Hello, my name is Miss Krijnauw.

Welcome to this history lesson.

Today we will travel back in time more than two and a half thousand years to a very exciting time in history to learn about the Romans and what it meant to be Roman.

In this lesson, we will find out more about the beginnings of Rome, the Roman kings, and the kingdom that they ruled.

It is my job to guide you through the learning materials so that by the end of the lesson you will understand why the foundation myth of Rome was so important to the Romans.

To help you with the lesson content, I'd like to introduce you to some keywords.

These words will come up in the lesson, so it might be a good idea to take a note of these words so that you can refer back to them when we encounter them.

Here are the words.

BCE.

CE.

Myth.

Founded.

Roman.

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

Here we go.

BCE.

CE.

Myth.

Founded.

Roman.

Well done.

Let's find out what the words mean.

BCE is short for Before Common Era and refers to the time before the year 1.

CE stands for Common Era and it is the time from the year 1 onwards.

The next word is myth.

Now, a myth is a traditional story, usually about heroes and gods, and it is fictional.

The word founded means the time when something first started or was created.

And Romans, well, they were a group of people whose civilization was based around the city of Rome.

Pause the video here to make a note of the keywords, and when you are ready to continue, press play.

This lesson is split into three learning cycles.

In the first one, we are going to find out exactly what BCE and CE mean.

Before we start the lesson about the Roman kings and the founding of the city of Rome, I'd like to further explain what BCE and CE mean.

Historians often use timelines to visually show when historical events happened.

History is a story that unfolds over time, and timelines help us to keep events in the correct order.

This is important for understanding how one event in the past led to another.

Timelines are arranged chronologically, which means in time order often from left to right, just like a number line in maths.

Sometimes they are arranged vertically or up and down.

What makes timelines different to a number line, which has a zero, is that a timeline has no year 0 because there is no year 0.

In the West, BCE and CE are used to show if an event happened before the year 1 or after the year 1.

CE stands for Common Era and is the time from the year 1 onwards.

BCE stands for Before Common Era and is the time before the year 1.

Have you used negative numbers before? Well, the years for BCE are counted backwards from the year 1, a bit like negative numbers on a number line.

Historical events that happened before the year 1 include the Stone Age, which spanned thousands of years from 30,000 BCE to 10,000 BCE.

The ancient Sumerian and Egyptian civilizations.

And the year 336 BCE when Alexander the Great became king of the ancient Greek Kingdom of Macedon.

Can you think of any other events that happened before the year 1? Some events that happened after the year 1 include the year Victoria became the queen of England, which was 1837 CE, and the year 1952 CE in which Elizabeth II became the queen of England.

Quite often, historians leave the CE off when referring to a year after the year 1.

So 1952 CE is often written as just 1952.

The year you were born also happened after the year 1, so it could be written with a CE after it, but also without.

Can you think of any other historical events that happened in the period we call the Common Era or CE? Well, there has been a lot of new information to absorb.

Let's pause for a moment to check our understanding.

It says, read Jun and Izzy's statements below.

Who is correct? Well, Jun says, "BCE refers to the time before the year 0 and CE to the time after the year 0.

Like a number line, a timeline also has a zero." Well, let's see what Izzy says.

"BCE refers to the time before the year 1 and CE to the time from the year 1 onwards.

In history, there is no year 0." Pause the video here, and when you are ready to hear the answer, press play.

Well, of course, Izzy's statement is correct because in history there is no year 0.

Unlike a number line which has a zero, a timeline has no year 0.

Well done if you got that right.

We are now ready for the first practise task of this lesson to make sure that the new information sticks.

And this is what it says.

Decide whether the historical events happened before the year 1, which is BCE, or after the year 1, which is CE.

Tick the correct column for each sentence.

Here are the events.

Dinosaurs became extinct.

Queen Elizabeth became queen.

The Stone Age.

Queen Victoria became queen.

Alexander the Great became king.

And mobile phones were invented.

Pause the video here to complete the practise task, and when you are ready to hear the answers, press play.

Let's find out which of these events happened before the year 1 and which happened after the year 1.

Dinosaurs became extinct.

Well, that was BCE.

Queen Elizabeth became queen, CE.

The Stone Age, BCE.

Queen Victoria became queen is CE.

Alexander the Great became king, BCE.

And mobile phones were invented after the year 1, which makes it CE.

Well done if you got all those correct.

We are now ready to move on to the second learning cycle of this lesson, which is entitled The Myth of Romulus and Remus.

Now let's get back to those Roman kings.

Rome in Italy was founded before the year 1.

In fact, for a long time, many Romans believed a myth that Rome was founded in 753 BCE.

We now know that this isn't really true and that the story is based on legendary events, but it doesn't make it less interesting and exciting.

The story about how Rome was founded starts with the birth of twin boys, Romulus and Remus.

There were once twin brothers called Romulus and Remus, born in a mythical place, Alba Longa.

Their mother was Princess Rhea Silvia, the daughter of King Numitor, and their father was Mars, the god of war.

The twins had an Uncle Amulius who wanted to be king, and he was worried that the twins would prevent that from happening.

So when Romulus and Remus were still babies, Amulius ordered that the twins be thrown in the River Tiber, hoping that they would disappear forever.

After being abandoned, Romulus and Remus did not die, but were rescued by a she-wolf.

She took care of them like they were her own wolf pups and she fed them with her own milk.

