Ancient+Roman+Stories

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The Death of Julius Ceasar by K. Baker

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah......

=The Gladiators = By Katina Voulopos
 * The gladiator games originally started as funeral games.
 * Romans liked watching people die.
 * Gladiators consisted of non citizens.
 * Many people entered for fame and money.
 * Very few women and upper class men fought.
 * The best fighter was a Thracian like Spartacus, he was very protected. Next is a Secutor who was a "chaser". After him was the Retiarius who was a "runner". and lastly the worst of all was the Bestiarius who only fought animals and was poorly protected.
 * They all fought at the Colosseum.
 * Many criminals were forced to fight and could earn their freedom within 3-5 years of fighting. Very few survived.
 * Gladiators fought 3 times a year, and were fed 3 meals a day and given medical support.
 * Gladiators were trained in schools called Ludi. They were considered professional athletes.
 * During a fight the fighters dueled. When one was injured the crowd went wild. If one thought he was defeated he would go down, and raise his left hand with one finger extended; symbolizing mercy. The crowd then voted: thumbs up meant he lived,and thumbs down meant he died.
 * The winner then received a prize.

The Pantheon by Lexi Huhn The Pantheon is the best preserved, and most impressive of all Roman buildings. The original Pantheon was built by Agrippa between 27 and 25 B.C. to celebrate the victory of the battle of Actium. It was then replaced by the Emperor Hadrian. The building was topped with and amazing dome, and on the front they built a porch whose roof is supported by 16 Corinthian columns, (each 41 ft high). Inside the Pantheon there are many columns, classical-style niches, and marble and stone of various colors. The dome of the Pantheon has both a height and width of 142 feet! At the very center, at the top, is a round opening, 28 feet across, to let light in. Over the centuries the Pantheon was looted and has been restored. In 609 it was declared a Christian Church.

Brutus by Ashley Christ

· Born – 85 BCE · Some people think that his real father is actually Julius Caesar. · His father was killed when he was young and so Brutus was adopted by a relative of his mother, Quintus Servilius Caepio. In his adoptive father’s honor he began to call himself Marcus Junius Brutus Caepio · In 59 BCE Vettius said that Brutus and others were planning to kill Gaius Julius Caesar, but this was not true. Caesar tried to get rid of all these rumors because he was having an affair with Brutus’s mother and did not want harm for her son. · After this, in the next two or three years, Brutus became a politican. · During this there were two rulers in Rome, Caesar and Pompey, who ended up having a civil war with one another. Brutus was a military commander and he ended up taking the side of Pompey. · When Pompey lost, Caesar gave mercy to Brutus, since he was the son of his lover. · Brutus was a friend of Caesar, but he was still conservative, and not a republican like Caesar. When Caesar began to abuse his power as a leader Brutus and others decided that they needed to revolt. · Around 60 senators joined the plot to assassin Caesar, and Brutus was a leader. · The senators brutally killed Caesar on the Ides of March, or March 15th.


 * Hannibal **** Invades **** Italy **
 * By Christine Hoke **

At age 26 Hannibal was unanimously chosen to be general because of his courage he had shown in the previous service. Hannibal made a promise, in that promise he had to sacrifice he had to put his hands in the blood of a bull and promise to hate Rome. He had one thing on his mind and that was to destroy the power of Rome. He left for Italy in 218 B.C. with 35,000 troops then it was reduced to 26,000 because of the harsh conditions they were put through on the way. Romans had guards at both of their entry routes by which Hannibal might cross. He took the west route and they let him pass so they could gain more of their army together. But Hannibal lost them and destroyed the entire army. The new dictator in Rome made a policy that Hannibal would be kept moving and then it would eventually wear him down. When Hannibal was stuck in an unfavorable place, at night he sent out oxen with burning sticks tied to their horns and that way Hannibal was able to make his escape.

