Welcome to our Roman Britain topic!
During our launch afternoon, I could already tell how excited you were to discover what was in store for your learning this term! You had lots of questions, ideas and enthusiasm — and now it is time to become Roman historians!
This term, we are going to travel back in time to discover the story of the Romans. We will find out how a small city called Rome grew into one of the most powerful empires the world had ever seen.
We will discover the legend of Romulus and Remus, explore what Britain was like before the Romans arrived and investigate why Britain was such a difficult place for the Romans to conquer.
We will become experts on the Roman army and discover why it was so successful. We will also investigate how the people living in Britain reacted to the Roman invasion, including the famous rebellion led by Boudicca.
But the Romans didn’t just bring an army to Britain. They changed many parts of British life. We will investigate how they introduced roads, towns, buildings, food, technology and new ways of living.
We will even travel to Londinium — Roman London! Using historical sources, we will piece together clues to discover what everyday life was like for the people who lived there.
Finally, we will investigate why the Romans eventually left Britain and discover the important things they left behind.
Throughout the topic, you won’t just be learning facts. You will be working like real historians by asking questions, examining evidence, making deductions, comparing sources and explaining your ideas.
For your homework this half term, you will have Wider Curriculum tasks which link to our topic. You will be able to use the skills and knowledge from the homework in our lessons on this topic!
Your Roman Research Challenge!
By the end of our topic, can you find the answers to these six big questions?
How did Rome become such a powerful empire?
What was Britain like before the Romans arrived, and why was Britain difficult to invade?
Why was the Roman army so successful?
How did the people of Britain react to the Roman invasion?
How did the Romans change life in Britain?
What is the Roman legacy in Britain, and what can we still see today?
A Roman Blog by William Hirsch Y4
Rome started in a small village, and then became an empire by conquering lands with their strong army. They had good laws, very straight streets (the streets were made out of cobblestone). The Roman empire conquered parts of Europe and Asia.
Before the romans arrived to Britain, Britain was a land of celtic tribes who were farmer and that had round houses. Britain was not a unified nation. It was difficult to invade Britain because it’s on an island and the Romans faced trouble during the impredictable weather. It was difficult to ship their supplies and they arrived seasick.
Roman soldiers were strong, well trained and disciplined. They used shields, swords and clever battle plans. Romans soldiers were called legionaries.
Some british tribes fought the Romans but others became their allies. Boudicca, a celtic queen led a rebellion against the Romans rule around AD 60-61.
The romans built roads, towns, forts and bath houses. They also taught buildings techniques and left colourful mosaic and under floor heating.
Romans legacy are roads, walls, buildings and acient ruins. Nowadays we can visit Hadrian’s wall, the roman baths in Baths and roman sites in London.
Romans changed Britain in many ways. They were excelent soldiers and builders and we can still see the legacy today. Some of my favourite romans weapons used during the war, were catapults, swords, axes, a hose, pickaxes, shovels and javelins.