Later they were discovered by a shepherd and his wife who looked after them until they were adults.

When Romulus and Remus were grown up, they learned who they really were, the grandchildren of a king.

Amulius, their uncle, had taken the throne from Numitor, their grandfather.

Romulus and Remus managed to defeat Amulius and they made Numitor the king once more.

The brothers decided to build a city of their own near where they had been abandoned as babies.

This, however, led to a disagreement.

Romulus wanted to build his city on a hill called the Palatine Hill, and Remus wanted to build his city on the Aventine Hill.

Because they couldn't agree on one location, they each built their own walled city and each was very proud of theirs.

They were both so proud that they decided to have a contest to decide whose city was best.

Because Romulus thought that he had won, Remus made fun of Romulus' city.

Romulus became so angry that he killed his brother.

On that day, said to be the 21st of April, 753 BCE, Romulus named his city after himself, and with that, Rome was founded.

Romulus became the first king of Rome.

The people of his city became known as Romans.

Phew, that was quite a story.

But how do we know that the story of Romulus and Remus is a myth? Is it because the she-wolf would've eaten the babies? Do we know it's a myth because the story features gods and heroes? Or is it that the River Tiber does not exist? Pause the video here, and when you are ready to hear the answer, press play.

Did you say that we know the story of Romulus and Remus is myth because it features gods and heroes? If you did say that, you are absolutely correct.

Good work.

It is important to know that even though the story is famous, it's a myth and not based on true historical facts.

The real beginning of Rome is a bit more complicated.

Archaeologists have found clues that suggest Rome didn't just appear out of nowhere in 753 BCE, but rather that it grew over a long period of time from smaller villages on hilltops near each other.

People have been living in Italy since as far back as the Stone Age, and historians have found proof to show that people lived in the hills of Rome as early as 1700 BCE.

Graves from about 1000 BCE have also been discovered at the site.

Around the 8th century BCE, these hilltop villages came together to form one big community and later form the city known as Rome.

Let's take a moment to check our understanding.

Is the following statement true or false? The story of Romulus and Remus is true.

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

Of course, that statement is false.

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

In other words, let's justify our answer.

Is it because, well, the story is a myth, a traditional story with gods and heroes and it is fictional? Or would you say it is a fairy tale because a wolf would never look after human babies? Pause the video here, and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

Well, yes, of course the story is a myth.

It's a traditional story with gods and heroes and it is fictional.

Well done if you got that right.

We are now ready for the second practise task of this lesson.

These practise tasks help us remember the new information.

This is what it says.

Use the images to retell the myth about how Rome was founded to your talk partner.

Challenge yourself to use all the words below in your explanation.

They are Romulus, Remus, Rhea Silvia, Mars, god of war, River Tiber, she-wolf, Palatine Hill, Aventine Hill, 753 BCE, king of Rome.

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.

Romulus and Remus were the twin sons of Rhea Silvia and Mars, the god of war.

When they were babies, they were abandoned in the River Tiber.

A she-wolf rescued them.

When they grew up, Remus built a city on Aventine Hill and Romulus built a city on Palatine Hill.

After Romulus killed his brother, he became the king of his city, Rome, in 753 BCE.

Well done if your answer looked similar to this one, and an extra well done if you managed to use all the words highlighted in green.

In the last learning cycle of this lesson, we will learn why this myth was so important to Romans and what made it so well known.

The myth of Romulus and how he founded Rome was really important to the Romans because it helped them understand that to be Roman meant to be strong and powerful.

They believed that their city was blessed by the gods, especially since Romulus was said to be the son of a strong and powerful god, Mars, the god of war.

This meant that Romulus was part god.

He was also strong and powerful, and the gods would show favour and kindness to their city.

The Romans admired Romulus because he showed qualities like strength and power.

The story taught them that being Roman meant being strong, determined, and able to overcome difficulties.

The Romans considered Rome so important and sacred that it had to be protected at all costs.

After all, Romulus killed his own brother when Remus dared to threaten the city.

So let's check our understanding.

Why was the myth about Romulus and how he founded Rome important to the Romans? Was it A, it showed that Romans enjoyed telling stories.

Is it B, it showed that Romulus was a weak leader.

Or C, it showed that being Roman meant to be strong and powerful.

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

Did you say that it showed that being Roman meant to be strong and powerful? Well, if you did, you are absolutely right.

Good work.

And with that, we have come to the last learning task of this lesson.

It says, the myth of Romulus and how he founded Rome was important to the Romans.

Write one or two sentences explaining why it was important to them and what it showed about being a Roman.

Here are some words to help you.

Strong, powerful, Mars, god of war.

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 myth of Romulus and how he founded Rome was important to Romans because it showed that being Roman meant to be strong and powerful.

After all, according to myth, Romulus was the son of the strong and powerful god of war, Mars.

We have come to the end of this lesson about Roman kings.

Before we go, let's summarise what we have learned.

BCE and CE are a common method used in the West to note the periods of time before and after the year 1.

The Romans believed the myth that Rome was founded by Romulus.

Romulus was raised by a wolf alongside his brother, Remus.

Romulus later fought and killed Remus.

Romulus founded Rome and became the first king of Rome.

This myth was important to Romans because it showed that to be Roman was to be strong and powerful.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson.

I've really enjoyed going on a learning adventure with you, and I hope that you join me again very soon.