Flavius Arcadius by Eric Breeden Flavius Arcadius was born in 377 A.D. His father was Theodosis the Great and his mother was Aelia Flavia Flaccilla. In 383 A.D. his father rose to the rank of Co-Augustus. In 395 A.D. Theodosis the Great died and Flavius Arcadius became emperor of the east, while his brother Honorius became emperor of the west. Arcadius is known as the most quoted Byzantine ruler. One threat, that occurred while he was serving as emperor, was from Alaric who wanted Flavius Arcadius dead. So Flavius gave Alaric the title, ‘Master of Soldiers’ in the Balkans to diminish the threat from him. Then in the same year the African military leader named Gildo revolted against the east empire. Gildo gave all their grain supply to the Honorius in the west empire. Flavius worked out a deal with his brother so that the East empire would have grain also. Flavius died of natural causes in 408 A.D. he later died in 408 B. C

=Founding of Rome= By Theodore Slechta Hundreds of years ago Amulius removed his older brother Numitor from the throne. Numitor’s daughter Rhea Silvia became a priestess to Vesta. In time, Mars, the god of war, became interested in her. A little later Rhea Silvia bore twins, Romulus and Remus. Amulius was extremely angry when he found out about the twins birth. He threw her into the river, and set her twins adrift on the river. The twins floated downstream until the basket they were in was caught by a fig tree. Eventually, a female wolf (sacred to Mars) fed the children. The wolf helped to feed the children until one day a shepherd came across them. The children grew up and were told of their true origin. They armed themselves and marched on Alba Longa. They killed Amulius and restored Numitor as ruler. Then the twins decided to found a city where they were stopped by the fig tree. The twins argued about which hill the city to be built upon. They agreed that the gods should decide which hill was best. 6 birds flew over Remus’s hill, and 12 birds flew over Romulus’s hill. Romulus was the triumphant brother. Romulus ploughed an outline of his city. Remus jumped over the section of plowed land to show that the city’s defenses could be easily breached. Romulus eventually slew Remus.

====** The Assasination of Julius Ceaser ** **By: Emily Griffin On March 15th 44bc Ceaser was due to appear at a session of the senate. A group of senators planed to assinate Ceaser at the session. Mark Anthony heard about the groups plan and went to stop Ceaser at the steps of the forum. The Senators unfortunately met up with Ceasor and took him to a room adjoining the east portico. The Senators crowded Ceaser and one of them, Tillius Cimber asked him to bring back his exiled brother. When Ceaser said no, Cimber puller down Ceasers tunic and Ceaser asked, Why this violence? ( one of Ceasers famous quotes) After, the group attacked him and eventually killed him. Ceaser was stabbed 23 times. ** ====


 * Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire**
 * By: Alex Murfin**

Many think the decline of the Roman Empire was because of Christianity. It caused many people back in the day to become pacifists, which made it more difficult to defend against the barbarian attackers. The money used to build church for the religion could have been used to keep the empire in good shape, but because of that the empire became worse and worse. Another reason for the decline of the Roman empire was the health and enviornmental problems. The water was going through lead pipes and when it got to the end of the pipe, it got infected. This caused the people of Rome to die. Those who lived in the streets got diseases and died from the.

__**Pompeii**__ By: Laini Wood Pompeii is an ancient Roman civilization. This city is located near the mouth of the river Sarno and the Bay of Naples. The city was known for its shipping port for goods that were sent to Rome. In about 79 A.C. the volcano, Mount Vesuvius, erupted with a mixture of ask and rocks. The mixture coved the small town and killed the people almost instantly. The ash and stone measured up to 20 meters. There was so much mixture that the civilization was lost for over 1700 years. After this time had passed the civilization was uncovered and the people of Pompeii bodies seemed as it they were frozen in time. The people still doing the activities that they were doing that day. Their bodies were preserved almost like a mummy. The bodies still looked the same as they did the day of the eruption.

__Constantine The Great__ Patton Beavers

Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus (or Constanine I), was born in 274 AD. He was the first emperor that supported Christianity. In 313, he issued the Edit of Milan, which gave Christains all across the empire civil rights. Christianlity became the state religion in 324, but people who did not share these beliefs, would not be persicuted and could practice any religion they wanted. He constructed many cathedrals, whitch gave Christians a place to practice their religion openly without fear. Constaintine died May 22, 337 at NIcomedia.

