Roman Army

Free Time

• Did the Romans have free time?

  Most people in Roman times did not have much spare time. They were too busy working. They liked games though. Soldiers often played board games with counters and dice. Counters and boards for their games have been found. Archaeologists aren't always sure of the rules!
  Hunting was also popular. People hunted animals for fun as well as for food. The Romans introduced fallow deer to Britain, just for hunting.
  Some things the Romans did for fun were horrible. They enjoyed fights between gladiators, and fights between people and animals. These bloodthirsty shows were put on in front of crowds in large arenas called amphitheatres.
  Roman emperors paid for free shows at theatres and amphitheatres. It was a good way to make themselves popular.

What did gladiators do?

Gladiators fought one another, usually in pairs. They also fought wild animals such as lions or bears. When a gladiator was beaten (but still alive), the audience would wave scarves or put their thumbs out if they wanted him killed. If he'd fought well, and they wanted him to live, they would close their thumbs onto their fingers. Different types of gladiators used different weapons. For example, a man with a sword and shield might fight a man with a three-pronged spear or trident, and a big net.

Theatre

Romans enjoyed the theatre. Most plays were funny comedies, though there were serious tragedies as well. Actors often wore masks to show whether their character was happy or sad! They also wore wigs - an old man had a white wig, a slave had a red wig.

Why did Romans like baths so much?

Roman baths were like leisure centres. You went there to relax, not just to get clean. The baths were open to everyone, and a good place to keep fit, meet people and do business.

When you went to the baths, you took off your outdoor clothes and warmed up with some exercises. Then, after a swim in the pool, you went into a series of heated rooms. You got hotter and hotter, to sweat out the dirt. You'd chat with friends while you sweated, and perhaps have a massage and rub down with perfumed oil. Then you (or a slave) would scrape off the dirt, sweat and oil with a metal scraper called a strigil. Finally, a plunge into a cold pool. Very refreshing! The best preserved Roman baths in Britain are in the city of Bath.

What happened in a chariot race?

In Rome there was a huge stadium called the Circus Maximus, used forchariot races. Chariot races were held in Britain too. These were thrilling, but very dangerous. Chariots were small two-wheeled carts, driven by one man and pulled by four galloping horses. They raced around an oval track. There were often smashes during the seven-lap races.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/romans/leisure/

Colosseum - Fun Fact Series EP29 | Mocomi Kids

Horrible Histories (Surviving in the Roman Army)

Engineering and Construction

The Romans put a great deal of effort into engineering. Roman engineering led to the building of some remarkable engineering feats that have survived to this day throughout western Europe  like roads, theatres, baths or Hadrian's Wall. Engineering was used as a way of improving the lifestyle of the Romans even on day-to-day issues such as a frequent water supply.

Roman engineering had a large influence on Roman architecture. Arches were used a lot due to their strength. The Romans also used domes as they enabled them to build large ceilings with wide open spaces. 

                                            All Roads Lead To Rome

The Romans were famous for their roads. Some Roman roads exist to this day, nearly 2000 years after they were made. Roman roads were superbly made. Why did the Romans put so much effort into building roads?

Rome made a great deal of money from trade in Europe. Some of this trade involved transport by sea. More frequently, the Romans used roads. Also with so much of Western Europe conquered by the Romans, the Romans needed roads to move their troops around quickly. Poorly built roads would not help this.



The roads were designed to last despite the environment. They were built using many layers of masonry including concrete. These durable roads are still used today. They were also built with a hump making water flow to the edges. This kept the roads from flooding and allowed them to be used in rainy weather. 

                                                                  Water Supply

Aqueducts were long channels that the Romans built to carry water into the cities. Many of the Roman aqueducts were below ground. The water that was carried into the cities was used for drinking water, baths, and sewers. It was generally carried to a public fountain where people could then use buckets to get their water. Roman plumbing became so advanced that many of the large wealthy houses had running water.








                                                              

                                                                       The Roman Baths

One of the characteristic Imperial Roman building types is the giant bath complex which could house not only bathing facilities but lecture halls, gymnasia, libraries and gardens.Roman baths were more like a visit to a leisure centre than a quick scrub. The Romans loved the baths because they were a good place to meet people and business could be conducted there.
When you went to the baths you firstly changed out of your clothes and did some exercises. Then you might have a swim in the pool before going into a series of rooms which got hotter and hotter to help make you sweat off the dirt.

When the Romans were in these rooms they would often stop and talk to each other. All the dirt and sweat was then scraped off with a strigil and you had a swim in the cold pool.

