Ancient Rome

This era tells the story of Rome, from its legendary birth to the end of the Western Empire. At first Rome was a village on the River Tiber, ruled by kings. Then it became a republic and, by winning many wars, conquered all the lands around the Mediterranean. With Augustus the empire was born, full of roads, aqueducts, baths and great monuments. Latin, Roman law and many words we still use today come from that world.

The era on a line: 25 events

1. about 753 BC Traditional founding of Rome
2. about 509 BC Birth of the Roman Republic
3. about 450 BC The Laws of the Twelve Tables
4. 312 BC The Appian Way
5. 264–241 BC The First Punic War
6. 218 BC Hannibal crosses the Alps
7. about 200 BC Plautus and comedy
8. about 150 BC Roman concrete
9. 144–140 BC The Aqua Marcia aqueduct
10. 73–71 BC Spartacus leads the revolt
11. 49 BC Caesar crosses the Rubicon
12. 46 BC The Julian calendar
13. 44 BC The murder of Julius Caesar
14. 27 BC Augustus, the first emperor
15. 27 BC – AD 180 The Pax Romana
16. 19 BC Virgil and the Aeneid
17. AD 79 Pompeii buried by Vesuvius
18. AD 80 The Colosseum opens
19. AD 113 Trajan's Column
20. about AD 125 The Pantheon
21. about AD 162 Galen, a doctor in Rome
22. AD 216 The Baths of Caracalla
23. about AD 300 The book with pages (the codex)
24. AD 313 The Edict of Milan
25. AD 476 Fall of the Western Roman Empire

Did you know?

• The year 46 BC lasted 445 days: Julius Caesar made it longer to bring the calendar back into line with the seasons.
• The dome of the Pantheon is made of concrete with no iron reinforcement, and it is still the largest of its kind in the world.
• The months of July and August are named after Julius Caesar and the emperor Augustus.

storiascopio.com/en/era/ancient-rome/ · free worksheet, you may photocopy it for your class

1. Put in order: write 1 next to the oldest and 5 next to the most recent.

• Roman concrete
• The murder of Julius Caesar
• The Laws of the Twelve Tables
• The book with pages (the codex)
• The Colosseum opens

2. Choose the right answer.

1. What did the Romans call the Appian Way?

   • The road of the sun
   • The road to the sea
   • The way of the consuls
   • The queen of roads

2. What was the ‘raven’ invented by the Romans during the First Punic War?

   • A very fast ship with three sails
   • A bird trained to carry messages
   • A movable bridge with a hook for grabbing enemy ships
   • A catapult for hurling stones

3. Which town gave its name to pozzolana, the ash used in Roman concrete?

   • Ostia
   • Pompeii
   • Capua
   • Pozzuoli

4. According to the historian Suetonius, what did Caesar say as he crossed the Rubicon?

   • You too, Brutus, my son
   • Hands off Rome
   • The die is cast
   • I came, I saw, I conquered

3. Match each person to what they did: write the right letter.

Storiascopio · texts by Ciro Simone Irmici, written with the help of AI and checked · sources in the online cards