
с According to Source B,
Vespasian fought th irty times w ith the enemy. He defeated tw o
would it have mattered if
pow erful tribes and captured the Isle o f W ight, under the
Claudius had not come to
leadership, partly o f Aulus Plautius, partly o f Claudius himself.
Britain? Explain your
Claudius fought no battles and suffered no casualties.
O answer.
OC
ZD
O 2 a The w riter Josephus was a
CO
friend of the Roman
Suetonius Tranquillus, writing in about AD 1 20. general Vespasian
(mentioned in Source F).
Do you think his version of
the invasion can be
trusted? Explain your
answer,
b Source C is an account of
the invasion by the Roman
government of Claudius.
Do you think this version
of the invasion can be
trusted? Explain your
answer,
с Read Sources A and B.
Which of the primary
sources in this Unit do you
think each w riter has
used?
3 In what ways do the primary

sources disagree about the
part played by Claudius in the
invasion of Britain?
Maiden Castle, in Dorset. A hill fort

attacked by Roman soldiers.
2.9 T h e Emperors
W h e n Julius C aesar was murdered, in 4 4 BC, his great nephew
O ctavian cam e to Rom e to take revenge. He had been made
C aesar’s heir and adopted son. O ctav ian worked w ith one of
C aesar’s supporters - M ark A n th on y - to destroy C aesar’s
murderers.
O cta v ia n and M ark A n th o n y soon quarrelled. A t the B attle

of A etium (31 B e), M ark A n th o n y was defeated. H e and his
lover, C leopatra o f Egypt, com m itted suicide.
O etav ian was left in control. R om e had been weakened by

twenty years o f civil war. H e set out to m ake R om e strong
again. H e also set about transform ing .its laws.
In 27 BC, he took the title o f A ugustus. It means ‘m ajestic’, or

‘n o b le’. He was now the com plete ruler o f R om e, although he A Roman silver coin made in 28 BC. It
was careful to show respect to th e old Republic. H e was also celebrates the addition o f Egypt to the
Empire, by Augustus.
C h ie f Priest o f R om e. M ost historians.use this date to divide up
R om an history. T h e years before 27 BC they call T h e Republic.
T h e years after they call T h e Em pire. From this tim e onwards,
R om e was ruled by emperors. A ctually, as we have seen, Rom e
was building an empire long before 27 BC. A lso, Julius Caesar
had held as m uch power as some o f the later emperors.
However, historians use this date because Augustus set him self
up as a more powerful ruler th an any other th at R om e had
known.
W h e n Augustus died in AD 14, power passed to his stepson,

Tiberius. R om e was now ruled by a royal family.
A Roman gold
coin made in
20 вс. It Their loyalty was to the
celebrates w fa m ily o f the emperor, not to
the addition the Senate and people.
o f Armenia O
to the CC
ZD
Empire, by O
O Augustus. CO
CC
ZD P. Salway describing the Roman army
O
CO during the Empire. ‘Roman Britain’,
1981.
A portrait o f the head of Augustus,
made o f glass. It was probably made
soon after his death, in AD 14-
However, it makes him appear as if he
were a young man.
1 a Give one reason why

having emperors may be
said to have weakened
Rome.
b Give one reason for, and
one reason against,
treating the year 27 вс
as vitally important in the
history of Rome,
T h e army, though, influenced who would be emperor. Tiberius
с What important change of
was followed by Caligula, Claudius and N ero. AU three were
attitude is mentioned in
murdered. W h e n N ero was murdered in AD 6 8 , a civil war
Source C? Why was this
followed. In AD 69, there were four rival emperors. T h e war was
change important?
eventually won in the same year by Vespasian, the general who
had fought in Britain. 2 a Look at Sources A and B.
How did Augustus spread
In AD 192, there was civil war again w hich lasted until AD 197. the news about his
D ifferent armies backed different rival emperors. T h e Empire victories?
suffered greatly in these civ il wars, as rival generals and nobles b Do you think this affects
fought to becom e emperor. T h e emperors becam e afraid o f the way historians think
letting th eir generals becom e too powerful and successful. Such about him?
a general m ight try to becom e emperor him self. A s a result, the
Empire stopped growing. 3 Why did the person who
made Source D make
W orse th an this, the enem ies o f R om e took advantage o f those Augustus look like a younger
times w hen R om e was weakened by civil war. man?
4 a Source E tells us many

A t home, Augustus im proved the state of the country and its
good things about
people. Abroad, his armies fought battles to w in peace through
Augustus. Why does the
victory. Kings beyond the frontier o f the Empire made pacts w ith
writer think that people
him . Ambassadors and princes came from far away w ith valuable
only ever heard good
presents: from Persia and India, from Britain and Romania. The
things said about him?
senate and people o f Rome honoured him for his 'courage, mercy,
b Does this affect the way
justice and piety'. His enemies in Rome did not live to tell a
O historians should look at
DC different story.
ZD sources of evidence from
O 8МВММИ the time of the Roman
CO
emperors?
A . Millard, ‘Discoveries from the Time o f Jesus’, 1990.
T he R o m a n E mpire 27
3.1 с ltizens
A citizen is a m em ber of a country. A s a citizen, a person has Gaul is packed w ith traders,
certain rights and duties. A person’s rights are those things that cram m ed w ith citizens. No
they are allowed to do by law. A person’s duties are those things Gaul does business w ith o u t
th at they have to do. R om an citizens had special rights. T h ey invo lvin g a Roman citizen.
could serve in th e army, and were protected by the law. Th ey N ot a penny changes hands
w ith o u t the deal being
could vote in governm ent elections. T h ey were protected from O
OC recorded by a Roman citizen.
harsh treatm ent and certain punishm ents. T h ey also had duties, =Э
such as paying full R om an taxes. O
CO
A s R om an power spread, the people in some conquered cities The Roman writer Cicero, writing in
were allowed to becom e citizens. In 91 BC, there was a revolt in 74 BC.
Italy. It was led by people who demanded the rights o f R om an
citizens. It was seen as a good thing to be a citizen.
W h a t use are laws when
W h e n the army conquered foreign lands, Rom an citizens soon m oney calls all the tunes and
followed. T h ey cam e as tax collectors, traders and land owners. people w ith o u t a gentleman's
Ex-soldiers were given land in captured provinces. C ities made O
incom e have no real rights at
up o f these citizens were called colonia.- T h ey often made OC all?
ZD
m oney out o f the natives. Augustus started 75 colon ia in O
CO
foreign lands. T h ey spread the R om an way o f life and helped to
co n trol and run the Empire. It was also a way to get The Roman writer Petronius, writing in
troublesom e people away from R om e! W h en the leaders o f the 1st century AD. He is talking about
conquered people accepted R om an rule, they were allowed to poor citizens.
becom e citizens. T h is encouraged them to live and act like
Rom ans.
In AD 21 2 , all free members o f th e Empire were made citizens.

T h is m eant th at everyone could be fully taxed.
Then the officials tore the clothes off Paul and Silas and ordered
them to be w hipped. After a severe beating they were th ro w n into
ja il. The next m orning the Roman authorities sent officers w ith the
order, 'Let these men go'. But Paul said to the officers, 'W e were
not found g uilty o f any crim e, yet they w hipped us in p ub lic - and
we are Roman citizens. Then they threw us in prison.' The officers
reported these words to the Roman officials, and when they heard
O
OC that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were afraid.
=D
O
CO
The experiences of two early Christians in the Roman colonia o f Philippi (in
modern G reece), in about AD 50. It is recorded in the Acts o f the Apostles,
chapter 16.
2 8 T he R o m a n E m pi r e
Som e o f the people who were n o t citizens were slaves. A slave
is som eone who is n ot free. A slave belongs to a person in the ^сАлл/лХл^ел • . *
way th at a horse, or a piece o f furniture does. A slave could be 1 a Why was it regarded as a
bought and sold and had no rights. However, they were ‘good’ thing to be a Roman
protected from th e worst treatm ent by laws passed by the citizen?
Emperors Augustus and Hadrian. M ost slaves were eith er the b What did the Emperors
children o f slaves, or had been captured in wars w ith the Augustus and Hadrian do
R om an army. to help slaves?
Som e o f them were made to do hard work, although others 2 Look at Source B, which is
were educated. T h ese educated slaves were used as teachers, about actions of Roman
citizens in Gaul. If you were
and some becam e quite powerful servants o f the emperors.
one of the non-citizens living
Som etim es these im portant slaves were able to buy th eir own
in Gaul, how would you feel
freedom. Usually, though, slaves only becam e free if they were
about what these citizens
freed by th eir masters or mistresses. T h ey were th en called
were doing in your country?
freedmen. T h ese freedm en often did im portant jobs for the
emperor. Som e even becam e wealthy, often as m erchants, 3 a In Source A, why were the
buying and selling goods. Roman officials afraid?
b Which of the sources
could be used as evidence
that a person’s position in
Roman society was often
decided by someone else?
с ‘If a person became a
Roman citizen, life was
made easy for them .’
Using all of the sources,
say whether you agree or
disagree with this
statement. Explain your
answer.
Tombstone o f a woman named Regina

who was a British slave. She was bought
by a soldier who freed her and married
her.
3.2 Barbarians
People who lived outside the Empire were know n as barbarians. Pale brow n faces. Straight
T h is is a G reek word, used to show th at they did n o t speak a B nose. Bright brown eyes.
respected language. Respected languages were G reek, and th en Brown hair. Thin lips. N ot
Latin. T h ese were the m ain languages o f th e Empire. too tall.

