Download Ancient Rome debate topics

Social Studies/English Open Door Activity
Ancient Rome research/debate topics
1. The Roman Republic was more successful than the Roman Empire. Agree or
disagree, support your response with specific details and examples.
2. The Roman Republic was quite similar to our own government today in the
United States. Agree or disagree, support your response with specific details and
examples.
3. Similar to other civilizations, the geography had a significant impact on the
development of the Rome. Agree or disagree, support your response with
specific details and examples.
4. There is very little evidence of Roman technology and architecture in modern
examples of technology and architecture. Agree or disagree, support your
response with specific details and examples.
5. Women’s roles in Roman society were quite different than in other ancient
civilizations like China, Greece, and Egypt. Agree or disagree, support your
response with specific details and examples.
6. The quality of leaders in the government caused Rome to fall. Agree or
disagree, support your response with specific details and examples.
7. There were multiple causes that contributed to the fall of Rome. Agree or
disagree, support your response with specific details and examples.
8. Eventually, the United States of America is likely to experience the same fate as
the Rome. Agree or disagree, support your response with specific details and
examples.
9. The Roman social class system is quite comparable to the social class system
that currently exists in the United States today. Agree or disagree, support your
response with specific details and examples.
Ancient Rome Research
Note Taking
Question #1: Roman Republic success vs. Roman Empire success
Questions to answer/think about as you try to conduct your research include:
A. What are you going to discuss to measure their success? Wealth ($$$),
the size of their territory, the technology they developed, their buildings
and architecture, their style of government, their military (army/navy),
etc.???
**consider choosing 3-4 of these “areas of success” to research.
B. Then, based on what “areas of success” you decided for A, you need to
research these areas for the Roman Republic, then for the Roman
Empire. HINT: It might be helpful to determine the date when the
Roman Republic ended and about when the Roman Empire began.
C. Finally, agree or disagree with the statement in the research prompt.
Question #2: Roman Republic compared to U.S.A.’s government today
Questions to answer/think about as you try to conduct your research include:
A. First, you need to research how the Roman Republic’s government was
set up. How many branches of government did the Romans Republic
have? How did it work? Who was in charge? Who could participate in
making government decisions? Why was it set up the way it was?
B. Then, for the U.S.A. government, describe: how the U.S.A.’s government
is set up? How many branches of government does the U.S. A. have?
Why is it set up the way it is? How does it work? Who is in charge?
Who can participate in making government decisions?
C. Finally, agree or disagree with the statement in the research prompt.
Question #3: Geography’s impact on development of Rome
Questions to answer/think about as you try to conduct your research include:
A. First, start by listing two to three other civilizations that we discussed this year.
B. Next, for each of these civilizations that you chose for A, describe how their
geography impacted their development. Think about the physical features like
water (rivers, seas, etc.), mountains, deserts, etc. Also consider the climates.
C. After that, research the geography in Italy that would have affected how the
Romans first started to grow.
D. Then, consider the geography of the entire territory that the Romans
controlled, and make some inferences about how the physical features probably
impacted their development/growth beyond just Italy.
E. Finally, agree or disagree with the statement in the research prompt.
Question #4: Roman technology & architecture still visible today?
Questions to answer/think about as you try to conduct your research include:
A. To begin with, research some important/major examples of Roman technology
(think about tools, roads, moving water, plumbing, construction, etc.).
B. Then, research some important/major examples of Roman architecture. Look
for styles of buildings. Look for ways they constructed their buildings, or bridges.
Research methods/techniques for supporting roofs or bridges. Consider what the
buildings & bridges looked like.
C. Finally, research if there are any modern examples of these ancient Roman
examples that you came up with in A & B (above). List what the example is,
where it can be found, show how the modern example uses the Roman styles,
etc.
D. Finally, agree or disagree with the statement in the research prompt.
Question #5: Roman women compared to women in other civilizations
Questions to answer/think about as you try to conduct your research include:
A. To start with, research what women’s roles (their rights, responsibilities, etc.)
freedoms, in China, Greece, and Egypt were.
**HINT: It might be helpful to set up a “T” style chart for your notes, with
four columns, EGYPT, GREECE, CHINA, ROME
B. Now, research what women’s roles in ancient Rome. Add this information to
your chart.
C. Then, compare Roman women with the women from the other civilizations.
D. Finally, agree or disagree with the statement in the research prompt.
Question #6: Quality of leaders in the Roman government
Questions to answer/think about as you try to conduct your research include:
A. Start out by researching what led to the fall of Rome. Why did the Roman
Empire end?
B. Based on what you found out for question A, try to determine if any specific
Roman emperors had anything to do with the Roman Empire ending. If so, list
specific examples of things that they may have done that hurt the Roman Empire
and eventually led it to crumble.
C. Now, based on your answers for A, research details about reasons unrelated to
the Roman emperors that may have caused the fall of Rome.
D. Make a decision and respond to the research prompt.
E. Finally, agree or disagree with the statement in the research prompt.
Question #7: Causes for the fall of Rome
Questions to answer/think about as you try to conduct your research include:
A. Start by using your textbook to determine some major events or causes for the
Roman Empire coming to an end. Did you find just one or multiple causes?
B. Then, research more details about each of the causes that you found. This
would also be a good time to cite text to support what you are saying about the
cause(s).
C. Now, you might consider setting up a “T” chart with as many columns in it as
the number of causes you found. IF you only found a single cause as to why the
Roman Empire ended, then all you need is one column.
BUT, IF you found 3 or 4 causes about why the Roman Empire crumbled, then you
would need 3 or 4 columns in your chart.
D. Finally, agree or disagree with the statement in the research prompt.
Question #8: The fate of the United States compared to the Roman Empire
Questions to answer/think about as you try to conduct your research include:
A. Start off by researching what happened to the Roman Empire and why it
ended. List several (at least four) reasons why.
B. Now compare what you found for A to what is going on today or to what has
happened recently with the United States. Do you find similarities to Rome?
Differences?
C. Make some inferences/predictions about the fate of U.S.A. and what might
happen.
D. Pull it all together and respond to the research prompt.
Question #9: Roman social class system compared to U.S.A. today
Questions to answer/think about as you try to conduct your research include:
A. To begin with, research the Roman social class system. How many levels were
there? Who was in each level? Describe each level and their wealth, privileges,
etc. Perhaps set up a “T” chart for the Roman social class system with details
about each level. You might find that you have 3-5 columns in your “T” chart (one
for each level in Rome’s social class system).
B. Next, research the United State’s social class system. How many levels are
there? Who was in each level? Describe each level and their wealth, privileges,
etc. Perhaps set up a “T” chart for the U.S.A. social class system with details
about each level. You might find that you have 3-5 columns in your “T” chart (one
for each level in the social class system).
C. Now, compare the two social class systems. Are they quite similar? Quite
different? How so?
D. Finally, agree or disagree with the statement in the research prompt.