Hello, I am Ms. Krijnauw.

and I'm delighted that you have joined me for this history lesson.

Together we are going on a learning adventure by travelling back in time more than two and a half thousand years to learn about Rome and what it meant to be Roman.

This lesson is entitled The Roman Republic.

It's my job to guide you through the learning materials and resources so that by the end of the lesson, you'll be able to explain what it meant to be Roman in the early years of the Roman Republic.

Before we start the lesson about the Roman Republic, I would like to introduce you to some keywords that'll come up in the lesson.

You could make a note of these keywords so that when you encounter them, you can refer back to your notes to remind yourself of their meaning.

Here are the words: elect, Punic Wars, citizen, republic, province.

I'm going to read these words again, but this time I would like you to say them with me.

Here we go.

Elect, Punic Wars, citizen, republic, province.

Well, let's find out what these words mean.

Elect.

To elect someone is to choose them by voting for them.

Punic Wars.

The Punic Wars were a series of wars between Rome and Carthage.

Citizen.

A citizen is a member of a country or city and has the rights and privileges of a free person such as the right to vote.

A republic is a country with the leaders are chosen or elected by the people living in the country.

And province.

A Roman province was a place controlled by Rome that was outside of Italy.

Pause the video here to make a note of these words and when you are ready to continue with the lesson, press play.

There are three learning cycles to this lesson.

The first one is entitled: From Kingdom to Republic.

Here is a timeline.

It shows the year 753 BCE, when the Kingdom of Rome was, according to myth, founded.

About 250 years later, the Roman Republic was established, which lasted for approximately 500 years and came to an end in 27 CE when the Roman Empire was founded.

You might want to take a moment to study the timeline, so pause the video here and press play when you are ready to continue with the lesson.

Let's check our understanding.

Is the following statement, true or false? Rome was always an empire.

Pause the video here and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

Well, of course, Rome wasn't always an empire, so let's justify why we say that statement is false.

Let's give a reason why we say that statement is false.

Is it that before the Roman Empire was founded, Rome was first ruled by kings and then Rome became a republic or B, Rome was always just a city in Italy.

Pause the video here, and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

Before the Roman Empire was founded, Rome was first ruled by kings, and then Rome became a republic.

If you got that right, well done.

Rome was not always known as the Roman Empire.

There was a time in Rome's history when it was ruled by kings, and this period was called the Roman Kingdom.

There is no written evidence for historians to know exactly what happened during that time.

Stories about the Roman Kingdom were written later, and these were mostly based on myths and legends.

That is why we are not entirely sure about everything that happened during the time of the Roman Kingdom.

According to the myth, the story of the Roman Kingdom started when the city was founded in 750 BCE by Romulus.

After Romulus, there were six other kings, all of whom were elected by the citizens of Rome.

The Roman Kingdom lasted until around 509 BCE when the last king, King Tarquin the Proud was overthrown.

That means that his leadership was taken away from him.

The Roman set up a new way of governing called the Roman Republic.

When Romulus was king, he created the Senate.

The Senate was an important part of what it meant to be Roman, as the role of the Senate was to represent the wishes of the people of Rome and to speak for them.

The Senate was a group of older men from rich families who helped make important decisions about what was best for Rome.

In 509 BCE, it was the Senate who grew tired of King Tarquin.

They thought that he was ruling badly and decided to overthrow him by taking away his power and his leadership.

Instead of replacing Tarquin with another king, they chose to create a republic.

During the time of the Roman Republic, Romans were proud of the Senate and the way it represented the wishes of the people.

The Senate was an important part of being a Roman.

Phew.

That was quite a lot of new knowledge.

Let us make sure that we have understood it all.

Is the following statement true or false? The Senate was in charge of Rome.

Pause the video here and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

Well, yes, that statement is false.

Let's justify why we say that that answer is false.

So let's give a reason.

Is it that the Senate didn't run Rome but it represented the wishes of the people, or B, the Senate didn't run Rome, but the Roman leader had to do what the Senate advised.

Pause the video here to have a moment to think about that and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

Well, the correct justification is that the Saint didn't run Rome, but it represented the wishes of the people.

Good work, if you got that right.

In the Roman Republic, not everyone was a free citizen.

Slavery was a big part of Roman society.

Slaves were those people who didn't have freedom and were owned by others.