O
OC
n>
Barbarians did n ot live, dress, or speak like R om an citizens. O
CO
Rom ans often thought o f them as uncivilized savages. In reality,
they had th eir own ways o f life. T h e barbarians were very A modern historian’s list of Roman
attracted to the w ealth o f the Empire, and often hoped to share descriptions o f perfect appearance.
in it. Som e, especially towards the end o f th e R om an Empire, From L. A. Thompson, ‘Romans and
Blacks’, 1989.
served as soldiers in the Rom an army. O thers raided the lands of
the Empire, to steal. Som e barbarians tried to settle inside the We change our hair co lo u r to
Empire and live like Rom ans. A s Rom e grew weak, the blond, because men find us
powerful barbarian peoples becam e a th reat to th e Empire. more attractive that way.
O
T h e Rom ans had m ixed views o f th e barbarians. O ften they OC
ZD
looked down on them . A t other tim es they were willing to use O
them if they could. Som e Rom ans even found it fashionable to CO
copy attractive characteristics o f barbarian people. T h e sources

The Roman poet Martial on how
in this U n it will show you some o f these m ixed views. Roman women copied barbarian looks.
Written in the 1st century AD.
Too tall. Lank blond, or red hair. Light blue eyes. U pturned noses. Africans have w h ite r souls
A Huge bellies. Simple minds. Q u ic k tempers. Brave. Reckless. than the w hitest o f Greeks.
D runken. Lazy. G am bling and boastful.
O O
OC OC
ZD ZD
O O
CO ; ^ f jf - f * J CO
ЯШШЯШШШЛШШШЯШИШШШШШЯЯЯЯШЯШИЯВ8ШЯШШШШЯВШ ш ш т
A modem historian’s list o f Roman descriptions o f northern barbarians. Roman comment, from about AD 250.
From L. A. Thompson, ‘Romans and Blacks’, 1989.
The kingdom o f Ethiopia is a fertile and rich w onderland,
possessing an abundance o f gold and a royal fam ily ^ £ & \ \ / аЛ лЛЛ •. *
descended from the gods.
LU I a What kinds of people did
О the Romans call
ОС
ZD barbarians?
О b Give two ways in which
CO
barbarians shared in the
From a Roman geography book written in about AD 250. wealth of Rome.
In 151 вс Sulpicius Galga, w h o had massacred thousands o f 2 a Over time, some Roman
Lusitanians [from modern Portugal] after they had surrendered to writers changed their
him , was acquitted [found not guilty] at his trial. Very few people minds about some of the
in Rome cared much about w h a t happened to the Barbarians. barbarians. They wrote
O
OC about barbarian lands as if
ZD
O they were ‘fairy-tale’
CO places. Which of the
sources shows this view of
T. Cornell and J. Matthews, ‘Atlas of the Roman World’, 1982.
the barbarians?
b Is there anything about
Source E which might
make you distrust it as an
accurate source of
information?
3 a Read Sources A and B.

Now make up two police
identikit pictures, one for
each of these Roman
views of what barbarians
and Romans looked like,
b Which source shows that
not all Romans thought
barbarians were
unattractive?
с How important is this
source, in your opinion?
4 a What does Source G tell

Roman gold and silver coins us about the relationship
found in the village o f Ginderup, in Denmark, between Romans and
These coins were probably buried in about AD 1 0 0
barbarians?
b What did the w riter of
The people who lived in Ginderup were not members o f the
Source D mean? How
Roman Empire. They lived far beyond its frontiers.
Archaeologists believe that the coins probably belonged to could an historian use this
a barbarian tribesman who served in the Roman army. He may source to show that not all
have buried the coins, for safety, when he returned to his native village. Romans looked down on
barbarians?
T he R o m a » E mpi r e 3 1
3.3 T h e Family
T h e family was very im portant to the Rom ans. E ach family was AU men rule over w om en.
under the co n trol of the father. In Latin, h e was called the B W e Romans rule over all
paterfamilias (th e father o f the fam ily). H e had com plete men and our wives rule
co n trol over all relatives and servants in the house. His sons over us!
O
stayed under his co n trol until he died. OC
1Э
O
CO
T h e paterfamilias led the family in its worship o f th e gods. It
was believed th at household gods looked after each family. The Roman writer Cato, who lived
from 234-149 вс.
R elated fam ilies were grouped together and shared a nam e. A
group o f related fam ilies was know n as a gens. E ach m em ber of
the gens had his or her personal nam e and the nam e o f the
gens. T h is showed w hich group o f fam ilies they belonged to.
W om en were under the co n trol of th eir husbands or fathers.

However, they controlled how the house was run. T h e Rom an
m other was called the m aterfam ilias (m other o f the fam ily).
Som e wom en tried to be more independent and educated.

R om an writers were n ot always happy w ith this. T h ey felt a
w om an’s place was running the hom e.
T h is is how families were organized in Rom e. However, we must

remember th at the R om an Empire was very large. T h ere were
some groups o f people living w ithin the Empire who organized
themselves differently. For exam ple, in Britain during the
1st century AD there were women who were very powerful rulers.
O n e, named Boudicca, ruled a tribe called the Iceni. A nother,
nam ed Cartim andua, ruled a tribe called the Brigantes.
Statues o f a family from Palmira, in

modern Syria. They are members o f the
Roman Empire but are dressed in
middle^eastern clothes from the 2nd
century A D . These people would have
spoken the Palmirene language instead
o f Latin. They would have followed
Arab ways o f life, not Roman ones.
с
SOURCE
Bathing a baby. A carving from Rome.
I The beginnings and ends of the following sentences have been

mixed up. Match the co rrect head to its tail. In each case the tail
happened because the head took place. This makes the head, a
ca u se and the tail a con seq uence.
Heads Tails
Families were grouped together so some writers condemned
Y o u w e re a fa ith fu Iw ife to
Fathers controlled the family
them.
and each person had a
D me, and an obedient one.
gens name. You w ere kind, gracious and
Some women tried to act freely with different family types, friendly. You w orked hard at
The Empire was very large so wives were not free to act. your spinning. You d id not
dress so as to be noticed, nor
2 Explain why it would be very difficult fo r an historian to say that did you show o ff your
family life and the relationship between men and women was the running o f the house. You
same for all people across the Empire. did yo ur duty to the
household. You tended my
3 a How does Source C illustrate the Roman view of a woman’s ..I m other as if she had been
place in life? O your ow n.
O
b Compare Sources B and D. How do these two w riters differ in
their description of the way women acted within marriage and
the family? A Roman description o f a faithful wife
from the 1st century BC.
34т
J * I I ransport
150 The roads were carried
A Shipwrecks
w straight across the
countryside, were paved w ith
in western
Mediterranean I cut stones and supported
I underneath w ith masses o f
100 tightly-packed gravel.
; H ollow s were fille d in and
J jj ravines that cut across the
OC route were bridged.
O ___ _____ ___
50 CO
LU Plutarch, who lived from AD 5 0 - 1 2 0 ,

