Ancient Rome Webquest
Explore the following links below at MrDowling.com and answer the questions in your traveling Journal that has been provided to you from his website. I have also listed the questions on this page in case you have temporarily misplaced your packet.
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A NEW POWER RISES
Fill in the Blanks Use the passage above to find the correct answers. Rome is a c______ on the I____________ peninsula that began building an e__________ about ______bc. Rome was an excellent *l_______________ for a c______. It is situated along a s__a__l__w part of the T________ River. Seven h________ surround R________, providing protection for the city. R______ is also close to excellent f__r__l__nd and an abundance of w______ and s________. These factors have allowed Rome to prosper for thousands of y________. Answer in complete sentences Please write in complete sentences. 1. How would the army of the early Roman republic treat the people they captured? 2. Why is Rome known as “the Eternal City?” |
THE PATRICIANS
Fill in the Blanks The Roman people freed themselves from E__r__s__an rule in 509bce to set up a r__p__b__ic. Their government was run by two c__n__u__s who served one-year terms. The Senate was a group of pa__r__c__a__s that a__v__s__d the c__n__u__s. The patricians were the d__s__e__d__n__s of the leaders of the r__b__l__i__n against the Etruscans. In 491bce, a group of m__r__h__n__s, farmers and c__a__t__o__k__rs called p__e__e__a__s refused to fight in a Roman war unless the P__t__i_ia__s allowed them to *p__r_i__i__a__e in the g__v__r__me__t. The patricians allowed the plebeians to elect t__i__u__es to protect their interests. The patricians and the plebeians agreed on a legal code called the T__el__e Tables. Two thousand years after the founding of the Roman Republic, the framers of the American C__n__t__t__t__on used the Roman Republic as a model for the new American government. Answer in complete sentences *1. Use a dictionary to define “patri-,” the root of patrician. List at least two words with this root. *2. Why is the United States a republic? *3. Was every class represented in the Roman Republic? Explain your answer. *4. Why did many Romans consider Cincinnatus to be a hero? *5. What can you compare the Forum to in modern society? Explain your reasoning. *6. Explain what a veto was in ancient Rome? *7. Suggest a class rule that most students would agree to, but would be vetoed by the teacher. (You do not have to use complete sentences for this answer.) |
THE PUNIC WAR
Fill in the Blanks Rome and C__rt__a__e fought three P__n__c Wars over ______ years beginning in ______bce. The wars established Rome as a world p__w__r and d__s__ro__ed Carthage’s once great North A__r__c__n empire. The first Punic War was fought over S__ci__y, an i__l__nd in the M__d__t__r__a__e__n Sea midway between the two cities. Carthage built a superior n______ to support their m__r__ha__t sailors. Rome had little experience f__g__t__ng at s____; they won many battles using i__n__v__t__ve techniques, but Rome also lost many ships due to their i__e__p__r__e__ce with s__o__ms. Carthage lost S__c__ly and the war when they ran out of the m________ and m__n__o__er necessary to continue fighting. A generation later, a young Carthaginian g__n__r__l named H__n__i__al led his army in a difficult and daring journey over the Alpine *M__u__t__ins. Hannibal won three bloody b__t__l__s with the Roman army and spent most of the next t__e__ve years d__s__r__y__ng the I__a__i__n countryside. Hannibal was forced to leave his army and return home when a Roman general named S__i__io invaded Carthage. Hannibal was forced to fight with untrained m__r__e__a__y soldiers who were no match for Scipio’s R__m__n army. Rome won the battle and the war. Rome d__s__r__y__d their e__e__y in the t__i__d Punic War. After a three-year s__e__e, the Romans broke through the city w________ of Carthage. The Carthaginians who were not k__l__ed were sold into s__a__e__y. Rome then d__s__r__y__d Carthage’s h__r__or, ensuring that their old nemesis would never again be a *t__r__at. Answer in Complete Sentences 1. Explain why the three conflicts between Rome and Carthage are remembered as the Punic Wars. *2. Why do you think Hannibal led his army through the treacherous Alps instead of engaging his enemy at sea? *3. Why does the author suggest that the Romans treated Carthage with such brutality after the third Punic War? |
SPARTACUS
Answer in complete sentences *1. Why do you think the slave revolt led by Spartacus was successful for two years? *2. The text says, “The powerful slave army plundered the Roman countryside for more than two years..” What do you think countryside means? *3. Spartacus was a folk hero to many people in ancient Rome. Who might be considered a folk hero in today? CLEOPATRA
Fill in the Blanks Cleopatra VII was an E__y__t____n queen whose relationships with two Roman g__n__r__ls changed the course of history. Cleopatra was the last of the P__o__e__ys, a Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt for 275 years. The *t__e__f__h Egyptian ruler named Ptolemy ignited a family feud when he w__l__ed his t__r__ne jointly to his eighteen-year old d__u__h__er, Cleopatra, and his ten year old son, P__o__e__y XIII. Ptolemy XVII seized control of Egypt, but Cleopatra was able to r__t__rn to p__w__r with the help of a powerful R__m__n general named J__l__us C__e__ar. Caesar and Cleopatra began a love affair that *s__nd__l__z__d many Romans. After Caesar was *s__a__b__d to death in 44bc, Cleopatra fell in love with another Roman g__n__r__l named M______ A__________. Antony and Cleopatra planned to rule R______ and E________ together, but their plans were thwarted by O__t__v__an, the g__a__dn__p__ew of Julius Caesar. Octavian defeated A__t__ny and C__e__p__t__a’s navy in 31bce. Antony and Cleopatra managed to e__c__pe, but when Antony learned that O______________’s army had reached Egypt, he s__a__b__d himself to death. Cleopatra realized that Octavian would soon capture and humiliate her, so she decided to end her life and the rule of the Ptolemys in Egypt by allowing a v__n__m__us snake to b______ her. Answer in complete sentences *1. Why do you think Cleopatra was attracted to Caesar? 