                                                 Roman Sanitation

The Romans also invented the best drains in the world. Towns and forts had underground drains to take away dirty water and sewage. They were flushed through with water from the baths so that they didn't get too smelly.
Fresh clean water and sewers are important because without them people often catch diseases from drinking dirty water or from sewage left around the streets and houses.

Public Toilets, Ostia, first century BC

                                         The Roman System of Heating 

The Romans were good at building and engineering, but not so good at inventing machines. There were always plenty of slaves to do the nasty jobs, so nobody bothered to think up machines that could take their place. An example of this was central heating which involved lots of effort from Roman slaves. Public baths and rich people's houses all had central heating.
Houses were also centrally heated by what was known as a hypocaust. This was under-floor heating. Slaves were charged with keeping the hypocaust both clean and alight during the day. This system of heating was also used to keep some Roman baths hot.




                                                                           
                                   Running Water for the Wealthy

Houses also had water piped straight to them - unlike flats and apartments. Lead pipes brought water to a house. However, these pipes were taxed according to size - the larger the pipes, the more the tax. Archaeologists can usually tell the wealth of an owner of a Roman house by simply looking at the size of the lead pipes that brought water to that house.

                                                                            Bridges 

The Romans built long durable bridges. Many of their bridges still stand today. They used stone and concrete to build their bridges and used the arch as the basic architectural feature to make them strong. The largest Roman bridge ever built was the Trajan bridge over the river Danube. It was over 3700 feet long and 62 feet high. 

The Colosseum 

The Colosseum in Rome is a great example of Roman engineering and construction. The Colosseum was a large outdoor stadium that could seat around 50,000 people for various forms of entertainment such as gladiator games, mock battles, and dramas. The huge Colosseum is free standing and built with multiple arches to give it strength. Much of it still stands today, although earthquakes have knocked portions of it down. It is 615 feet long and 510 feet wide and took around 131,000 cubic yards of stone to make. 

The Pantheon

The Pantheon at Rome was built by Agrippa in 27 BC, destroyed, and rebuilt in the 2d cent. by Hadrian. Remarkably well preserved, it is mainly of brick with a great hemispherical dome whose supporting walls are set in concrete.

Fun Facts about Roman Engineering

• The Romans built over 400,000 km of roads including 29 highways that lead to the city of Rome.
• The Latin word for road is via. The plural of via is viae. Roman roads generally had the name via in them, like the Via Appia or the Via Flaminia.
• All the aqueducts in the city of Rome together totaled around 500 miles in length.
• The Romans were among the first civilizations to harness water power.
• It is estimated that the Romans built over 900 bridges in their empire.

http://www.angelfire.com/hi5/interactive_learning/romanbuildingfiles/yr_7_roman_builbing.htm

http://www.ducksters.com/history/ancient_roman_engineering.php

A glimpse of teenage life in ancient Rome - Ray Laurence

Religion - Ancient Roman

• What kind of gods did Romans worship?

  At first, Romans believed in many different gods and goddesses. These gods were like people, but with magical powers. The Roman gods were part of a family. People told stories ormyths about them. Each god or goddess looked after different people or things.
  These are a few of the old Roman gods:
  Saturn: once king of the gods, his place was taken by his son (Jupiter). Saturn was the god of seed-sowing. A merry Roman holiday or festival, the Saturnalia, was named after him.
  Jupiter: god of the sky, he was the most important god.
  Juno: Jupiter's wife, she looked after women.
  Neptune: Jupiter's brother, he was the god of the sea.
  Minerva: goddess of wisdom and women's work, such as weaving cloth.
  Mars: god of war, though originally god of farming.
  Venus: goddess of love, she was the lover of Mars.

• • Why did the Romans borrow new gods?

    The Romans often borrowed new gods from people they conquered. They hoped these new gods would make them stronger. They borrowed gods from Egypt, for example, such as the goddess Isis. Roman soldiers worshipped Mithras, a god from Iran. A soldier going on a journey might ask Mercury (god of travel) for help, as well as Mithras the soldiers' god and he might also make a sacrifice to Neptune (the sea god) if he had to travel by ship!

• • What went on a Roman temple?

    People worshipped the gods in special buildings called temples. Inside the temple was a statue of a god. Priests looked after the temple. People went there to make sacrifices or offerings of food, flowers or money. Sometimes the priest killed an animal, such as a bull, as part of the sacrifice ceremony. Some Emperors said they were gods too, so everyone had to make a sacrifice to the Emperor.
    Romans also had gods at home. They believed in household spirits that protected the family. They had miniature temples, or shrines, in their homes. The family would make offerings of food and drink to the household gods, and pray for good luck and protection.
  • http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/romans/religion/