O describing roads built by the army.
OC
ZD
O
CO
Before З
ООв
с 300-150вс 150-1 в
с .ad I-150 ad 150— 300 A fter ad 300
This graph shows the number o f ancient ships found by underwater archaeologists,
in the western Mediterranean.
T h e R om an Empire needed good transport routes. T h e army

had to move about quickly. Food had to be carried to Rom e.
Taxes had to be collected. T h e evidence w hich has survived T Pam[mg of д Roman $Ырf m m
about R om an transport shows us just how im portant it was. Qstia, near Rome. The ship was called
T h ere were four m ain forms o f transport: by road; by sea; by the ‘Isis Giminiana’. The captain’s
river; by canal. M any clues rem ain about each sort. name was Famaces.
mscMTvs
O
OC
ZD
O
CO
I th ink I should bring to your attention any plan w h ich is w o rth y 4 Letter from Pliny, Governor of
o f your im m ortal name and glory. There is a large lake, near Bythinia, in modern Turkey, to the
N icom edia, across w h ich marble, food, and tim ber for b uilding Emperor Trajan, in about AD 112.
are easily brought by boat as far as the main road. He is writing about a plan for a new
After this everything has to be taken to the sea by cart, w ith canal.
great d iffic u lty and increased cost. To connect the lake w ith the
sea w o u ld require a lot o f w orkm en but there are plenty o f them
оavailable.
ОС
=э
о
CO
Thousands o f miles o f R om an roads survive to be studied. T h ey •••

were so well made, th at archaeologists can tell th at a lot o f
1 a Why did the Roman Empire
effort w ent into building them . W e also know about the roads
need good form s of
from other sources o f evidence. Som e o f these sources are
transport?
descriptions o f how th e roads were made. Som e are descriptions
b Look at Source D. Why did
of th e best way to get from one place to another, and the Pliny think that building a
distance betw een the places. T h ese sources are called canal would be a good
itineraries. Several have survived from R om an tim es. O n e, idea?
called th e Peutinger Table, is a map o f the world know n to the с How did he make it more
Rom ans. It shows towns and roads. A nother, called the likely that Trajan would
A n ton ine Itin erary, lists 225 routes around th e Empire and the agree with his plan?
distance betw een places.
2 a How could an historian use
O th er forms o f evidence, like the A cts of the A postles in the the work of underwater
archaeologists to support
N ew Testam ent, show us th a t people were able to travel around
the idea that travel by sea
fairly easily. W e also know th at the Rom ans travelled by sea.
increased when the Roman
T h ere are mosaics and paintings o f ships. T h ese show us what
Empire was at its m ost
Rom an boats looked like. O fficial docum ents have survived.
powerful (between
T h ese tell us th at thousands o f tons o f grain were carried, by 150 вс and ad 300)?
ship, from n orth A frica to Rom e. U nderw ater archaeologists b Can you think of any
have even found the rem ains o f R om an ships. Som e o f these reasons why the graph
sank at sea. O thers sank in rivers and harbours. Rom an ships (Source A) might not tell
have been found in the river Tham es, near the R om an port of us everything we need to
Londinium (L on d on ). O n e, found at Madrague de G ien s, off know about the number of
the south coast o f France, was carrying wine and fine pottery. ships that were wrecked
during the Roman Empire?
T h e Rom ans also dug m an-m ade rivers. T h ese are called canals.
T h e rivers R h in e and M euse (in G erm any) were linked by a 3 a Using Sources B and C,
canal. A n o th er canal called the C ar Dyke carried goods in explain what they tell
eastern England. A s well as these surviving canals, we also have historians about Roman
transport.
evidence in R om an docum ents, explaining why canals were
b Which source do you think
useful. AU o f these surviving primary sources give us
is the m ost useful? Explain
inform ation about the im portance o f travel in the Empire.
your answer.
♦J I rade in the Empire
T h e R om an Empire was very good for trade, for a num ber of
reasons. T h e large R om an army needed to be supplied w ith
food, clothes, pottery and weapons. Soldiers and other people
who worked for th e governm ent were paid w ith coins. T h ey
wanted to buy things w ith th eir money.
T h e Rom ans brought peace to many countries. T h is was called

the P a x Rom ana. It made it safe to travel long distances. G ood
roads helped as well. R om an towns were useful places in w hich
people could m eet to buy and sell goods.
M ost trade began w ith supplying the army w ith w hat it needed.
R om an m erchants organized this. Th ey'also helped the
governm ent to buy grain to feed the people living in R om e.
T h ese m erchants were called negotiatores. T h ey bought things
like wine, food and pottery and transported them to the army.
T h e negotiatores began to see th at they could sell things to

ordinary people, too. S o o n they were carrying these things on
the ships loaded w ith army supplies. Expensive pottery and glass
could be carried on ships loaded w ith olive oil, wine or grain.
T h e pottery or glass took up only a little space. However, it
could be sold for high prices. Pottery from Italy and A frica was д carving o f a Roman ship carrying
carried as far as Germ any, B ritain and the province o f G aul. wine barrels.
Glass jug and bowl from
в the 1st century AD.
Although they were found
in England, they were 1 a Find four ways in which the
made in Alexandria Roman Empire helped to
(Egypt). make trade easier,
b Explain how each of these
ways would have
encouraged buying and
selling.
2 Look at Source A. Imagine

that you are making a study
of trade within the Roman
Empire. What other
information would you like to
have about this ship, in order
о to use it as evidence?
CC
•=>
о 3 Look carefully at Source B.
CO
a What problems would a
Roman merchant face,
M any craftsm en and women found they could sell th eir goods
when sending these a long
to more people th an ever before. In the town o f Lyons (in
distance?
R om an G au l), negotiatores put together loads o f goods to be b Suggest reasons why this
taken as far away as B ritain and the rivers R h in e and Danube. glass jug and bowl would
have been expensive.
N o t all the trade was carried out by rich negotiatores. AU over
the Empire, farmers, potters and m etal workers saw a ch an ce to 4 The city of Rome lived off
make more money. T h ey sold th eir goods at local towns and large amounts of grain,
markets. brought from north Africa.’
Is there any information in the
sources to support this
statement?
Sunken grain storage jars. From Ostia,

the port o f Rome.
T he R o m a n E m p i r e 3 7
R o m a n Towns and Cities
T h e Rom ans are famous for th eir towns and cities. T h e ► The walls of many towns were
Rom ans did n o t in ven t them . People around the M editerranean improved in the 4th century A D . New
towers were added, which stood out
had lived in towns for many centuries. W h at the Rom ans did
from the walls. They made it harder
was make them bigger th an ever before, and build them in
for enemies to attack the town. The
places w hich had never had towns before. T h e people who ditches around the towns were also
lived in the biggest R om an towns were given the right to run redug.
them . W e call these very large towns, cities. Even after
hundreds of years the ruins o f cities survive, w hen other kinds
o f evidence decays. T h is helps to explain why people th in k o f
towns w hen they th ink o f the Rom ans.
T h e larger R om an towns were usually carefully planned. T h ey

had a m eeting place called the forum . G o v em m en t officials
often had th eir own building, called the basilica. From here
they could co n trol the running o f the town and th e land around
it. Som e large towns, like C alleva (S ilch ester), in England,
were originally less carefully planned. But as people becam e
more like th eir new R om an rulers they copied the R om an ways
o f planning towns. Sm aller towns were never well planned.
T h ey had few big buildings.
-*| The walls and towers o f the Roman city o f Constantinople, in

A I modern Turkey. Walls were built around towns and cities to keep
“ them safe from attack. These walls and towers were built in
I about AD 413.
ШШШШШ
Town defences I— I Area reached
after the 4th by weapons fired
century AD. from the walls.
Towers were
added to the Area in front of
walls. Ditches walls, out of reach
28 of defenders weapons.
were redug.
Direction and
distance weapons
could be fired from
town walls.
Town defences
before the 4th
century AD.
T h e R om an governm ent controlled the new provinces through

towns and cities. People cam e to towns to pay taxes. In order to
pay their taxes, they sold what they had grown, or made, for
I Explain how Roman taxes
R om an coins. A ny m oney left after they had paid th eir taxes
helped to encourage the
could be spent in the towns. T h is encouraged other people to growth of towns.
bring th eir goods to town, to sell for cash. R om an taxes gave
life to the towns. W h e n the taxes stopped, people stopped In what ways could historians
buying and selling and the towns cam e to an end. use the remains of Roman
towns to show how well
A gold coin. This one shows the organized the Romans were?
Emperor Antonius Pius, who
was emperor between 3 a Archaeologists find lots of
AD 138 and 161. It copper coins on Roman
would have been worth sites. They very rarely find
more than a small gold ones. Explain why this
farmer earned in one is so.
year. Taxes had to be b Look at the diagram
paid in gold and
showing the changes in
silver coins.
town walls. Why would the
new defences have made
it harder to attack a town?
с How might an historian tell
that the walls of
Constantinople (Source A)
were built after the 4th
century AD?
T he R o m a n E m pi r e 3 9
I ШШШШШШШШЯШШШЯшШВИШШШШшШШШяШШШВШшШШШШШШШшШШк Carving showing a Roman shop.
T h e remains o f R om an towns
show some o f the skills used by
R om an planners and builders. A
person who plans how a building
should be bu ilt is called an
arch itect. R om an architects
planned fine buildings w ith great
arches and domes. R om an
builders invented con crete. T h is
is a m ixture o f water, sand, stone
and cem ent. C o n crete helped to
m ake the buildings strong.
G overn m en t buildings were

made out o f fine stone and paid
for w ith m oney raised in taxes.
M arble is a beautiful stone and
the governm ent controlled its
supply. T h is was a way o f making
money, and m aking sure there
was enough m arble for
governm ent buildings.
A modern drawing which shows

