Ancient Romans

Jane Bower

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN: 9781134153534
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This innovative series is designed to help teachers bring history topics to life through imaginative creative arts activities. Each pack includes 10 laminated, double-sided cards, printed in full color. The cards describe in detail activities that recreate aspects of life in a particular historical period, using art, drama and dance. Each activity is based on historically researched authentic practices of the time. Ideal for whole class or small group sessions, the packs are an inspiration for busy teachers looking for new ways to approach project work at Key Stage 2 - and can also easily be used with Key Stage 1 classes.

Roman activities in this pack include wax tablets - recreating schoolroom writing equipment; prayers and curses - making clay tablets and votive tokens; perfumes and potions - herbal remedies and how to prepare them; make a mosaic - how to plan, design and construct a Roman mosaic; ideas for dances showing aspects of the Roman era, and a play for performance.

DICE AND COUNTERS

bone counters

Games involving dice and counters were popular in Roman times, and many examples have been discovered. The Emperor Augustus was very fond of gambling with dice, and the Roman soldiers present at Jesus’ crucifixion used dice to decide who was to have his clothing (John 19.23–4).

Roman dice and counters were often beautifully crafted, and were made from a variety of materials such as ivory, bone, glass, semi-precious stones and metal. Try designing your own, perhaps showing something which is important to you.

counters: the one on the left means ‘bad luck’ – perhaps the player had to miss a throw

ivory counters

You can make dice from clay or small cubes of wood. The numbers were marked with an outer ring and an inner dot, as shown. Counters can be made from clay or Sculpey modelling plastic (you could use orange Sculpey to look like agate).

glass counters

metal die

Some dice were more elaborate. Have a go at making one in the shape of a squatting man (see left) which must be able to fall on any of its six sides. The numbers are marked with holes.

ivory counters

You can also make your own Roman dice-shaker. These had ridges inside to catch the edges of the dice and make sure they were properly shaken. Roll a rectangle of clay, add clay sausages and join edges to form a cylinder. Join to circular base.

A Roman gaming board can be made from wood or clay marked with squares. You will need to make two sets of counters: one with holes and one without. Play the game like draughts.

A game of Jactus

Jactus (meaning ‘thrown’) was a game for two or more players. From clay, model the goddess Venus and a dog. You will also need a coin (preferably a Roman replica!), a dice-shaker (see top of page) and a die made from wood, clay or Sculpey.

Venus token

dog token

Players take turns to throw the die. Two sixes in a row wins Venus, two threes the dog, and two ones the coin.

You must give a token up to another player if he or she throws the required score while a token is in your possession. The aim is to win all three tokens - not easy!

coin token

THE GODS VISIT THE ARENA

PERFORM A ROMAN PLAY

The first arena was built in 53BC. Arenas could hold 50,000 to 250,000 spectators, and were designed so that the performers’ voices could be heard from every seat. The entertainments and contests offered to the public were frequently cruel and violent.

Here is a play for a whole class or a minimum of 11 children which involves a contest of a gentler nature!

Characters: Narrator, Jupiter, Neptune, Minerva, Momus, bull, man, house, company of gods.

Narrator/s: Honoured guests and distinguished nobles, our company of actors takes pride in presenting to you a fi...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• ACTA DIURNA: MAKE YOUR OWN ROMAN NEWSPAPER
• A DEPICTION IN DANCE: SHOW ASPECTS OF ROMAN LIFE THROUGH MOVEMENT
• DICE AND COUNTERS
• THE GODS VISIT THE ARENA: PERFORM A ROMAN PLAY
• MAKE A MOSAIC
• PERFUMES AND POTIONS: COSMETICS AND MEDICINES IN ROMAN TIMES
• PRAYERS AND CURSES
• RECIPES AND MENUS
• TRIAL AT THE TRIBUNAL: TURN A CLASSROOM OR HALL INTO A ROMAN COURT SCENE
• WRITING TABLETS