3.3 The Roman Empire

• Geschiedenis
• Middelbare school
• mavo, havo
• Leerjaar 1

AGE 2. The Time of Greeks and Romans

3.3 The Roman Empire

What is this lesson about?

Look at the map of the Roman Empire. This was the Empire at its peak in 117 AD. Look at those long borders. Difficult to defend, don’t you think? How could the Romans do this?

What you can explain /  do after this lesson

• What was the size of the Roman Empire?
• How did the Romans defend the borders of their Empire?
• Was our country part of the Roman Empire?

Word Duty

Germania: area north of the River Rhine, not a Roman province.

limes: Roman borders in the north.

KEY WORDS

TIMELINE of this CHAPTER

B: From Republic to Empire

Ever since Augustus took over power, Rome was ruled by an emperor (click to see the list of all the emperors). Some emperors were excellent rulers, while others were weak and corrupt. You might have heard of some: Emperor Caligula, for example, was known for his cruelty and his absurd decisions. He even declared his horse as a senator. And what is there to say about Emperor Nero? He was suspected of setting fire to Rome. On a more positive note Emperor Vespasian built a large theatre (stadium) in Rome, called the Colosseum. Emperor Hadrian built a large defensive wall in the north of present-day England.

Part of the Roman Empire?

YES                        NO

Belgium

Norway

Egypt

France

Germany

Greece

Turkey

Spain

Poland

Denmark

C. Border protection

Under the first emperors, the Roman Empire grew enormously, in both size and power. Can you imagine an empire containing large parts of Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East? All the conquered territories became provinces of the Roman Empire. The borders of the Empire were natural borders, such as rivers, seas, mountains ranges or deserts. Such borders are easily defended. The Romans just had to build fortresses at strategic points. When enemies were approaching the border, the Romans responded very quickly. Unlike many of their opponents, the Romans had a highly professional and well-trained army: most enemies did not stand a chance against their modern weapons and tactics.

Look at the map.
Which of the four answers is NOT a natural border
that is shown in the map?

1. sea
2. rivers
3. walls and fortresses
4. deserts

The natural borders helped the Romans to:

1. keep enemies out of the empire
2. travel around the empire
3. keep the Romans inside the empire
4. make better maps of the empire

Write down an advantage that natural borders had for the Romans

In this exercise, you can see three groups of words. Which word does not fit in with the other two?
Choose this word.
Explain why the word that you chose did not fit in with the other words.
A: Caesar, Nero, Caligula

In this exercise, you can see three groups of words. Which word does not fit in with the other two?
Choose this word.
Explain why the word that you chose did not fit in with the other words.
B: Egypt, Spain, Denmark

In this exercise, you can see three groups of words. Which word does not fit in with the other two?
Choose this word.
Explain why the word that you chose did not fit in with the other words.
C: Emperor Hadrian, Greece, defensive wall.

Are the statements true or false? Choose your answer.


A: The Roman Empire contained the whole of Europe.

1. TRUE
2. FALSE

Are the statements true or false? Choose your answer.


B: Rivers, seas, mountains ranges and deserts are all natural borders.

1. TRUE
2. FALSE

Are the statements true or false? Choose your answer.


C: The Romans built their fortresses at strategic points.

1. TRUE
2. FALSE

Look at the picture. Click on the "?" to see a word. Drag that word to the correct number in the picture.

helmet

road

sword

spear

river

shield

bridge

fortress

D1. Limes

Sometimes a border had to be strengthened, just as in the north of England. Around 120 AD, Emperor Hadrian had a great wall built to mark the border. Hadrian’s Wall was not just a wall, but also a series of fortresses along the northern border of the Empire. This northern border also ran across what is now the Netherlands. We call the Roman borders in the north by their original Latin name of limes.

  

Hadrian's Wall was a border.
Which part of Britain belonged to the Romans?

1. England
2. Scotland

Hadrian's Wall still exists today.
Click on the hotspot (red eye) and go to the website of Hadrian's Wall.

Make the puzzle of Hadrian’s wall and write down your time score.

Hadrian's Wall

The Roman Empire had long borders.
What is the Latin word for ‘border’?

1. milia
2. limes
3. legio
4. aqueduct

D2. Limes

Have a quick look at the map on the left. What do you notice at the northern border of the Roman Empire? In fact, only the southern part of our country was part of the Roman Empire. Why was that? When Julius Caesar conquered Gaul, he stopped at the River Rhine. The Rhine formed a natural border, that was easy to defend. Germanic tribes who lived north of the Rhine could not cross it very easily.

D. The English words ‘Germany’ and ‘Germans’ originally come from the Latin word Germania that was introduced by the Romans

In the map you see cities that the Romans built.
Use internet to find out what the modern names are of "Noviomagus", "Corriovallum" and "Mosa Trajectum"

North of the rivers Rhine (Rijn) and Danube (Donau) lived the barbaric German tribes. These were enemies of Rome.
Explain why a river was a good natural border against these Germans.

C3. Limes

The area south of the Rhine became a Roman province that was called Gallia Belgica. 

Large parts of present-day Germany and the northern parts of our country were not part of the Roman Empire. The people who lived here were seen as wild barbarians. The Romans were not interested in this cold, wet and barbaric area at all.

Romans

Germans

F. Roman roads

Remains of Ancient Roman roads can still be found in Europe. The Romans had a vast network of roads. Can you imagine that soldiers built roads over a length of 100,000 kilometers? Note, these were only the main roads. With less important roads included, the whole network had a length of 300,000 kilometers. These roads were very important. Good and safe roads promoted trade. Armies were able to move quickly through the Empire. Many of these roads were marked with milestones. Milestones divided the roads in numbered miles. Like our own traffic signs, milestones were part of Roman everyday life.

G. The modern word mile comes from the Latin milia passuum (‘one thousand steps’), which amounted to 1,480 m.

Read the following text and drag the words at the bottom to the correct place.

NB: when you have finished, there will be two words left over.

slaves

war

armies

soldiers

traffic signs

trade

milestones

network

Which word does not fit in with the other three?

Choose this word.

1. Middle East
2. Northern Africa
3. South East Asia
4. parts of Europe

Explain why the word that you chose did not fit in with the other words.

Which word does not fit in with the other three?

Choose this word.

1. fortresses
2. mountains
3. rivers
4. seas

Explain why the word that you chose did not fit in with the other words.

Which word does not fit in with the other three?

Choose this word.

1. France
2. Italy
3. Spain
4. the Netherlands

Explain why the word that you chose did not fit in with the other words.

When Julius Caesar conquered Gaul, he stopped at the River Rhine. Explain why this was a smart decision.

Write down one question about something from this lesson that you find difficult.

congratulations