Roman building skills. The weight of
the whole building is carried by the
O
arches. This downward force is spread OC
sideways by the arches. A complete
circle o f arches stops this sideways O
C/5
force from breaking the arches apart.
Л The Roman baths at the city of
Aquae Sulis (Bath) England. Everything
above the square bases of the pillars is a
Victorian reconstruction o f what the
baths might have looked like. It is not
Roman, it was made in the 19th
century AD.
O
OC
ZD
O
CO
Р\<Хлл/лЛллл. * *
M ost buildings were made from w hatever local stone was
1 How did the skills of Roman
available. O thers were made from wood and tiles. In th e Middle
architects and builders help
East mud bricks were used for building.
to make Roman buildings so
strong?
A s well as fine buildings, towns contained lots o f shops. In this
U n it you will find exam ples of th e kinds o f building skills and
2 Why should an historian be
shops found in R om an towns. very careful about using
Source C as evidence for
D how the Romans built the
baths at Bath?
3 a Look carefully at Sources

A and D. Write a report of
what you can see in these
sources,
b What kinds of shops do
you think that these were?
4 What other questions would

you like to ask about Sources
A and D?
5 Imagine that you have been

taken to the remains of a
Roman town. You have not
been told where you are.
Give one way in which you
might be able to tell which
part of the Empire the town
was in.
A Carving showing a Roman shop.
3.8 L iv in g in Towns and Cities
■4 Public toilets in the Roman town of

Thugga (Tunisia) in north Africa.
By AD I , over one m illion people lived in Rom e. T h e m ajority

lived in blocks o f flats, called insulae. T h e poorer Rom ans
rented these flats.
T h e flats were badly built. T h ey had no heating or running

water. People could be turned out o f th eir rooms by their
landlords. Buildings often collapsed, or caught fire.
▼ A Roman aqueduct, in Tunisia. An
T h ere were sewers under the streets, but only the houses o f the
aqueduct carries water from one place to
rich were able to use them . Poorer people were tem pted to another. This aqueduct carried water 60
dump th eir rubbish in the street, or in the river Tiber. Streets miles to the Roman city o f Carthage. It
were filthy, dark and dangerous, and disease was com m on. was built between AD 117 and 138.
1 a Why did wealthy Romans
spend so much money
putting on entertainments
for poorer citizens?
b Why was Rome such an
unhealthy city?
2 Which sources provide you

with evidence about health
and hygiene in Roman towns?
What impression do those
sources give you about this
subject?
3 a Why was the aquaduct in

Gladiators fighting animals and a prisoner being fed to a leopard. This mosaic is Source B covered?
from Zliten, in modern Libya, north Africa. b What information does
Source D give you about
M any poorer citizens were unhappy w ith their lives. So the importance of theatres
powerful leaders would put on great entertainm ents to try to in Roman towns?
keep them happy, or to win their support. W ealthy people с Imagine that you are a
m ight pay for a chariot team . Fierce support for a team could citizen, watching the
lead to riots. A n o th er popular en tertainm en t was w atching scene in Source C.
m en and wom en fight to the death. T h ese people were know n Describe the
as gladiators. A lso, many people w ent to the theatre to w atch entertainment put on for
plays being performed. your enjoyment.
3.9 L ife in the Countryside
M ost people living in the R om an Empire did n ot live in large Although they were altered
cities and towns. T h ey lived in the countryside where there over the years, their basic
were smaller towns, villages, groups o f farms and single farms. plan did not change. A door
led from the street into a
M ost people in th e Empire worked on the land.
paved courtyard and various
M ost rich Rom ans owned large areas o f land, called estates. rooms opened from that.
Stone pillars helped to hold
Estates were scattered all over the Empire. In the 4 th century
up the fla t roof and there
A D , a wealthy woman nam ed M elan ia owned land in Italy,
were stone steps to c lim b up
Sicily, A frica, Spain and Britain. M any o f the people farming O
CC on to the roof.
the land would have been tenants of a rich landowner like ZD
M elania. T h ese tenants did n ot own the land, they rented it. O
CO
Som e poorer farmers worked on the landowner’s land w ithout
pay, as a form o f rent. A modern archaeologist’s description of
village houses in the Middle East during
the Roman Empire.
T h e Empire covered areas w ith very different clim ates and
different types o f farming. In all areas, most o f the land was
divided into estates. From as far apart as G aul (m odern France)
and m odern Bulgaria there is evidence th at villages o f tenants
lay nearby the great houses of th e landowners. Som etim es the
landowner employed a m anager who lived in the great house
and ran the estate.
A modern reconstruction o f a dining room in a Roman country house, in about AD 350.
M any o f the farms and villages changed little during th e tim e
they were ruled by R om e. Here and there, though, a b etter off
farmer m ight copy R om an fashions. T h ese ‘R om an farms’ often 1 a Describe the appearance
had tiled roofs, painted plaster walls, m osaic floors and central of the farmhouses shown
heating. O th er farmers bought pottery, tools and brooches. in Sources C and D.
W h e n archaeologists find lots o f R om an pottery on the site of a b What do you think they are
farm, they know th at th e people who lived there were making made from?
the m ost o f R om an trade. T h ey were growing more crops and с Many of these farmhouses
looking after more anim als th an they needed in order to feed would not have survived
them selves. T h ey sold any extra, or surplus, food and animals for archaeologists to
in order to get m oney to pay th eir taxes. But they also managed discover. Why is this?
to buy things for them selves - m ost people could afford at least
2 a Read Source B. Draw a
to buy some R om an-style pottery.
plan of this kind of country
house,
b How would this house
have been different from
the ones shown in Sources
C and D?
3 Look at Source A. Do you

think that a room like this
would have been found in
farmhouses like Sources C
and D? Explain your answer.
4 If you were an archaeologist,

what evidence would
you use to tell whether a
farm er had followed Roman
fashions?
Roman mosaic from Tunisia. 1t shows a thatched house from Roman north Africa. 5 The countryside was the
same throughout the Roman
Empire.’ Using the sources
as evidence, say whether you
agree or disagree with this
statement, and why.
LU
O •4 A modern reconstruction o f a
CC
farmhouse from Hampshire in England.
O Many poorer farmers would have lived
CO
in houses like this, in Roman Britain.
T he R o u a n E mpire 4 5
3.10 R o m a n Villas
Villa is a L atin word w hich means bo th ‘house in the
countryside’ and ‘farm ’. Historians and archaeologists disagree
about exactly w hich buildings should be called villas. Som e
th in k th at farms in towns should be called villas, but m ost insist
th at a villa must be in the countryside. Som e say th at any grand
house in the countryside should be called a villa, but m ost th ink
th at a villa should be at the cen tre o f a farm or large estate. AU
agree th at villas must be romanized buildings, n o t farms built in
the native style.
Som e villas were huge luxury houses. T h ey had wide corridors,

rectangular rooms, bath houses and underfloor h eating called a
▼ A wall painting from Trier. This
hypocaust. T h ey usually had barns and other outbuildings for
dates from about AD 150. It is a Roman
farming. T h e actual work on th e farm would be done by slaves artist’s impression o f a villa, with its
or peasants, who would live somewhere else on th e estate. workers.
T h e first villas were built in Italy. M any of these were
huge houses, run by slaves. A s th e R om an Empire grew, native
people began to copy th e Rom ans and build villas them selves.
In n orth ern G aul, the countryside was full o f villas by the end
o f the Empire. A s people becam e more successful in agriculture,
so more villas were built. In n orth A frica the land was carefully
watered (irrigated) in order to produce more crops. A s they
produced more crops, farmers becam e more wealthy and spent
m uch o f th eir m oney on rebuilding th eir hom es as villas.
Villas were expensive to build and m aintain. For instance, they

needed skilled workers from the towns to make things like
mosaics. If people were to carry on living in villas, and to build
new ones, the Empire needed to be peaceful and prosperous. If
the countryside was raided too often, or if trade was reduced,
there would n ot be enough skilled workers, or enough money,
to build more villas.
A bronze statue from Trier in modern
Germany. It shows a villa ploughman
B in his outdoor clothes.
f]c tA A /\X \^ . . .
1 What are the three key
features which most
historians agree all villas
should have?
2 Sources A and B are the

work of artists. How might
this affect how useful they
are as historical evidence?
3 Look at Sources A and B.

