Ancient Rome

Imagine a planned community with miles and miles of roads, an elaborate water system and a diverse population. The citizens enjoyed theater and sporting events in large arenas and there was much political intrigue in the capital, which was Rome. The ancient Romans were master architects, artists and soldiers whose empire at one time spanned half of Europe and almost all of the Middle East. To find out more about this advanced civilization, use the direct links on The Times Launch Point Web site: https://www.latimes.com/launchpoint/

Level 1

Pages Through the Ages: At first, the ancient Romans believed in gods such as Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. But many Romans would later adopt Christianity after Emperor Constantine passed laws protecting Christians from persecution. Learn more about this ancient civilization through this illustrated guide created by students at Oakview Elementary School.

https://www.oakview.fcps.k12.va.us/~harris/96-97/agespages/rome/rome.html

Roma Civilization: Roman society was made up of the “patricians,” who were wealthy landowners with political power, and the “plebeians” who were artisans or peasants without civil rights. Learn about many facets of Roman culture--from their housing, food and clothing to their economy and political system.

https://cyberfair.gsn.org/citrag/roma/doc/civil/ecv_000.htm

Roma Monuments: Crowds of as many as 150,000 spectators would gather in the Circus Maximus to watch the Roman chariot races. Visit the Colosseum, the Pantheon and other historic sites through this collection of color photographs.

https://cyberfair.gsn.org/citrag/roma/doc/monum/emn_0000.htm

Level 2

Ancient Rome: Trace the rise and fall of the Roman Empire through these summaries of the Punic Wars and the Roman Revolution. Read about the battles against Spain’s famous Hannibal and his war elephants as well as the assassination of Julius Caesar on the Ides of March (March 15).

https://www.idbsu.edu/courses/hy101/ancient/

The Forvm Romanvm: Though while growing up he was the target of many practical jokes, Claudius was named emperor of Rome shortly after he was found hiding behind some curtains. Learn about key figures in Rome’s history and explore the streets of the Forum the way they looked in ancient times.

https://library.advanced.org/11402/home_intro.html

Daily Life in Ancient Rome: Children spent long hours in school studying reading, writing and public speaking, but they also had time for games like tick-tack-toe, kites and hobbyhorses. Find out what it was like to grow up in Rome.

https://members.aol.com/Donnclass/Romelife.html

Level 3

Ancient Rome Project: At one time only official Roman citizens could wear the toga, which was a woolen cloth draped around the body. But togas fell out of favor because they were awkward to wear and difficult to clean. Learn other interesting facts about the Romans, including their studies of medicine and their establishment of state health services.

https://www.best.com/~swanson/rome/eg_rome_menu1.html

The Roman Empire: Because huge noisy crowds would attend theater performances, the Romans used specific masks and costumes to indicate certain characters, and sometimes they would have an additional actor miming along while an actor spoke his lines. Gain insights into the Roman character by finding out more about their politics, arts and society.

https://shaw.iol.ie/~coolmine/typ/romans/emap.html

An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors: Read about the lives and accomplishments of important leaders in this 1,500-year-old empire.

https://www.salve.edu/~dimaiom/impindex.html

Launch Point is produced by the UC Irvine department of education, which reviews each site for appropriateness and quality. Even so, parents should supervise their children’s use of the Internet. This week’s column was designed by Jennifer Lee, Maggie Slater, Andrea Valdez, Stan Woo-Sam and Anna Manring.

EXPLORER’S QUEST

The answer to this Internet quiz can be found in the sites at right.

What building material did the ancient Romans invent that made it possible to build domes and other structures?

Clue: See Daily Life in Ancient Rome

Find What You Need to Know: Have a project on California history? Need help doing a math problem? Launch Point now covers more than 40 topics for getting your schoolwork done. Go to https://www.latimes.com/launchpoint/ for the full list of subjects and direct links to the best Internet sites.

Answer to last week’s Quest: Israel fought its first war within 24 hours of being recognized as a nation.