A travel to Ancient Rome and beyond...

Before we start lets....


Square Off - I have placed an index card in each corner of the room with the following phrases: The First Punic War (Index Card 1), The Second Punic War (Index Card 2), The Third Punic War (Index Card 3), and The Legacy of the Roman Empire (Index Card 4). Go to the corner of the room that matches the index cards that you were given at the beginning of class that were numbered 1-4.  Go to the corner of the room and as a group, discuss what they know about the topic.


Coach Hughes – Chapter 8 Section 2 – Study Guide/NOTES – Pages 268-276
Rome’s Government (pages 268-273)

A.  Patricians (wealthy landowners) and Plebeians  (artisans, shopkeepers, and owners of small farms) were the two classes of people in Rome.
B.  Top government officials were called consuls.  Another important group of officials were the praetors (judges).  The Senate (patricians) was the most important lawmaking body.  Another important legislative body was the Assembly of Centuries.
C.  Plebeians challenged the class system by going on strike.  The Romans then allowed the Plebeians to set up their own legislative group called the Council of the Plebes.
D.  Today, a dictator is an oppressive ruler.  In the Roman Republic, a dictator was a person who served the people and ruled temporarily during emergencies.
E.  Cincinnatus (served only 16 days), the best-known early Roman dictator, led an army of men to defeat a powerful enemy.

F.  The Twelve Tables were Rome’s first code of laws.  They were the basis of all future Roman laws.  The Law of Nations were created to address issues of conquered peoples.
G.  The rule of law is the idea that laws should apply to everyone equally.

II.  Rome Expands (pages 274-276)
A.  Carthage, a state on the coast of North Africa, was a powerful enemy of Rome. The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage from 264 BC to 146 BC. At the time, they were probably the largest wars that had ever taken place. The term Punic comes from the Latin word Punicus (or Poenicus), meaning "Carthaginian", with reference to the Carthaginians' Phoenician ancestry. The main cause of the Punic Wars was the fight of interests between the existing Carthaginian Empire and the expanding Roman Republic.

B.  The First Punic War began as a dispute between Rome and Carthage over the island of Sicily.  The war continued for 20 years before Rome won. The Romans were initially interested in expansion via Sicily (which at that time was a cultural melting pot), part of which lay under Carthaginian control.  The First Punic War was a nearly unbroken string of Roman victories. In 241 BC, Carthage signed a peace treaty under the terms of which they evacuated Sicily and paid Rome a large war indemnity. The long war was costly to both powers, but Carthage was more seriously destabilized. In 238 BC, Carthage was plunged into the Mercenary War, during which Rome seized Sardinia and Corsica. Rome was now the most powerful state in the western Mediterranean: its large navy able to prevent seaborne invasion of Italy, control important sea trade routes, and invade foreign shores.

C.  The Second Punic War began after Carthage expanded into Spain.  Rome helped the people of Spain rebel.

D.  Hannibal was a great Carthaginian general who fought in the Second Punic War. The Second Punic War (218 BC – 201 BC) is most remembered for the Carthaginian Hannibal's crossing of the Alps. His army invaded Italy from the north and resoundingly defeated the Roman army in several battles, but never achieved the ultimate goal of causing a political break between Rome and its allies.

E.  At the Battle of Cannae, Hannibal’s forces overpowered the Romans.
F.  While fighting Hannibal in Italy, Hispania and Sicily, Rome also simultaneously fought against Macedon in the First Macedonian War. Eventually, the war was taken to Africa, where Carthage was defeated at the Battle of Zama by Scipio Africanus. The end of the war saw Carthage's control reduced to only the city itself.

G.  The Third Punic War (149–146 BC) involved an extended siege of Carthage, ending in the city's thorough destruction. The resurgence of the struggle can be explained by growing anti-Roman agitations in Hispania and Greece, and the visible improvement of Carthaginian wealth and martial power in the fifty years since the Second War.

H.  Rome also took all of Greece and Macedonia and parts of Africa during the Punic Wars.  A band of Visigoths killed Odoacer and set up a kingdom in Italy.

I.  The Eastern Roman Empire continued to prosper after the fall of the Western Roman Empire.  It became known as the Byzantine Empire.

III.  The Legacy of Rome (pages 325-326)

A.  The law and government of the United States today is influenced by the laws and government of the ancient Romans.

B.  The alphabet of the Latin language is used through the Western world today.  Many European languages stemmed from Latin.  Many English words come from Latin.

C.  Western architecture uses styles of the Romans, such as domes and arches.

D.  Christianity began in the Roman Empire. 

Watch the "Legacy of Rome".

Turn & Talk- During our virtual field trip, you will have many opportunities to turn & talk for a few minutes. You can only talk with other student that DID NOT have the same index card as you did at the beginning of this topic. This will allow you to talk about the information presented or shared and to clarify thoughts or questions that you or your partner may have about the topic. This is an effective alternate strategy to asking questions to the whole group and having the same students responding. All students will have a chance to talk in a non-threatening situation for a short period of time.

Start the Virtual Tour by clicking the PLAY button from YOUTUBE and ENJOY.

Now that we our finished...


Students will now reflect on everything that they have seen, heard, and experienced.  Students will pick one of our four topics, The First Punic War, The Second Punic War, The Third Punic War, or The Legacy of the Roman Empire and reflect about that topic by creating their very own blog. Student blogs will be graded by using the following rubric.


Rubrics - Rubrics are scoring guides or sets of expectations used to assess student level of understanding and allow students to know the expectations and what they need to do in order to be learning at a higher level. 

Reflection/Response to Reading
Criterion	5	4	3	2	1
Ideas	Clearly & succinctly identifies main idea of reading and own viewpoint; insightful and well considered ideas, making multiple connections from beyond personal experience; substantial support; strong focus	Clearly identifies main idea and own viewpoint; gives solid support and thoughtful ideas and connections from and beyond personal experience; ideas are well considered and more than one thoughtful connection is made; focus is clear and appropriate	Clearly states main point of ; gives some relevant support and subordinate details; own viewpoint is clear and supported; ideas are logical and on topic; makes connections with personal and some abstract principles/ideas; focus is generally clear and appropriate	States main point but misses subordinate points or gives irrelevant details; own viewpoint is stated and separated from reading; ideas are somewhat clear; focus is present, though may meander	Has difficulty stating main point; confuses main points and subordinate points; own viewpoint is unclear or given as though from reading; ideas are simplistic; focus is confusing
Organization & Style	Organization is clear and imaginative; repetition used only for effect; introduction hooks reader and conclusion satisfies; voice and tone contribute to interest, clarity and understanding.	A clear organizational pattern is assisted by smooth transitions, and effective sequencing of information and opinion; introduction interests readers and conclusion brings closure, voice and tone contribute to understanding	A clear organizational pattern assists the reader; there is a sense of who the audience is; some enthusiasm and voice interest the reader; introduction and conclusion are present	Some organization is present; there is superficial interest in the topic shown; some attempt at a introduction and conclusion	Organization is confused and confusing to the reader; introduction is unclear; conclusion is missing
Mechanics	Absence of errors or errors which result from risk-taking with more complex or original purposes, and which do not impede understanding	No errors which impede understanding and few errors overall.	Few errors in simple aspects and few in more complex aspects which do not impede understanding	Few errors in simple aspects and many errors in more complex aspects occasionally impedes understanding	Many errors in both complex and simple aspects confuse and annoy the readers