Describe the similarities and
differences in these pictures
of villa buildings.
4 Source A shows a man

O
OC wearing the same sort of
=> coat as a man in Source C.
O
CO Does this prove Source C is
a reliable source?
A mosaic o f a Roman villa from north Africa, lt 'shovus the villa buildings and
some o f the life o f the villa. It dates from about AD 320.
3.11 R e lig ious Beliefs
W ith in the R om an Empire, people believed in many different Emperor's order: It is my w ill
gods and goddesses. T h e m ost im portant R om an god was B that graves and tombs lie
undisturbed forever. Respect
Jupiter. T h ere were large tem ples of Jupiter on the C apitoline
for those w ho are dead is
h ill in Rom e, at D o lich e in Turkey, and at Baalbek in Syria.
most im portant: no one
O th er R om an gods and goddesses included: N eptune, the sea
should disturb them in any
god; Juno, th e wife o f Jupiter; Mercury, the messenger o f the
w ay at all. If anyone does,
gods; Mars, the war god; Venus, the goddess o f love and I com m and that he be
M inerva, the goddess o f wisdom and war. O
Cd executed for tom b robbery.
=D
O
A fter Emperor Augustus died in AD 14, emperors them selves CO
began to be worshipped as gods. T h e emperor was the C h ie f
A n order of the Emperor, from the
Priest o f the gods. G reat services were carried out to please the
1st century A D . It was found in
gods. A nim als were sacrificed to th e gods o f Rom e. T h e
Nazareth in modern Israel.
governm ent organized and led this worship of th e gods.
M any R om an beliefs were based on G reek religious beliefs.

M ost o f these beliefs involved carrying out sacrifices to please
th e gods. Religious beliefs did n ot ask people to live good lives.
N eith er did religion offer people a personal relationship w ith a
The Temple of the Roman god Jupiter,
god.
in the Roman city ofThugga, in modern
Tunisia. It was built in the centre o f the
city for all to see in A D 1 6 6 .
Underground temple o f the ‘mystery’
god Mithras in Rome.
People throughout th e Empire had th eir own gods and
goddesses. T h ey were free to worship them as long as they also
worshipped th e gods o f Rom e. Local people often linked their
god to the R om an god most sim ilar in character. A t Trier (in
G erm any) the local god Lenus was renamed M ars-Lenus. A t
B ath (in England) the local god Sul was renam ed SuLM inerva.
By the 2nd century AD, R om an citizens began to be interested

in gods from the east o f the'Em pire. O n e m an, A pollonius,
travelled to India to find out about other religions. People
began to worship Eygptian goddesses like A ttis and C ybele. 1 a What evidence can you
T h e Persian god M ithras was popular am ong soldiers. T h ese find to show that people
linked their local gods to
new religions were called m ystery religions. People had to pass
the gods of Rome?
secret tests to becom e members o f the mystery religions.
b How had Roman religious
A carved head from Bath, beliefs changed by the
England. It is probably the 2nd century ad?
British god, Sul. In this
carving the god is 2 Look carefully at Sources A
made to look like and C. Both are temples.
the Roman a In what ways are they
goddess, different?
Minerva. b What does this tell an
historian about the two
different religions which
built these temples?
3 Source B is an official order.

Ш
O Does this mean that all
OC Romans treated the dead
O with respect?
C/5
3.12 T h e First Christians
In about A D 3 3 , the Jew ish preacher and teacher Jesus was Covered w ith the skins of
executed by the R om an governor Pontius Pilate. S o o n the animals they [Christians]
w ere torn apart by dogs and
friends o f Jesus were spreading th e news th at G od had raised
killed. Some w ere fixed to
him from th e dead. T h e followers o f Jesus’ teachings were called
crosses, or burned to light up
Christians. C hristian ity promised people a new relationship O
OC the night.
w ith G od, instructions on how to live a good life, and life after ZD
O
death. It grew in popularity, often am ong the poorer citizens. By CO
the 2nd century A D , C hristians were being punished by the
The Roman writer Tacitus, who lived
R om an authorities. T h is was because they refused to worship
from AD 56-115.
the official gods o f R om e. M any had already been killed by the
Emperor N ero.
Som e people distrusted th e new religion. T h ey did not

understand w hat C hristians believed. A t Sm yrna (in m odern They [Christians] swear not to
steal, rob, or com m it
Turkey) and Lyons (in m odern F rance) C hristians were killed
adultery. N or betray a trust,
by mobs. T h e mobs could k ill C hristians because R om an law
nor refuse to repay a loan
did n ot protect their religion. O w hen it is demanded.
QC
ZD
Despite these problems, C hristianity continued to attract O
CO
people. Som e emperors allowed it to continu e. O thers punished
the followers o f Jesus. However, many people were impressed by The Roman writer Pliny, who lived
the brave way in w hich C hristians stood up to punishm ent. from AD 24-79.
Early Christians
praying in the
4th century A D .
From a chapel in
the villa at
Lullingstone,
England.
Painting of the head of
Jesus from the villa at
Hinton St Mary,
England. It dates from Give reasons why
the 4th century AD. Christianity attracted
The letters behind people.
the head are a Did people’s reasons for
Christian sign. becoming Christians
They stand for: change over time?
‘Jesus Christ’.
2 Which of Sources B and C
would be most useful, if
you were trying to find out
why people became
Christians?
Would this source be
more, or less, useful than
one written by a Christian
leader? Explain your
answer.
How would an historian be

able to identify Source E
T h ey were also impressed by the way in w hich this new religion as having belonged to a
changed people’s lives. In AD 3 2 4 , th e Em peror C on stantin e Christian?
becam e a C hristian . A s a result, more and more im portant Both Sources A and D
people becam e C hristians. T h e C hristian Em peror Theodosius come from villas. How
banned other religions. T h e followers o f Jesus were now useful would these
members o f the official religion o f the Empire. sources be as a way of
finding out what ordinary
people believed? Explain
your answer.
Pieces o f silver from Water Newton,

England, 4th century AD.
T he R o m a n E mpire 5 I
4.1 Th e Empire in Crisis
From the 2nd century AD, the R om an Empire was facing In ad 252, the Goths
BI w ith d re w from the provinces,
problems. A fter th e victory over C arthage it had seemed as if
there were no lim its to w hat the Rom ans could do. By AD 100, in return for an annual
this view had changed. T h e barbarian lands were wild and paym ent o f gold. The
large. T h e R om an army could n o t conquer them all. T h ere had ineffectiveness o f such
desperate measures was
been revolts, against R om an rule, along the rivers R h in e and
alm ost im m ediately revealed:
D anube. A t hom e, rival emperors com peted to be in charge o f
not o nly the fron tier regions
the Empire.
but the greater part o f the
ш western provinces were
In AD 122, Em peror Hadrian ordered a wall to be built in O
OC overrun.
B ritain. It is still called H ad rian ’s W all. It marked one edge ZD
O
o f the Empire. O th er boundaries, or frontiers, were built in CO
G erm any and in A frica. T h e Rom ans had realized th at there
). Percival, ‘The RomanVilla , 1976.
were lim its to w hat they could do. T h ey could n o t rule the
whole world.
Th in gs got worse for the R om an governm ent. T h e population

was falling in the lands around the M editerranean. T h is m eant
there were fewer people to jo in the army and to pay taxes. T h e
A boat from Nydam in
population was falling for a num ber o f reasons. C hanges in the Denmark, 4th century AD.
w eather caused poor harvests. T h is m eant less food for people. Boats like this may have
Plagues also killed many people. carried pirates raiding the
lands o f the Roman
During the 3rd century AD, trade over long distances began to Empire.
collapse. It was no longer safe to travel. Law and order was
breaking down. Tribes from outside th e Empire raided the rich
lands o f the Rom ans. T h ese tribes needed more land. T h ey also
wanted the luxury goods made by R om an
For years they had traded w ith the Rom ans.
N ow the collapse o f trade forced their
leaders to steal the luxuries they desired.
I It is the year ad 270. You are
a Roman government official.
You have to write a report for
the Emperor Aurelian. In this
report you must explain why
the Empire is facing such a
crisis. Use the information
provided in this Unit to write
your report. You may add
your own suggestions on the
best way to cope with this
crisis.
2 a Look at Source В. What

did the Romans do to try
The Romanfort o f Portus Ardaoni (Portchester) England. This fort was built in to keep the barbarians
about A D 275. It was one of many forts built along both sides of the English from attacking them?
Channel. These forts protected the Roman provinces from barbarian pirates b Does the writer of
(Saxons) from modern Germany and Denmark. They were called the forts of the Source B think that this
‘Saxon Shore’. was a good or a bad thing
to do? How can you tell?
T h ere were wars in the east w ith Persia. T h ere were problems с What other source might
all along the frontiers o f the Empire. Towns began to decline support this account that
because there was less to buy and sell. the Romans tried to
persuade barbarians to
In A D 251, a G erm an tribe - the G oths - killed an emperor. leave the Empire alone?
O th er tribes invaded th e province o f G aul. In A D 270, the How can you tell?
province o f D acia was abandoned by R om e. It could no longer
be defended against the barbarians. T h e Empire was beginning 3 a In what way do the
to fall apart. sources agree that the
Roman provinces faced
attacks from Germany and
Denmark?
b Source B is a secondary
source. Does that make it
more, or less, useful than
the other sources?
Pieces o f silver from Balline, Northern

