Download SESSIONS 5 and 6 - aicleincamanacor

ROMAN SOCIETY: FAMILY AND CHILDREN
SESSION FIVE
INTRODUCTION
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What was life like for a Roman family?
Life for women in Roman times was often hard. Mother was less important than father
in the family. Father had the power of life or death over everyone. When a new baby
was born it would be laid at its father's feet - if the father picked the baby up it would
live, but if he ignored the baby it would be taken away to die. Women were expected to
run the home, cook meals, and raise children. If they were wealthy, women were lucky;
they had slaves to do the work.
Many girls were married at the age of 14. Marriages were often arranged between
families. A man could divorce his wife if she did not give birth to a son. Many women
died young (in their 30s), because childbirth could be dangerous, and diseases were
common.
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Did Romans go to school?
Most children in Roman times did not go to school. Only quite rich families could
afford to pay a teacher. Most schools were in towns. Not many girls went to school, but
some were taught at home by tutors, who were often educated slaves. Boys from rich
families learned history, maths, and literature at school, to prepare them for jobs in the
army or government. In poor families, girls and boys had to work, helping their parents.
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What did Romans write with?
For short messages and at school, Roman wrote on soft wax tablets using a pointed
metal stylus. To use the tablet again, or rub out a mistake you smoothed the wax over
with the blunt end of the stylus. For important letters the Romans used a metal pen
dipped in ink. They wrote on thin pieces of wood or on specially prepared animal skins.
Books did not have pages, they were written on scrolls made from pieces of animal skin
glued together and then rolled up.
We know that Roman women wrote letters, because some of their letters have survived.
One was found at Vindolanda, a fort near Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland. It is a
birthday party invitation from Claudia Severa to her friend Sulpicia Lepidina and was
written about AD 100.
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What did Romans eat?
Poor Romans ate bread, vegetable soup, and porridge. Meat was a luxury, unless they
lived in the countryside and could go hunting or fishing.
Poor people's small homes had no kitchens. So they often took food round to the baker,
to cook in his oven. Many people bought takeaways, such as sausages or fried fish, from
food-shops.
Rich Romans had food cooked at home in the kitchen by slaves. Most ate a light
breakfast and a snack at mid-day - perhaps bread and cheese, or boiled eggs and salad.
They ate dinner in late afternoon, with a starter, a meat course (such as hare, pig, beef,
goat, chicken, fish or pigeon) followed by fruit or nuts. Ice cream was a treat. Lettuce
was served at the end of a meal because Romans believed it helped you sleep.
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What were Roman toys like?
Roman children had some toys very like ones we play with today - such as toy soldiers,
rattles, balls, doll's houses, carts and pull-along animals on wheels. Even poor children
had board games, using pebbles for counters, and wooden dolls. Some dolls had
moveable arms and legs. Roman children had ivory letters to practise their spellings
with. Favourite Roman pets were dogs, birds and monkeys.
FUN FACTS
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Some Romans liked to eat snails fattened on milk, peacocks' brains and
flamingos' tongues.
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At dinner, slaves gave guests small hot bread rolls to wipe their plates clean.
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Roman flour contained a lot of dust and bits. This made bread so coarse that it
wore down people's teeth.
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Romans liked fun foods, such as a roast hare with bird's wings stuck on, to look
like a flying horse!
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Activity:
(In pairs)
Try to think of the answer to the next questions about Roman food:
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What were Roman homes like?
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What was a Roman party or banquet like?
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Did they use knives and forks?
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How was food cooked in a Roman kitchen?
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What was the Romans’ favourite sauce?
To learn more…
We know about some Roman food from Roman cookery books. Two (one on sauces,
one on food in general) were written by a man called Apicius. Some of his recipes
(Roast chicken, cucumber salad, for instance) sound quite modern. Others sound rather
odd.
Roman birthday party:
Many Roman families had slaves. A slave could be bought or sold like a sheep or a clay
pot. They were never paid for their work, and sometimes beaten by cruel owners.
However some slaves were treated well. Some were freed by their owners. Slave
women might marry rich men, and become rich themselves.
SESSION SIX
Activity:
(in pairs)
Find out about slaves in Roman times on the web and discuss what you have found
with your partner.
And… answer these questions:
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Who do you think would end up as a slave?
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Many slaves were criminals. They were punished by being made slaves. Was
this better or worse than going to prison?
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Could the Roman Empire have existed without slaves?
Discuss the answers to these questions with the rest of your class. Do you all agree
with each other?
Activity: Vocabulary.
(Individually)
You’ve got three boxes to insert a picture of the next different people from
different social groups. Write the following words next to the correct images: find
them out on the internet or draw some pictures from your text book.
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patrician
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landowner
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noble
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artisan
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politician
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servant
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….
SOCIAL CLASSES
Introduction
Activity
Fill in the gaps
ARMY
EMPIRE
PATRICIANS
SOCIETY
CLASS
CITIZENS
PLEBEIANS
FAMILY
PROFESSIONALS SOLDIERS
During the Era of the Republic (before 27 BC), two groups, _____________and
___________, made up Roman ________. Both of them were citizens.
There was a sharp divide between the patricians and the plebeians: the patricians
married and did business only with the people of their __________. The plebeians could
become clients (obedient servants) of a patrician family. They offered their services and
so received the protection of the head of the patrician family. Then, the head of this
family became their patron.
Society in the Era of the Empire 27BC – 476 AD. Becoming a Roman citizen.
During the _________, social classes changed to include nobility, the middle class and
the _______. Among the nobles there was a change; many of the new rich people of the
Provinces became members of the Senate.
In the cities of the Provinces, there was an active middle class: landowners, traders,
___________ and state officers. Artisans were also included as a part of the Roman
middle class.
Many people from the Provinces joined the army and received Roman citizenship.
Being in the army did not only mean fighting, but colonizing, building roads, bridges
and fortifications. The _________ founded the first settlements of future cities and
supervised their development and security.
SLAVES
Reading activity
Slaves were very important to the Romans. They did the hardest work and thanks to
them, some Romans became very rich and powerful. Without slaves the Romans could
not live as well as they did.
Who were the slaves? They were people frequently captured in battle and sent back to
Rome. Later, Romans sold them. However, abandoned children could also become
slaves. According to Roman law, fathers could sell their older children if they were in
need of money. Wealthy Romans bought slaves in a market place.
Young males were very expensive because they could work for a long time. A slave was
a slave for life. Only their owners could give them their freedom. When that happened,
they became freedmen. They could also buy their freedom, if they had the amount of
money that their masters had paid for them, which was virtually impossible. If a slave
married and had children, the children automatically became slaves.
We assume that slaves were all poor, but this is not the case. There were teachers,
cooks, etc., living normal lives in their masters’houses.
Now write down three main ideas of the text above.
Final activities (at home)
Go to YouTube and watch the video:
A glimpse of teenage life in ancient Rome - Ray Laurence
Write down at least 4 things related to this unit. Did you find them interesting?
Activity:
To learn more… Find out more about roman society on the web.