Explore Ancient Rome!: 25 Great Projects, Activities, Experiments (Explore Your World series)

98 Pages·2008·46.41 MB·English

by  Carmella Van Vleet

25 great
projects
activities
experiments
carmella van vleet
Illustrated by Alex kim
carmella van vleet
Illustrated by Alex kim
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ISBN: 978-0-9792268-4-7
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Let’s Explore Rome!
Contents
1
Introduction
Let’s Explore Rome!
13
chapter 1
Home Sweet Villa
25
chapter 2
Eat Like a Roman
38
chapter 3
time for School
46 chapter 4
Be glad You’re Not a gladiator
57 chapter 5
High fashion
67 chapter 6
Emperors Rule!
82 chapter 7
gods and godd esses
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For Mom and Abbey—my bookends.
Other titles from Nomad Press
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Let’s
Explore
Rome!
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eeevvveeerrr bbbeeeeeennn tttooo aaa mmmaaallllll??? DDDooo yyyooouuu hhhaaavvveee
rrruuunnnnnniiinnnggg wwwaaattteeerrr iiinnn yyyooouuurrr hhhooouuussseee???
IIIfff sssooo,,, yyyooouuu cccaaannn ttthhhaaannnkkk ttthhheee
ppeeooppllee wwhhoo lliivveedd
in ancient Rome! Ancient
Romans invented these things
and many more.
Where was ancient Rome? What was the RRoommaann
Empire?? WWhhaatt wwaass iitt lliikkee ttoo lliivvee tthheerree?? AAnndd,, hhooww ddiidd
aanncciieenntt RRoommee iinnflfl uueennccee tthhee wwoorrlldd wwee lliivvee iinn ttooddaayy??
IInn tthhiiss bbooookk,, yyoouu’’llll eexxpplloorree aanncciieenntt RRoommee,,
aann iinnccrreeddiibbllee cciittyy aanndd eemmppiirree tthhaatt eexxiisstteedd ffrroomm
775533 BBCCEE ttoo 447766 CCEE.. TThhiiss bbooookk wwiillll aallssoo aannsswweerr
mmaannyy ooff yyoouurr qquueessttiioonnss aanndd sshhaarree ssoommee ccooooll ffaaccttss..
1
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Explore Ancient Rome!
You’ll get to learn about villas, aqueducts, emperors,
chariot races, gladiators, bathhouses, mosaics, and
the Colosseum. You’ll also learn about some
interesting people, such as Hadrian, Trajan,
and Julius Caesar. One of them had a wall.
One of them had a mall. And one of
them had a great fall! Along the
way, you’ll get to do plenty
of fun projects, play
games, and hear some
goofy jokes. Ready? Let’s
explore!
Where in the
World Was
Ancient Rome?
Ancient Rome was a city in
Italy. According to legend,
Romulus and Remus founded
it in 753 BCE. Romulus and
Remus were brothers who
were taken from their mother and
left to die along the banks of the Tiber
River. A she-wolf took care of them until a shepherd adopted them.
When they got older, they decided to build a city near the place the
wolf found them. They fought over who would rule the new city and
Romulus killed Remus. Rome, which still exists, is named for Romulus.

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Let’s Explore Rome!
The area, which had seven hills,
was a good place for a city. The Tiber
River provided water, food, and a
way to travel. In time, the rulers of
Rome took over neighboring lands. All
of these lands together were called
Roman Empire: all the lands and
the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire people ruled by Rome.
grew to include Spain, Greece, Asia aqueduct: a channel that carried
Minor, Britain, Turkey and North Africa. water from streams in the hills
and mountains and from the
The Roman Empire also controlled the
Tiber River to the city of ancient
Mediterranean Sea.
Rome.
Because the Roman Empire was so big,
channel: a canal through which
different parts had different kinds of
a stream of water moves.
weather. Some places were cold. Others
castellum: a water tank in
were hot. There were also different
ancient Rome.
kinds of landscapes. Some places had
Cloaca Maxima: a famous sewer
desert sand. Other
in Rome—the first sewer.
places had mountains.
Romans became good
at adapting to different kinds of environments. This
helped them grow and flourish. One of
the other things that helped ancient
Romans to thrive was the aqueduct.

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Explore Ancient Rome!
Aqueducts
A million people lived in ancient Rome. All of those people needed
water. In order to get water to the city, Romans built aqueducts.
Aqueducts were channels that carried water from streams and
springs in the hills and from the Tiber River to the city. They were
made out of stones and concrete and had gradual slopes to move the
water down. Gravity makes water move downhill.
At first, these channels were underground. This was probably done
to hide the aqueducts from enemies. When the Roman Empire got
so big it didn’t have to worry about enemies as much, the aqueducts
were built above ground, on top of concrete archways.
Ancient Romans discovered
Cool Artifact
a way to make concrete
waterproof. they added
volcanic sand. this was important because it meant they could
build things that lasted a long time and held up in all kinds of
weather. An example of this is an aqueduct. Many ancient Roman
aqueducts are still standing, even though they are no longer used.
4
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Let’s Explore Rome!
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WWaatteerr mmoovveedd tthhrroouugghh tthhee aaqquueedduuccttss
LLAAuuggHHSS
iinnttoo tthhee cciittyy.. TThheerree,, tthhee wwaatteerr flfl oowweedd
into a water tank called a ccaasstteelllluumm.. Q Q:: What do you
call a bird in
Next, water was sent into pipes that led
a fountain
to public bathhouses, fountains, and
in ancient
the homes of the wealthy. Poor people
Rome?
got their water from the fountains.
A: An aqua
Each day, the aqueducts carried over
duck!
200 million gallons of water into the city.
There were valves to turn off the water, but the Romans didn’t use
them unless there was a problem. This meant water ran 24 hours a
day. You’d probably get in trouble if you left the water running all
day long!
To help drain all the used and dirty water, Romans invented
sewers. The first sewer was called the Cloaca Maxima. It was
about 985 yards long. It was tall enough, in places, for a horse and
cart to go through! This sewer is still used today, 2,500 years after
its construction.
Roads
Along with aqueducts, roads played a very important role in ancient
Rome’s success. In order to allow quick travel to the city, ancient
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lleedd ffrroomm vvaarriioouuss cciittiieess
ssttrraaiigghhtt iinnttoo RRoommee..
AAnndd ssttrraaiigghhtt wwaass rriigghhtt!!
AAnncciieenntt RRoommaannss bbuuiilltt rrooaaddss tthhaatt
ttooookk tthhee sshhoorrtteesstt ppoossssiibbllee rroouuttee..
SSoommeettiimmeess,, tthhiiss mmeeaanntt bbuuiillddiinngg aa
rrooaadd rriigghhtt tthhrroouugghh aa hhiillll.. TThheerree
wweerree nnoo ccuurrvveess..
5
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