Ireland. They are stamped with an
official Roman mark. They were
probably paid to a barbarian tribe to
stop them from raiding Roman
provinces.
T he R o m a n E m pi r e 5 3
4.2 T h e Collapse o f the Empire
To face the growing problems o f the Empire, the army was
reorganized. Som e troops were kept along the edges o f the
Empire. O thers were made into what is called a field arm y. T h is
could be rushed to wherever there was trouble. However, there
were not enough citizens volunteering to jo in the army any
more. People were made to jo in . T h is is called conscription.
T h e Em peror Probus (em peror A D 2 7 6 -8 2 ) began to encourage

large numbers o f friendly barbarians to jo in th e army. T h ey
would th en fight for R om e against other barbarians. Eventually,
by th e early years o f the 5 th century, whole barbarian tribes
were allowed to m ove in to the Empire, if they w ouldhelp to
defend it. T h ese soldiers were called foederati. Som etim es they
could n ot be trusted.
It was hard to run the huge Empire. In A D 285, Emperor

D io cletian split th e Empire into two parts. Two emperors
(called A ugusti) would rule. O n e would be in charge of th e O
OC
west o f th e Empire, one in charge of th e east. In A D 293, each of ZD
the Augusti was given a helper, called a C aesar. H istorians call O
CO
this th e T etrarch y or ‘rule o f four people’. Even this did n ot
help. T h ere was still rivalry betw een emperors. T h e Empire The Roman General Stilicho, who was
suffered more civil wars as Rom ans fought Rom ans. a barbarian; a Vandal. Like many
barbarians, he fought for the Empire
O n top o f these problems, prices were going up. T h is is called against other barbarians. He was
executed in AD 408 because he failed to
inflation. M oney becam e w orth less and less. In A D 3 0 1 ,
stop the barbarian invasion o f Gaul.
Emperor D io cletian tried to stop the prices going up, but he
failed.
W ith in the Empire, the population kept falling. Taxes w ent up Should the Romans, as
as there were fewer people to pay for its defence. A s parts o f the sensible men, have trusted
Empire were taken by th e barbarians, there were even fewer the defence o f Rome to gods
citizens left to tax. Taxes w ent up again. w ho could not defend
themselves? The only
In A D 3 7 8 , more G oths invaded the Empire. T h ey killed possible cause o f Rome's
Emperor Valens at the B attle of Adrianople, in m odern destruction was this choice of
O
Bulgaria. T h ey were being pushed, from behind, by an even OC such weak defenders.
ZD
fiercer tribe, called the H uns. In A D 4 0 6 , other barbarian tribes O
CO
invaded R om an G aul. Som e, called Vandals, reached as far as
Spain and n orth A frica. R om e was now cut off from its source The Christian writer Augustine, who
o f grain. lived from AD 354-430.
5 4 T he R o m a n E mp i r e
•••
I Give one co n se q u e n ce for

the Roman Empire of each of
the following:
• falling population
• loss of north Africa.
2 a According to the w riter of

Source B, why did Rome
fail to defeat the
barbarians?
b This w riter was a Christian
and did not believe in the
old gods of Rome. How
might this have affected
A mosaic from north Africa, from about A D 490. It shows a Vandal chief riding his explanation?
out from a captured Roman villa. с Using all of the evidence,
suggest some reasons of
T h e Empire was falling apart. M any o f the R om an provinces your own why Rome fell.
were lost to the barbarians. In AD 4 1 0 , A laric, a G o th chief,
captured Rom e itself. T h e G o th s moved o n from Italy, and set 3 An historian has described
up a kingdom in southern G aul. In AD 4 7 6 , th e last R om an the Vandals as the
emperor was overthrow n by a barbarian ch ie f nam ed Odoacer. ‘mindlessly destructive’
T h e western h a lf o f the R om an Empire had collapsed. O nly the enemies of Rome. Using
Sources A and C, say
eastern h a lf was left.
whether you agree or
disagree with this point of
The barbarian
view and why.
invaders of the
Roman Empire in
the 5th century.
Goths
Angles, Saxons,
Jutes, Frisians
Huns
Franks
Vandals
Scots
Burgundians
Berber Deserttribes
Frontier of the
Roman Empire
1000 km
600 miles
T h e R o m a n E mpire 5 5
4.3 T h e Collapse o f the Empire: Gaul
T h e R om an province o f G au l was made up o f what is now Death, sorrow, dow nfall,
France, Belgium and parts o f Germ any. A s th e R om an Empire destruction, fire,
got weaker, G au l was invaded by a num ber o f barbarian tribes. unhappiness.
W e know about these invasions from th e writings o f R om an
historians, ch u rch leaders and landowners.
Lines from a poem written in the early
In AD 3 5 0 , a tribe called the Fran k s crossed the frontier o f the 5th century A D . It describes the
river R h in e and invaded north -eastern G aul. T h ey were destruction o f Gaul by barbarians.
looking for new hom es. T h e rich R om an villas offered them a
b etter way o f life, if they could capture them . T h ey destroyed 4 0 A t the end of the Roman
towns. T h ey also took land and settled down inside the Empire. period a num ber o f villas
continued to exist and
In A D 4 0 6 , more barbarians invaded G aul. T h ese tribes included evolved gradually as the
the Vandals. T h ey caused terrible destruction in G aul. S o o n O
Ql centres o f villages.
R om an G aul was split up in to a num ber o f little kingdoms. ZD
O
E ach kingdom was ruled by a barbarian tribe. CO ЩВШявж
T h e damage to G aul was made worse by poor farmers who J . Percival writing about Gaid in ‘The
Roman Villa’, 1976.
join ed in w ith th e barbarian tribes. T h ese farmers were R om an
citizens, but they were tired o f paying high taxes to the R om an
governm ent. T h ey wanted to get rid o f th eir rich landlords and Leontius [a Roman citizen of
stop paying taxes. T h ese poor farmers, who jo in ed the Gaul] owns three villas, tw o
near Bordeaux, w hich
barbarians, were know n as bacaudae.
produce corn and excellent
M odern archaeologists and historians are no longer sure th at fishing.
the barbarians were as destructive as some R om an writers tell

us. A lthou gh th e Franks were fierce warriors, they agreed to
serve the R om an governm ent. In AD 4 0 6 , they fought the From a poem written in about AD 550.
invading Vandals o n b eh alf o f th e R om an governm ent.
In tim e th e Franks grew tired o f serving th e Rom ans. U nder Before the 5th century, all the
th eir ch ief, C lovis, they took more land for them selves. Soo n grave goods [things buried
C lovis had united all the Franks under his control. w ith the dead] could be
described as Roman. D uring
T h e Franks were keen to take th e best th at G aul had to offer. the 6th century there were
T h ey wanted to live like wealthy Rom ans. T h ere is a lot of Frankish weapons and
evidence w hich suggests th at they did n o t k ill th e R om an brooches. The natives were
just buying whatever
citizens o f G aul. T h e Franks even learned to speak a kind o f
happened to be available and
L atin (th e official language o f the western Em pire). C lovis
ц fashionable. N o te ve ryo n e in
him self even becam e a C hristian.
Q£ France became a Frank.
O
CO
C. Hills, describing a cemetery in Gaul

in ‘Blood of the British’, 1986.
E
Pieces o f a sword from the grave o f a

chief o f the Franks. The grave dates
SOURCE
from AD 482. AU the decorations on the

sword copy Roman fashions.
**
1 Roman pottery stopped being used in Gaul. Does 3 a Do Sources B and C agree or disagree with the
this mean that Roman citizens no longer lived view of events given in Source A? Explain your
there? answer.
b Look at Source E. What could this tell an
2 a Much of our information about the terrible historian about the Franks' opinion of Roman
things done by the barbarians comes from skills and fashions?
Roman landlords. How might this affect the
reliability of these accounts?
b Sources A and C are poems. What problems
might an historian face in using poetry as a
source of historical information?
The Roman Empire 5 I