2. What is an heir? Who would be your heir? *3. Caesar’s selection of Octavian as heir was a surprise. Based on your reading of the text, who would you have expected Caesar to have chosen to take his name? Explain your reasoning. 4. Why do you think Cleopatra committed suicide? *5. Cleopatra has been the subject of many books and films. William Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra is considered one of the best plays of all time. A 1963 film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton is the most famous of more than a dozen films about the Egyptian Queen. Why do you think Cleopatra has been the subject of so many stories? |
JULIUS CEASAR
Fill in the Blanks Rome was growing world power after the P__n__c Wars, but the Romans needed a strong l__a__er. The S__na__e elected a popular g__n__r__l named G__i__s Julius C__e__ar to the *c__n__u__s__ip in ____bce. Caesar formed the First T__i__m__i__a__e with P__m__ey and C__a__s__s, and the three *p__p__l__r generals i__n__r__d Caesar’s co-c__n__ul and the Roman S__n__te. Caesar feared the S__n__t__rs would *a__r__st him at the end of his term, so he arranged to be appointed g__v__r__or of G____l. Gaul was a province n__r__h__e__t of the I__a__i__n peninsula. Caesar used his personal f__r__u__e to raise an a______ in G______. Caesar’s army e__s__a__ed or k__l__ed million as they c__n__u__r__d lands that a__d__d to the growing Roman E__p__re. In 49bce, the S__n__te ordered Caesar to d__s__a__d his a______ and return to Rome. Caesar i__n__r__d his orders and marched his army across the R__b__c__n River back to R______. The Senate raised an army led by P__m__ey, but as Caesar’s army a__p__o__c__ed Rome, Pompey announced that “Rome cannot be d__f__n__ed.” Caesar and his army *c__a__ed Pompey across the M__d__t__r__a__e__n Sea until Pompey reached E__y__t. Caesar arrived shortly after to find that the ten-year-old king of Egypt d__c__p__t__t__d Pompey in order to curry favor with Caesar. Caesar returned to Rome to become d__c__a__or. His many r__f__r__s made Caesar popular with the people, but he continued to i__n__re the Roman Senate. On March 15, 44bce, a m__b on angry S__n__t__rs killed Julius Caesar. Answer in complete sentences 1. Why did many Roman people feel the need for a strong leader in 59bce? *2. Describe an instance where you or someone you know has “crossed the Rubicon.” 2. What is a dictator? 4. Why did the senators kill Julius Caesar? 5. Was Julius Caesar a good or bad leader for Rome? Use at least two facts from the article to support your statement. |
AUGUSTUS CAESAR
Answer in complete sentences 1. What is an heir? *2. Why do you think Octavian was generous to the soldiers when they retired? *3. Why do you think that Caesar Augustus was respectful of the Senate despite his great power? Use the passage to find the correct answers. Marc A__t__ny planned to become the sole ruler of Rome after Julius Caesar was *m__r__e__ed in 44bc. Antony was one of C__e__a__’s closest advisors, a powerful *g__n__r__l, and he had the support of many Roman people after he gave a stirring speech after Caesar’s death. Caesar’s will surprised Antony and all of Rome when he named his g__a__d__e__h__w Octavian as heir. The e__g__t__en year old boy inherited not only Caesar’s p__o__e__ty, but the right to call himself C__________ . Octavian formed the S__c__nd T__i__m__i__a__e with Marc Antony and Lepidus, but by 31bc, Octavian forced Lepidus into r__t__r__m__nt. Antony committed *s__i__i__e in Egypt after losing a civil war with Octavian. Octavian became the sole ruler of Rome, though he did not take the title of *d__c__a__or. Octavian was careful to treat the S__n__te and the army with care. His political skills allowed Octavian to remain in power until his death in ad14. In 27bc, the Roman Senate bestowed the title of A__g__s__us on the Emperor. Augustus means “the r__s__e__t__d one.” Historians generally refer to Octavian as C__e__ar A__g__s__us after 27bc. Caesar Augustus was a popular leader who built Rome into the most powerful city in the world. His armies conquered all of the land surrounding the M__d__t__r__a__e__n Sea, which they called “a Roman lake.” The Roman army under Augustus was powerful enough to protect Roman citizens from the t__i__es that lived beyond the b__r__e__s of the empire. Historian E__w__rd G__b__on later described the two hundred year period of relative tranquility that began with the rule of Caesar Augustus as the P____ R__________, or the Peace of Rome. Answer in complete sentences Please write in complete sentences *4. Do you think Caesar Augustus was popular with the Roman people? Defend your answer. *5. What do you think Caesar meant when he said, “I left Rome a city of marble, though I found it a city of bricks.” *6. Many contemporary analysts believe we now live in an era that may be referred to as the Pax Americana. What do you think Pax Americana might mean? Why? |
LATER EMPIRES
Fill in the Blanks Many of the Roman e__p__r__rs that followed C__e__ar Augustus were f__o__i__h and c__u__l. Nero was perhaps Rome’s most n__t__r__o__s emperor. He often p__o__l__d the s__ree__s of Rome a__s__u__t__ng women. Nero also considered himself to be the most t__l__n__ed person in the empire. He participated in many g__m__s and c__n__e__ts, though many n__b__es considered Nero to lack t__l__nt. Nero’s career ended with his *a__s__s__i__a__i__n in ad67. Answer in complete sentences *1. Based on the test, do you think that managing the Roman Empire in ad117 was easy or difficult? Defend your answer. *2. Xenophobia is the fear or contempt of foreign people and cultures. Describe an example of Roman xenophobia. |