Geography and Life

(Have a map for children to mark cities, rivers, mountains and etc on their map---

Click here to print the map of Italy)

Before we begin discussing Rome in detail lets talk about Who were the Romans?

READ "Who were the Romans?" Usborne Starting Point History-- p.2 & 3

Romans were who lived the city of Rome are called Romans.  Rome is a part of Europe now known as Italy.  Over the years, the Romans took over many countries, making them part of a huge empire. 

Read p. 3 "How do we know what we know about Ancient Rome?"   A lot of what we know comes from the work of archeologigists.  These are people who carefully dog up the remains of ancient Roman buildings and ancient Romans.   Many things written by Roman writers have also survived.  This adds to our idea of life in Roman times. 

Read p.2 "Who were the Romans?" and "What are BC and AD?"   (this will be very important for your timeline) ---

BC and AD is used in dates.  BC means that something happened Before Christ (or before his birth) and AD stands for "Anno Domini" which in Latin means "in the year of our Lord" or the years after the birth of Christ. 

Also discuss "What is Latin?"  ---- Latin was the language used by the ancient Romans.  Latin is no longer spoken, except by people interested in learning it.  Many words in many languages are based on Latin.  In fact, the word "language" comes from the Latin word lingua, which means "tongue".  There are many other words that came from Latin, vacation, alphabet and others. 

(we will also return to this page at a later time)

Usborne Ancient World will also give you a good lesson on "How we know about the Romans"  p. 195

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VOCABULARY- 

sea

ocean

island

continent

peninsula

strait

natural barriers

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Print a map of Italy---Click Here---  use to mark cities, rivers, mountains and etc.   ( good map was located on p.140  Stream of

Civilizations Vol. 1)

Print Italian Flag --    Click Here

Early civilizations usually arose near rivers.  These were important matural barriers to protect them from invasion.  They also

served as fertile ground for farming and living of the land.  Rome is located in Italy, a peninsula that sticks out into the Mediterranean Sea. 

Define Penninsula-  a piece of land that sticks out and is almost surrounded by water

(Click Here to see the map of Ancient Rome)

(Locate Italy and the Mediterranean Sea on the map---color the Mediterranean Sea blue )

It is easy to spot on the map because it looks just like a boot.  Italy appears to have "straps" in the Alps Mountains and a "toe" pointing into the Mediterranean Sea.  It is four times larger than Greece.  The island of Sicily is located off the tip of Italy's "boot" 

Discuss and define barriers (doors, fences, etc.)

Natural barriers are things like mountains, oceans, rivers, etc.  

Define island- piece of land completely surrounded by water

(locate and mark the island of Sicily, draw in Italy's natural barriers--the Alps Mts.  Adriatic Sea, Liqurean Sea, Tyrrhenian Sea, Gulf of Tarant, Ionian sea, Tiber River and color the Mediterranean Sea blue--if you haven't done so already)

Early settlers in Italy found a mountainous country.  The Apennine (Alps) Mountains extend down the center of the peninsula.  Unlike Greece, however, the mountains of Italy did not divide the country into separate units.  Three nearby islands, Elva, Sardinia, and Corsica, provided raw materials and land for expansion (locate islands on a map and have student write names on a map).  Italy was a rich land.  The broad, fertile plain along the west coast, as well as the area around the Po River valley, was good pastureland and farmland (draw Po River on map). 

The capital city of Rome.  (locate and draw Rome on your map)   It is located on the Tiber River (draw and locate Tiber River on your map).   Thousands of years ago, Rome was more than just a great city.  Rome was a great a great empire.  Powerful armies marched from Rome and conquered many lands in Europe, Asia and Africa.  The Roman Empire was so big and so perful that people used to say "all roads lead to Rome". We will learn in this unit how Rome grew from a kingdom, to a republic and then into an Empire.  We will also learn how Rome fell.  

What would I see if I looked out my window? 

Depending on where you live in Rome, you might see different things from your window.  Most Romans lived in the country where they were farmers.   The country side was green and hilly.  Many Romans living in the country might have seen a river from their houses since Rome is located near the Tiber River.