T h e Collapse o f the Empire: Britain
B ritain was part o f the western Empire. W h en G aul was A ll the m ajor tow ns were
invaded by barbarians, th e R om an governm ent lost con trol o f B destroyed. A num ber o f
its provinces in the west. It stopped collectin g taxes. A fter survivors were caught and
A D 4 1 0 no more coins were sent to B ritain. R om an towns relied killed. Others w en t to
surrender to the enemy. They
on trade and on taxes. W h en taxes stopped, the towns lost their
O w ere fated to be slaves for
reason to exist. T h e villas changed too. T h ey had now here to
OC ever.
sell their spare food. T h ey did n ot need to grow a lot o f food in =)
O
order to sell it to pay taxes any more. T h ey could no longer rely CO
on skilled workers from the towns.
Gildas, a British monk, describes what
U n til fairly recently, historians thought th at the barbarian the English did to Britain in about
AD 530. Gildas hated the English.
invaders o f B ritain took over R om an ways of life, as other
barbarians did in Gaul, Italy and n orth A frica. Now it is thought
that w ithin about 3 0 years o f A D 410, almost all the things that ad 530. In this year
made Britain ‘R om an ’, vanished. Towns were deserted, villas fell Cerdic and C ynric took
apart, the pottery industry stopped m aking pots. the Isle o f W ig ht and
killed a fe w men.
As B ritain becam e weaker, it was controlled by barbarians from ad 530. In this year
outside the Empire. T h ese barbarians were called A ngles and Cerdic and C ynric took
Saxons. Before they cam e to Britain they O the Isle o f W ig ht and
had lived in m odern D enm ark, OC killed m any men.
ZD
G erm any and the N etherlands. O
CO
M ost o f these newcomers
arrived in B ritain after A n English record o f the victory o f two
A D 45 0 . A few may have English chiefs. The second account was
been here before this, as changed later by an English monk.
barbarian soldiers in the
army. T h e parts o f Britain W e can imagine Anglo-Saxon
w hich eventually cam e w arriors storm ing the
under the con trol o f these earthw ork camps and stone
barbarians cam e to be cities, burning the tow ns and
called England. Th ese villas, slaughtering and
barbarians were the first d riving away the Romanised
O
English. OC Britons.
=D
O
CO
G. Trevelyan, ‘History o f England’,

1926.
4 Roman belt buckle worn by

soldiers and government officials.
This one was worn by an English
warrior buried at Mucking, Essex,
in about a d 400.
Historians once thought that the English cam e to Britain in W e cannot take it for granted
huge numbers. T h is was because from the 5 th century AD, that the Anglo-Saxon
people in eastern B ritain began to be buried w ith English conquerors were so
jew ellery and pots and according to English beliefs. A lso, the destructive as to expel, or
exterm inate, the Romano-
language o f th e English replaced the language spoken by th e O
CC British manpower.
R om an Britons. It now seems more likely th at the R om an =э
Britons copied the fashions of their new rulers. T h is was largely O
CO
because th eir own industries and ways o f life had collapsed.
M . Postany ‘The Medieval Society and
Economy’, 1978.
The num ber o f Anglo-Saxon migrants to Britain was probably of
the order o f tens o f thousands, as against an indigenous [native]
population in the m illions. It must mean active participation by
large numbers o f British in the Anglo-Saxon order o f things.
ft Л ^ Л уСЛ •••
A . Esmonde Cleary, ‘The Ending o f Roman Britain’, 1989. 1 The first English arrived in
the century that Roman
Britain collapsed. Does this
mean that they caused this
collapse?
A pot made by
a Roman British
2 a Why might there be
potter, but decorated
problems in using Source
with a shape
and pattern B to find out how Roman
popular Britain came to an end?
with early b Look at Source C. How did
English the monk change the
barbarians. account of the battle?
с Why do you think he did
this? Is this important?
3 a Historians often disagree

about the events of the
past. Use the secondary
sources to show how this
is true for the end of
Roman Britain,
b Why do these differences
happen?
4 Look at Sources A and F.

What do they tell us about
relations between some early
English people and Roman
British people?
The R o m a n E mpire 5^
\ S u r v i v a l in the East
In the year AD 3 3 0 , th e C hristian Emperor C on stan tin e had a
new capital city built for the eastern Empire. He built it on the
site o f a G reek town, called Byzantium . T h e new city was
named after the Emperor him self and called Constantinople. It
is now Istanbul, in Turkey.
W h en Rom e fell, the eastern part of the Empire survived. Here,

the R om an authorities kept control. M ost people spoke G reek
in this part of the Empire. In the western part, the official Empress Theodora, Justinian’s wife,
language was L atin. gives a gift to an Italian church.
In th e 6 th century A D , the eastern Emperor Ju stinian tried to By the end o f the 6th century
recapture the lost western Empire. In A D 554, he recaptured Italy was gone again. In
Rom e and Italy from the barbarians. However, after Ju stinian eastern Europe too, Justinian
died, it was lost again. had never been successful in
dealing w ith the barbarians.
The pressure from behind on
In the eastern Empire, the R om an way o f life continued.
these travelling people was
R om an law was still obeyed. T h e C hristian C h u rch was very
too great, and besides they
wealthy and im portant. Rom an ways o f planning and building
could see great prizes ahead.
survived. T h e eastern emperor was powerful. He ruled his
By Justinian's death a wedge
Empire using a secret police called the curiosi. o f barbarian peoples
O separated west and east
CC
In A D 1453, C on stantin ople was finally captured by the =) Rome.
M uslims. U n til th at year, som ething o f R om an life and O
CO
governm ent had survived in the eastern Empire.
J. Roberts, ‘History of the World’,
1980.
•••
1 Do you think that events

worked out as Emperor
Justinian intended?
Explain your answer.
2 a In the opinion of the writer

of Source C, why did
Justinian’s achievements
not last? Explain the
reasons using your own
words,
b Which of the sources
could be used to show
that Justinian encouraged
Roman skills and ideas to
continue in the eastern
Empire?
3 a Look at Source A. What

impression of the empress
do you get from this
mosaic?
b Look carefully at Source
B. What clues can you find
to tell you that this church
was captured by Muslims
in the 15th century ad ?
Church o f St Sophia, Constantinople. It was built on Justinian’s orders and was
first used for worship in a d 537.
The R o m a n Empire 6 1
T h e Importance of Rome
Hundreds o f years after th e end o f th e R om an Empire,
people still rem em ber it. T h e Rom ans amazed later
peoples by th eir huge buildings, th eir careful planning
o f towns, the way in w hich they solved problems and
th eir powerful army.
M any o f these things were n o t invented by th e

Rom ans. M any o f the ‘R o m an ’ art, carving and
building skills had been inspired by th e Etruscans and
G reeks whom they conquered. M any o f th e R om an
religious ideas cam e from G reece and the Middle
East. T h ere were n o t many entirely new R om an
inventions.
W h a t amazed later people was how th e Rom ans A group o f Italian Fascists in the 1920s, dressed
as Roman soldiers. At this time Italy was not a
spread ideas. T h e R om an Empire made it safe to
powerful country. These Italians were envious of
travel. Skills and ideas spread as never before.
countries, like Britain and France, which had
C hristian ity becam e a ‘world’ religion because o f th e empires o f their own. They wished to make Italy
R om an Empire. powerful once more.
Painting o f a Roman scene by the French artist Claude. He lived

from 1600-1682.
62 The R o m a n Empire
T h e Rom ans showed th at large areas could be controlled by one British 50p coin. The letters
governm ent. T h ey also gave lots of different people a com m on ‘D. G . REG ’ are a shortening of
the Latinfor ‘By God’s Grace:
identity. A lthough they had differences, these people were all
members o f the Empire.
M any people after the Rom ans tried to copy R om an planning

and building. M any later laws copied th e carefully-planned
Rom an laws. Later rulers tried to con trol many people, as the
Rom ans had done. Even the L atin language is still used w hen
som ething is given special im portance.
|i: The Radcliffe Camera

If building in Oxford,
England. It is the
work o f the •••
architect James I An obituary is a piece of
Gibbs, who writing about a dead person.
lived from
It tells us who the person
1683-1754.
was, what they did, how
important they were, how
other peoples’ lives were
changed by that person.
Write an obituary for the
Roman Empire.
2 a Why did the Italians in

