The document discusses Roman towns, culture, and art. It describes how Roman towns were planned with a grid pattern of two main roads and public buildings arranged around a central forum square. It lists some typical features of Roman towns including the forum, baths, amphitheater, basilica, temples, and town houses. The forum served as a central meeting place, markets were sometimes held there, and important government buildings surrounded it. The amphitheater hosted entertainments like gladiator fights and animal attacks. Temples were sites of worship for Roman gods and emperors. The cultural influence of Rome can still be seen in modern romance languages derived from Latin.
2. ROMAN CULTURAL
INFLUENCE
The Roman cultural legacy can be seen in the romance languages:
Castilian, Catalan, Galician, Protuguese, and Italian. They are all
derived from Latin.
SPANISH WORD
LATIN WORD
MEANING
Espectáculo
spectaculum / spectare
to look at, to watch
República
res publica
public thing
Piscina
piscis
fish
Amistad
amicitia
friendship
3. URBANISM
The Roman Empire was an
urban empire.
•Towns were political,
administrative, economic
and cultural centers
•What important political or
cultural events took place
in towns?
4. ROMAN TOWNS
Newly-created towns
followed a similar plan:
•Square/rectangular shape
•Surrounded by walls
•Two central roads:
• Cardum – North/South
• Decumanus – East/West
•Central square, forum
•Streets forming a grid
5. PARTS OF THE
ROMAN TOWN
1.
Forum
2.
Baths
3.
Amphitheatre
4.
Basilica
5.
Christian
Church
6.
Temple
7.
Town House
8.
North Gate
6. FORUM
• The forum was like a town square.
• Important government buildings like law courts and offices
were built around it and markets were sometimes set up inside
it.
• It was often the center of the city where people met and did
business.
7. AMPHITHEATRE
• The amphitheatre was where shows were put on. some of
these seem cruel to us today.
• People could watch wild animals fighting each other or
attacking people.
• There were also gladiator fights where two men would fight
each other until one of them was dead.
8. TEMPLES
• The temple was where the Romans went to worship their gods
the Romans believed in many different gods.
• When they took over a new land they often took over the gods
worshipped there as well.
• Some emperors were worshipped as gods after they died.
Later, Christianity spread through the Roman Empire and
became the official religion in 380 A.D.
9. REVIEW
1. What is the forum?
2. What is the cardum and the decumanus?
3. What events took place in the amphitheatre?
10. LABEL THE PARTS OF
THE ROMAN TOWN
Temples, amphitheatre,
forum, cardum,
decumanus, city walls,
etc.
