Ancient Rome for Kids

Over 2,500 years ago, Rome began as a tiny village along the Tiber River on the Italian peninsula. It was an excellent location. The soil was good so crops could be grown easily.  It was surrounded by 7 hills, offering a natural defensive barrier.  The river provided fresh water for drinking and bathing as well as an easy way to trade. With all these advantages, over time, ancient Rome grew into a powerful empire.

Would you have wanted to become a Roman Citizen?

You might have. Not everyone was accepted, but anyone could apply.

Romans citizens were very social. 

They visited friends, relatives and neighbors quite often. They met in the famous Roman baths. The rich might hold a dinner party for friends and important people, lit by oil lamps. The poor couldn't afford the oil for the lamps so they usually went to bed when it got dark. But many events were held during the day. There were free chariot races in the Circus Maximus. Gladiators fought at the Coliseum. There were also free plays performed in pantomime so everyone could see what was going on, no matter how crowded or noisy. People were not quiet during plays. They talked to each other in loud voices so they could be heard over the crowd, while some ignored and some yelled at the performers.

The Forum:

The Forum was the central marketplace. At the Forum, there were different shops selling all kinds of things, like clothes, jewelry, shoes, wigs, swords and more!  The great Roman orators gave speeches in the Forum so that everyone knew what was going on in government.  Kids ran through the Forum on their way to school. Women washed laundry in the Tiber. The smell of fresh bread was everywhere. As the Roman Empire expanded, a Forum was built in every new city. Visiting the local Forum was an important part of daily life.

The Roman Family:  

Families lived together in one house. The family might include uncles, aunts, grandpas, grandmas, parents, kids - the family. The head of each family was the oldest male in the household. His job was to care for and protect his family. For hundreds of years, his word was law. If you disobeyed the oldest male, he could throw you out of the household. Where would you go? It was unlikely that anyone would take you in, except as a slave. Later on, as the population grew, you might bring your case before the court if you felt you were wrongly treated, but the oldest male always had a great deal of power.

Rome was not built in a day.

First, Rome was a Kingdom (200 years,) and then a Republic (500 years - no more kings!) and then an Empire for 500 years more! Rome wanted to conquer the entire ancient world around the Mediterranean, and be the only important city in it. The rest would be made up of provinces and colonies, whose purpose was to provide the city of Rome with whatever Rome wanted and needed. That was their goal, and that's what they did! Two hundred years earlier, Alexander the Great conquered the same people, but Alexander's empire only lasted 13 years. The Romans not only conquered the same areas as Alexander, plus more, but thanks in great part to the famous Roman Legion, Rome kept control of the people they conquered for hundreds of years.

The Roman Legion:

The Roman Legion was the crack military force of ancient Rome. They turtled their way around the Mediterranean Sea. That's how the Romans fought - entire units created one shape like a turtle shell. They would raise their shields over their heads and form a barrier, so that enemy arrows could not penetrate and hurt them. They marched side by side, packed tightly together, underneath their "shell". Their boots made a loud clattering sound as they turtled along. It was a sound enemy tribes feared. As they moved in on the enemy, they lowered their shields and used their weapons most effectively.

The Roman Legion was famous in ancient times. People were terrified of them. As the Legion approached, not everyone, but many people accepted defeat without a battle. Thanks to the very capable Roman Legion, the ancient Romans conquered the Greek city-states and ancient Egypt, and continued to expand until Roman colonies and provinces circled the Mediterranean Sea. See the map below. Everything in orange was part of the Roman Empire, including parts of Great Britain, Africa, Asia and Europe!

Each time a new city was conquered, a road was built from that city back to Rome.

Roads were built in straight lines, or as straight as possible. Many had gutters. Along the side of the road, the Romans built road signs called milestones. Milestones did not give any information about other towns in the area. Milestones told how far it was back to Rome. Occasionally, milestones also listed who built that section of road and how much it cost! Roman roads were built so well that some are still in use today. That's one reason historians nicknamed the ancient Romans as The Great Builders. People walked or rode horseback or took their chariots out on the roads. Bandits were known to attack travelers, so people had to be careful. But still - the Roman roads made travel much easier. There were guard outposts and patrols along the roads to help keep people safe.

The Romans built impressive temples all over the Roman Empire in honor of the most powerful Roman gods. 

Each temple honored only one major god, which explains why so many temples were built all over the Roman Empire. Every day, the ancient Romans brought offerings of meat and other items to at least one nearby temple. Usually they visited more than one temple each day because they wanted to pray to more than one major god. But major gods were not the only gods the Romans worshiped - they believed in thousands of gods! The Romans believed there were spirits and guardian gods for everything, hidden in trees, streams, bridges - in everything. The Romans prayed to or thanked their gods every day. That's because the Romans believed their gods were able to interact with people if they chose to do so. They could help people, or cause them a great deal of trouble.

The Romans blamed everything bad on people forgetting to worship or thank the gods properly.

For example, if you forgot to thank the keyhole god who watched over the front door of your house on your way out, you might find your front door stuck shut when you returned home, and you would not be able to get into your own house until you apologized and perhaps not even then for hours. The ancient Romans believed their gods could and would create very clever ways of getting even if you forgot to thank them. So, the ancient Romans tried very hard NOT to forget.

As Rome expanded, the Romans came in contact with people who worshiped other gods. 

If those people had fought extremely well, the Romans figured that their gods must be pretty good, so the Romans adopted those gods, gave them Roman names, and pretended they were Roman gods all along.

The Romans adopted nearly all the ancient Greek gods. But they changed most of their names, and gave them Roman names. They also changed their personalities a bit in some cases, and adjusted the Greek myths to better fit the Roman way of life.

The ancient Romans were very different from the ancient Greeks.  

The ancient Romans were down-to-earth realists, not idealists. You can see this in their statues. The Greeks made statues of perfect people. The Romans created real life statues. A statue of one of the Roman emperors is a good example. His nose is huge! The ancient Greeks would never have done that.  The ancient Greeks had roads, but they were not built nearly as well, and their roads did not connect in any particular order. Connect to what?  Each Greek city-state was its own unit. In ancient Rome, Rome was the heart of the empire!   

The Romans honored and encouraged literacy. We know a great deal about them thanks to the inscriptions they left behind. An inscription is usually a note created by hand that has been written, carved, or chiseled on an object. Quite frequently, the Romans stamped the name of the brick maker onto the bricks they used.  They even had a law that said the makers of lead pipes that delivered water to buildings had to be stamped with the makers name.  Pottery makers signed their work. Soldiers wrote letters home. Archeologists have found hundreds of thousands of Roman inscriptions and more are being found every year. All this information from people in all walks of ancient Roman life provides a wonderful window to the past. The more inscriptions archaeologists find, the easier it is for historians to put pieces of the past together.

This was only a quick look. Our Roman section is huge. Explore the menu above. Or, to find just what you need, we suggest you use the wonderful Google search engine. Type mrdonn (leave a space) and type whatever you want to find. It's a shortcut that works. For example, type: mrdonn roman gladiators 

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Mr. Donn and Maxie's Ancient History PowerPoints Series
Written by Lin & Don Donn for Kids
illustrated by Phillip Martin, Published by Good Year Books