Source A dress up as
Romans?
b Do you think that Source B
is a useful source for
finding out what Roman
cities really looked like?
Explain your answer.
3 a The Radcliffe Camera

(Source C) has been called
the m ost perfect Roman
building in England. What
do you think the person
who wrote this meant?
b Look at all the information
in this Unit. Describe the
ways in which the Romans
have influenced the
thinking of later people.
T h e R o m a n E mpire 6 3
INDEX Actium, Battle of 26 Fabius Maximus 12 Pliny 35, 50
A cts of the Apostles 28, 35 family 3 2 -3 3 Plutarch 23, 34
Adrianople, Battle of 54 field army 54 Pompeii 7
A frica 19, 20, 30, 31, 36, 42, 43, 44, foederati 54 Pompey 20
4 5 , 4 7 ,4 8 ,5 2 ,5 4 , 55 Forum 17, 38 Probus 54
A laric 55 Franks 56, 57 Pyrrhus 10
Angles 58, 59 freedmen 29
Antonius Pius 39 Republic 10, 16, 26
archaeologists 6 Gaul 10, 18, 20, 22, 24, 3 2 ,3 7 , 44, Roman
arches 40 47, 56, 58 army 10, 12, 14, 15, 18, 20, 22, 24,
Armenia 26 gens 32 26, 28, 29, 3 0 ,3 1 ,3 6 , 5 2 ,5 4 , 62
Asia 18 Gildas 58 beliefs 4, 10, 11, 1 8 ,2 6 ,3 2 ,4 8 ,5 4 ,
Augusti 54 gladiators 43 62
Augustus 26, 27, 28, 29, 48 Goths 53, 54, 55 building skills 40, 41, 47, 58, 61,
Aulus Plautius 24, 25 Greece 10, 12, 14, 18, 28, 48, 60, 62 62
auxiliaries 15 roads 34, 35, 36
Hadrian 29, 52 ships 34, 35, 36
bacaudae 56 Hadrian’s W all 5, 52
barbarians 3 0 -3 1 , 5 2 -5 6 , 5 8 -6 1 Hannibal 12
basilica 38 - health 42, 52 Rom ulusandRem us 1 0 ,1 1
Boudicca 32 Huns 54 Rubicon, river 20
Britain 20, 2 2 -5 , 32, 52, 53, 58, 59 hypocaust 46
Byzantium 60 Saxons 53, 58, 59
inflation 54 senate 16, 18, 20, 26
Caesar 54 insulae 42 senators 16
Caligula 24, 27 Isidorus Hispalensis 23 Sicily 12
canals 35 itineraries 35 slaves 29, 46, 47, 58
Carthage 12, 13, 18, 20, 52 Solinus 23
Cartimandua 32 Jesus 50, 51 Spain 12, 20, 54
Cassius Dio 25 Josephus 14, 24 Suetonius Tranquillus 23, 25
Cassivellaunus 22 Julius Caesar 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26 Sulla 20
C ato 32 Justinian 60, 61
Christianity 50, 51, 56, 61, 62, Tacitus 15, 22, 50
C icero 28 languages in the Empire 4, 5, 30, 32, taxes 28, 34, 40, 45, 52, 54, 56, 58
citizens 15, 28, 30, 56 56, 59, 60, 62 tenants 44
civil wars 26, 27, 54 Latin 4, 32, 56, 60, 62 Tetrarchy 54
Claudius 24, 25, 27 laws 28, 29, 63 Theodosius 51
Cleopatra 20, 26 legions 14 Tiberius 26, 27
Clovis 56 Livy 18 towns 3 8 ,3 9 , 4 0 ,4 1 ,4 2 ,4 4 , 4 6 ,5 6 ,
coinage 11, 13, 16, 1 8 ,2 6 ,3 1 ,3 6 , 58, 62
39, 54, 58, 63 magistrates 16 trade 12, 13, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 45,
colonia 28 Maiden Castle 25 4 7 ,5 2 , 54, 58, 59
concrete 40 Mark A nthony 26 Trajan 35
conscription 54 M artial 30 transport 34, 3 5 -6
Constantine 51, 60 Masada 6 tribunes 16
Constantinople 38, 60, 61 materfamilias 32 Twelve Tables, T he 16
consuls 16 Maximus 12
countryside 44, 45 Muslims 61 Valens 54
curiosi 61 Vandals 54, 55, 56
negotiatores 36, 37 Varro 11
Dacia 53 Nero 27, 50 Vespasian 24, 25, 27
Diocletian 54 numeri 15 villas 4 6 , 4 7 ,5 0 , 5 1 ,5 5 , 5 6 ,5 8
Diodorus Siculus 22 Virgil 18
Odoacer 55
Egypt 5, 20, 26, 37 women 4, 16, 20, 30, 32, 33, 44, 60
entertainm ent 43 paterfamilias 32
environment 4, 6, 10, 22, 23, 34, 35, Pax Romana 36 Zama, Battle of 12
3 8 ,4 1 ,4 2 , 44, 4 7 ,5 2 , 58 Persia 53
estates 44 Petronius 28
Etruria 10, 62 plebeians 16
T he R om an Em p ir e
• A wide choice of History Study Units to let you
build the course you want.
• Every book is packed w ith carefully chosen
primary and secondary sources, many in colour,
and all clearly captioned so th at pupils can
evaluate the sources themselves.
• Every book has its own Assessment and Resources
Pack with extra photocopiable resources and a
structured assessm ent schem e w ith tasks,

markschemes and record sheets.
Other titles include:

The Medieval Realms
Castles and Cathedrals
The Italian Renaissance
The Making of the United Kingdom
Britain 1750-1900
The Rise of Islam
Imperial China
The Reformation
The French Revolution
The Great War
The Twentieth Century World

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HEINEMANN HISTORY

Whittoc, Martyn J . (M artynJohn)

1 Explain what a primary

2 Give three examples of the

3 a What questions does an

7 Look carefully at Sources A,

8 How can you tell from

N o t all primary sources are w ritten down. T h ere are many

Som e sources have been found by accident, others have been

Sandal from Masada, in Israel. From

2 a How might objects under

3 a Look at Source A and

4 Look at Sources В, C, D and

^ Picture of a woman holding a pen

A n artist’s impression o f how people lived in Britain before the Romans

T. Rowley, ‘Villages in the Landscape’,

A rchaeologists have discovered that, by the 6th

In 3 9 0 BC, Rom e was attacked and looted by tribes from Gaul

^ A statue o f Romidus and Remus

Treaty between Rome and Carthage in 201 BC.

Trade routes at the time of the wars with

3 Look carefully at Source C.

4 Does Source D give a good

5 Design a recruiting poster for

4 A Roman emperor speaking to his

O th er m en were elected as magistrates. Som e helped the

E ach new province added to the Empire was run by a governor,

Roman coin showing the

Pompey to Egypt, where Pompey was murdered. W h ile he was

P. Salway, ‘Roman Britain’ , 1981.

1 a Look at the list of Julius

3 Which of the sources in this

W h en Caesar led his expedition in 55 B C , he cam e to discover

Two thousand years ago R om an writers disagreed about how

Tl The R o man Empire

The Roman writer Plutarch who lived

He [Caesar] also invaded

O attraction w hich led to his

Explain your first choice.

British king friendly to R om e, V erica, had been driven out o f

T h e R om an army landed near Richborough, in w hat is now

Claudius w ent back to R om e, but th e army continued w ith the

TheJewish historian Josephus, writing

J. Liversidge, 'RomanBritain', 1958.

3 In what ways do the primary

Maiden Castle, in Dorset. A hill fort

O cta v ia n and M ark A n th o n y soon quarrelled. A t the B attle

O etav ian was left in control. R om e had been weakened by

In 27 BC, he took the title o f A ugustus. It means ‘m ajestic’, or

W h e n Augustus died in AD 14, power passed to his stepson,

1 a Give one reason why

4 a Source E tells us many

In AD 21 2 , all free members o f th e Empire were made citizens.

Tombstone o f a woman named Regina

Latin. T h ese were the m ain languages o f th e Empire. too tall.

copy attractive characteristics o f barbarian people. T h e sources

3 a Read Sources A and B.

4 a What does Source G tell

W om en were under the co n trol of th eir husbands or fathers.

Som e wom en tried to be more independent and educated.

T h is is how families were organized in Rom e. However, we must

Statues o f a family from Palmira, in

Bathing a baby. A carving from Rome.