In addition, not everyone was a Roman citizen, so they didn't have the same rights and privileges as those who were citizens.

The Roman Republic was made up of different people, including free citizens, slaves, and people who were part of other communities, but it was only the free citizens who would've had the right to elect a new leader.

During the time of the Roman Republic, being a Roman citizen was an important part of being truly Roman.

Let's check our understanding by answering the following question.

Which of the following people were allowed to elect the leaders in ancient Rome? Is it A, slaves, B, free citizens or C, people who lived in Rome but were not citizens? Pause the video here.

When you are ready for the answer, press play.

It was only the free citizens who were allowed to elect the leaders in ancient Rome.

Well done if you got that right.

We are now ready for the first learning task of this lesson.

Decide who each of the statements below describe: King Tarquin, the Roman Senate or Roman slaves.

Tick the correct column for each statement.

The statements are: had no rights or privileges; was overthrown by the Senate, spoke for the Roman people; last King of Rome; group of alder men from rich families.

Pause the video here and when you are ready for the answers, press play.

So let's look at the answers.

It was slaves who had no rights or privileges.

Tarquin, King Tarquin was overthrown by the Senate.

The Roman Senate spoke for the Roman people.

Tarquin was the last king of Rome and the Roman Senate was a group of older men from rich families.

Well done if you got all of those correct.

We are now ready to move on to learning cycle two of this lesson, which is entitled The Punic Wars.

Gradually, the Roman Republic began to grow slowly.

It took control of the land around Rome and became stronger and stronger.

This led them into conflict with other powerful civilizations in the Mediterranean.

During the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE, Rome and one of these civilizations, Carthage, were involved in three wars against each other.

These were known as the Punic Wars.

Let's check for understanding.

The series of wars between Rome and Carthage in the 3rd and 2nd century BCE is known as the hmm wars.

Pause the video here, and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

The correct answer is the Punic Wars.

Well done if you got that right.

The First Punic War lasted 23 years and took place between 264 and 241 BCE.

Both Rome and Carthage wanted control over Sicily, an island in the Mediterranean.

The Carthaginians, which means the people from Carthage, controlled much of the Mediterranean sea trading routes and they had a strong navy.

The Romans, on the other hand, had very little experience at sea warfare and didn't even have a navy.

Much of the war was fought not on land, but at sea.

So before long, the Romans had built a fast fleet of ships to conquer the soldiers of Carthage.

After many years of fighting and the loss of many, many soldiers and ships on both sides, the Romans eventually defeated the soldiers from Carthage.

Carthage was forced to give Sicily to Rome.

The Second Punic War was one of the most fascinating conflicts in history.

After the First Punic War, Rome wanted to expand its territory around the Mediterranean Sea.

This included Carthage, which was located in North Africa and what is now Tunisia.

This time, the soldiers of Carthage were led by Hannibal, a clever and brave military general.

It is said that he had made a promise to his father to never be friend of Rome.

He knew that the Roman forces were very strong, so he decided he would stage a surprise attack, not from the Mediterranean sea as the Romans would've been expecting, but from the north of Italy.

To do this, he led his army through eastern Spain, over the Pyrenees mountains and across the Rhone River in southern France.

With him were between 40,000 and 90,000 soldiers on foot, approximately 12,000 soldiers on horses and 37 African elephants.

Eventually, they cross the snowy Alps, which are tall mountains with harsh weather and challenging terrain.

Some soldiers died there on the Alps because of the freezing cold weather.

Others fell to their death.

When Hannibal reached the other side of the Alps, his army was greatly reduced.

He arrived in Italy with around 20,000 soldiers on foot, 4,000 horsemen and only a few elephants.

Hannibal and his army fought hard to win some big battles, but Rome fought back.

In 202 BCE, the Roman army finally defeated Hannibal and his forces.

Rome made Carthage give up control of Spain and the Western Mediterranean, and they had to pay Rome money.

After some time, the Roman Senate started to worry that Carthage might become strong again.

In 149, BCE, the Roman army attacked Carthage, and so the Third Punic War started.

Eventually, the Romans tore down every building in Carthage and the city was destroyed.

Carthage then became a Roman province.

It is important to note though, that often people living in Roman provinces were given Roman citizenship, especially to those who were loyal to Rome.

This helped to keep the peace in newly conquered territories.

Let's take a moment to reflect on what we have just learned.

