The Roman Legacy

E. Napp

Objective: To identify and describe Roman achievements still impacting the world today

Do Now: Multiple-choice questions from previous lessons

  1. In both ancient Mesopotamia and the Roman republic, an important feature of life was
(A)A codified set of laws
(B)Aqueducts to provide water
(C)Social and political equality for all
(D)A willingness to accept Christianity
  1. In Western Europe, which development was a cause of the other three?
(A)Warfare disrupted trade
(B)Travel became unsafe because of violence
(C)Cities, towns, and villages were abandoned
(D)The Roman empire fell to barbarians
  1. All of the following were reasons for the fall of Rome except
(A)Barbarian invasions
(B)High Taxes
(C)Corrupt Emperors
(D)Successful Military Campaigns / 4. Which development is most closely associated with the beginning of the Byzantine Empire?
(1) emergence of the Russian Orthodox Church
(2) division of the Roman Empire
(3) building of the Hagia Sophia
(4) fall of Constantinople
  1. The major reasons for the Pax Romana was that the Romans
(A)Conquered the Mediterranean world
(B)Reached an agreement with Carthage
(C)Followed the Code of Hammurabi
(D)Allowed complete religious freedom
  1. After the fall of Rome, the eastern portion of the Roman Empire became known as
(A)Persian Empire
(B)Byzantine Empire
(C)Mongol Empire
(D)Gupta Empire

Cornell Notes Outline: The Legacy of the Romans (Add Key Words and Summaries)

The Key Words: / The Notes:
  1. The Romans became blenders and adapters of many cultures over the centuries that they ruled their vast Empire
  1. Preserved Greek and Hellenistic culture
  1. Roman Law
  1. Flowing from the Twelve Tables (c. 450 B.C.E.)
  2. Precise in logic and organization
  3. Ideas like innocent until proven guilty and equality of citizens before the law
  4. Influenced later European legal systems
  1. Latin
  1. Common tongue of the Empire
  2. Helped to unify a vast region
  3. Became the language of the Christian Church
  4. Continued to be the intellectual language of Europe for more than 1000 years
  5. Basis of five modern, Romance languages
  1. Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Romanian
  1. Cultural Impact
  1. Roman engineers and architects adapted columns and stonemasonry of the Greeks and other civilizations to build an infrastructure (transportation and communication systems)
  1. Roads and aqueducts
  2. Columns, arches, and domes
  3. Temples like the Pantheon
  1. Literature
  1. Roman poets such as Virgil and Ovid
  2. Horace and Juvenal wrote to amuse and entertain

The Summaries:

Working with Documents:

Document 1

List principles of Roman law that show the Romans were concerned with protecting the rights of the defendant?

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Document 2

Excerpt from the Twelve Tables

  • If anyone summons a man before the magistrate [judge], he must go…
  • One who has confessed a debt, or against whom a judgment has been pronounced, shall have thirty days to pay it. After that, seizure of his person is allowed.
  • Females should remain in guardianship even when they have become adults.
  • If one has broken a bone of a freeman with his hand or with a club, let him pay a penalty of three hundred coins. If he has broken the bone of a slave, let him have one hundred and fifty coins. If one is guilty of insult, the penalty should be twenty-five coins.
  1. List Roman laws that clearly influenced modern laws in the West today and Roman laws that are no longer used in the West today.

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Adapted from schoolhistory.org

Using the chart above, answer the following questions:

  1. List writers influenced by the Romans.

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  1. How has Roman art influenced the history of art?

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  1. Describe Roman architecture.

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  1. How does Latin still influence people today?

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