__The Roman Colosseum__ Alexa Ries

Emperor Vespian started construction of the Colosseum in 72 AD. Vespian used the riches he earned from the Jewish War to pay for the building. The architect of the magnificent building is unknown but he left his mark on Rome. The Colosseum was very large. It is 660 Roman feet long and 540 Roman feet wide. There are 80 arch shaped entrances. Each entrance was 20 feet wide and had painted statues of the emperors and gods. There was also a special entrance for the emperor. The Colosseum was then opened in 80 AD. Some of the many events held there are gladiator fights, mock naval battles, chariot races, and wild animal hunts. The fighters in these events were slaves, prisoners, or even volunteers. But, in 404 AD, there were no more gladiator battles, though they stiled killes lions, snakes, and panthers

Maura Trimble**
 * __Roamans Eating Habbits__

Like several other civilizations in there time, and not, the men did the handy work and had jobs outside of the home. On the other hand women did the work around the house. The women cleaned, took care of the children and their spouse and cooked. Similar to the way things are done now in some families. Ancient Roamans enjoyed their food very much. Brakefast was called jentaculum, bread or weat pancakes eaten with dates and honey were eaten at this time. Dates are a sweet fruit grown on a tree similar to a palm tree. Lunch was called pandrium, lunch was a light meal of bread, cheese and meat usually around 11am. Dinner was called cena. Dinner was eaten in the late afternoon. Light bread and fruit was eaten at dinner. Wine was drunk at every meal. The Roamans were not very big meat eaters. They would eat fish, snails, and mussels, other than that not much meat. Their eating habbits were influenced by the greeks.

Kaylie Engle**
 * __The Relationship Between Cleopatra and Julius Caesar__

Cleopatra was the last queen or pharaoh of Egypt and she took the throne in 51 BCE. A Roman army led by Julius Caesar arrived in Egypt. Caesar was chasing a Roman army that was trying to keep him from returning to Rome. Cleopatra had arranged for a huge carpet to be delivered to Caesar. When he unrolled it, he found the queen wrapped inside. She then seduced him. Soon, Caesar and Cleopatra became lovers. Caesar was 54 years old and Cleopatra was only 22 years old. Cleopatra's father did not approve and because of this the Alexandrian War began between Alexandria and Caesar. Cleopatra's sister came into power but Alexandria surrendered to Caesar and Cleopatra resumed the throne. Egyptian law did not allow a queen to rule without a king, so Cleopatra married her brother Ptolemy XIV even though she was still in love with Caesar. Caesar and Cleopatra spent the next several months traveling along the Nile. Caesar returned to Rome in 46 BCE with Cleopatra and their newborn son, Caesarian or "Little Caesar".On March 15, 44 BCE a huge crowd surrounded Caesar at a Senate meeting and stabbed him to death. Cleopatra fled Rome and later her brother died so she made her four year old son rule as the new king. Egypt suffered a great amount because of this.

__**Spartacus**__
 * Alex Smith**

Spartacus was the most notable leader of the slaves in the third servile war. Spartacus was trained in the roman army. He was the later sold off as a slave to fight in glatiortor battles. He was sold to the ladiatorial school //ludus//. There Spartucs created a riot and made an escape with about 80 other slaves. After his escape he defeated roman troops with ease. He then picked up more and more slaves and begen creating and army, He now had over 70,000 slaves in his army. the roman army finaliy relized that Spartacus was not to be taken lightly. So the roman armies blocked there escape plan Spartacus has made. He had planed on trying to flee on pirate ships but the roman army stoped there escape. Spartacus and his army of slaves tried fight off the Romans, that didnt work very well most of Spartacus's army was slaughtered. They were no match for the roman army. Some slaves tried to escape with there life's but they were quicky captured and crucified. I is said that Spartacus body was never found. Historians think that he was killed in the heat of battle by the roman soldiers.

__Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus__ Jonathan Bui

Nero Ruled from 54BC to 68 AD. Despite Nero having an awful reputation as a ruler, he started off very great. The Roman people during the beginning of Nero's reign loved him. His creative thinkings and peaceful thinking lead him to many successes such as peace with the Parthinian Empire. He was very popular up until the point where he realized he had a great amount of power. Nero became very tyrannical murdering many innocent people including his mother and his step brother. One of the many famous stories of Nero is about him playing a fiddle while a part of Rome was on fire. The story states that one day there was a fire in Rome and instead of helping out he sat and watched the fire and played his fiddle while the people were freaking out and dying. After the fire Nero was blamed for starting it and to take the blame off himself he accused Christians, innocent Christians, and he crucified many of them and burned them. The start of the fire is not certain but many historians note that many fires occurred in Rome. Later during his reign Nero ran away from Rome and became an enemy of the state, so he decides to commit suicide. It is said that he asked a man to show how to commit suicide because he did not know how to. Nero died around 68AD.

Allissa Pheng**
 * __Hadrian's Wall__

Hadrian’s wall originally to be constructed into a stone wall that was 10 Roman feet wide and at least 12 feet high for the eastern sector and a turf rampart 20 Roman feet high is now 73 miles long, 8 feet wide and 12 feet high. The 73 miles extends from Wallsend. Hadrian’s wall is named after the Roman Emperor, Hadrian. Emperor Hadrian ordered the wall to be built between the Solway Firth in the West and the River Tyne in the East to separate the Romans from Barbarians. The wall has survived for about 2,000 years. It is a monument to the builders and engineers of the Roman army. The wall fell into disrepair following the decline of the Roman Empire when the Romans left Britain in 410 AD. Stones taken from the wall were used to build local buildings. Today Hadrian’s wall is one of the largest and most significant remains of Rome.

__**Marius**__
 * Danny Berger**

General and politician
 * Born in 157 B.C. in Arpinum
 * The man who made the Roman army the best in the world.
 * Men from provinces could join army and eventually become citizens.
 * Veterans would be given land for their services
 * He won the Aquae Sextiae and Campi Raudii battles, these victories saved Italy and Rome from an invasion of barbarians from the north.
 * Symbol was the eagle
 * Married to Julia, Caesars aunt
 * Was exiled to Africa.
 * Died ate age 70 one month after return from exile

=Pontius Pilate by IAN STEBBINS =


 * born in scotland
 * not much is known about his early life
 * they believed his father was Gauis Pontius, the Samnite general, but are unsure
 * he was the procurator, or govenor of the Roman province Judea from 26-36 AD
 * his wife was a priestess in the Greek orthodox church
 * he is the person who executed Jesus
 * Different bible books portray him as extremely reluctant to execute Jesus
 * It says he blamed the Jewish priestly hierachy for his death
 * In the 4th century apocryphat text through, they described Pontius as courageous and it has a full account of the Trial of Jesus
 * These texts became widely popular in the 16th century and are mainly where we get our information on him from

Roman Chariots by Daniel Poff

**__ Roman Chariots __** __ In ancient Roman times, there was no means of transport other than animals. __ __ Even though they had this hurdle, the Romans made the best of it and drastically improved the chariot. __ __ The Romans used chariots in a number of ways, including: transportation, recreation, and for the military. __ __ The richer people could use chariots on the paved roads, but it was still not the preferred method of transportation. __ __ The military used the chariot for defense and attack, and used this very well, too. __ __ But with the rocky, bumpy European terrain, the chariots could not go very fast and were not very efficient. __ __ But it was entertainment that was the main spur for chariots. __ __ In fact, a large, circular track just for chariot racing was built called the __//__ Circus Maximus __//__. __ __ This was the equivalent of the Daytona 500 of today. __ __ The difference was that there was almost always a death in every race. __ __ In fact, the Romans often put spikes on their tires to try to ram their opponent and tear apart their chariot. __ __ Next to the Gladiator fights, chariot racing was the biggest event in the Roman society. __

= __**Caesar Augustus**__ = =By: Brian Summersgill=

Caesar Augustus was born by the name Gaius Octavian. His great uncle was Julius Caesar. When Julius Caesar died he left in his will that he would adopt Gaius Octavian and give him the Roman Empire. Before he took over the roman senate changed his name to Caesar Augustus. While he was in power as the first emperor he restored peace after 100 years of civil war, he also maintained an honest government. And during his reign the empire stretched to France and all the way to Hungary.