How did Hannibal surprise the Romans during the Second Punic War? Was it that he attacked Rome at night or that he used a strong navy to attack Sicily, or did he cross the Alps with elephants? Pause the video here, and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

Of course, during the Second Punic War, Hannibal crossed the Alps with elephants to stage a surprise attack from the north.

Well done if you got that correct.

After the Punic Wars, Rome was the dominant force in the Mediterranean.

Defeating other civilizations like Carthage had become an important part of what it meant to be Roman.

We have now come to the second learning task of this lesson.

Order the events according to in which Punic war they happened by writing numbers one to three.

Carthage is destroyed by the Roman forces and it becomes a province of Rome.

The Roman Navy grows strong and Carthage is forced to give Sicily to Rome.

Hannibal crosses the Alps on elephants to surprise the Roman army.

Pause the video here.

When you are ready for the answers, press play.

Let's check the answers.

So number one was the Roman Navy grows strong and Carthage is forced to give Sicily to Rome.

Number two says, Hannibal crosses the Alps on elephants to surprise the Roman army.

And number three, Carthage is destroyed by the Roman forces and it becomes a province of Rome.

Well done if you got those right.

We have now come to the third learning cycle of this lesson entitled the Macedonian Wars.

Now that the Roman Republic was a dominant force in the Mediterranean, the Senate wanted to further increase its power.

They looked eastwards to the wealthy city-states and kingdoms of Greece.

In 146 BCE, the Roman Republic conquered Macedonia in northern Greece and turned it into a Roman province.

The Romans also gained control over other Greek city-states.

These were cities in Greece such as Athens and Corinth that rule themselves.

These places became part of the Roman Republic and Rome had authority over them.

It was a significance of ancient history showing how Rome expanded its influence and took charge of different regions around the Mediterranean.

Rome's control of the Mediterranean had become an important part of being a Roman during the time of the Republic.

Let's consolidate our learning by answering this question.

How did Macedonia become a Roman province? A, Rome defeated them in battle.

B, it was always a part of the Roman Republic.

C, Rome bought Macedonia from the Greeks.

Pause the video here, and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

That's right.

Rome defeated the Macedonians in battle.

Good work.

Let's further check our understanding of what we have just learned.

Discuss the following question with your learning partner.

Why did the Senate want to conquer Macedonia in the Greek city-states? Pause the video here, and when you are ready to reflect on the answer, press play.

Here is an example of an answer that you could have given.

The Senate wanted to conquer Macedonia and the Greek city-states to increase their power in the Mediterranean.

They wanted to expand their influence and take control of another region of the Mediterranean.

Rome's control of the Mediterranean had become an important part of being a Roman, during the time of the republic.

Well done, if your answer is similar to this one.

We are now ready for the third learning task of this lesson.

You have now learned about the Roman Republic and how it grew between the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE.

Using your knowledge from the whole lesson, explain what it meant to be a Roman in the Roman Republic.

Try to write two to four sentences and challenge yourself to use the words and phrases below.

They are: the Senate, Roman citizen, the Punic Wars, dominant force, Mediterranean, Macedonia, and the Greek city-states.

Pause the video here, and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

Here is an example answer that you could have given.

To be a Roman in the Roman Republic meant that you were proud of the Senate and how it represented the wishes of the people.

Being a Roman citizen was also a big part of what it meant to be a Roman.

Being a Roman also meant that you were proud of how Rome had become the dominant force in the Mediterranean by defeating Carthage in the Punic Wars and taking control of Macedonia and the Greek city-states.

Good work, if your sentences look something like this.

And an extra well done if you manage to use the words highlighted in blue.

We have now come to the end of this lesson, but before we say goodbye, let's summarise what we have learned about the Roman Republic.

The Roman senators overthrew the last King of Rome creating the Roman Republic.

An important part of early Roman identity was the role of the Senate in representing the wishes of the people.

The Punic Wars were fought between Rome and Carthage and made Rome the dominant force in the Mediterranean.

In 146 BCE, the Roman Republic made Macedonia a province and brought the Greek city-states under its control.

Not everyone in the Roman Republic was free.

Slavery was an important part of everyday life or even a Roman citizen.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson today.

I have really enjoyed learning with you about what it meant to be Roman in the early years of the Roman Republic.

I hope that you will join me again very soon for another history lesson.