Notes for teachers

Key Stage 2: How Roman was Roman Britain?

The final page of these notes can be copied and given to students who you thinkmay need additional support during the session, or to adult helpers.

About this sessionThis session takes place in one of the Museum’s formal lecture theatres where the students view images projected on to a large screen. The session is designed for audiences of up to 120 students, usually from different schools. It encourages student participation mainly through a lively process of question and answer, but does not include hands-on activities such as dressing up or handling objects. The session lasts for 45 minutes.

Session outline This session demonstrates how objects can help to explore aspects of

change and continuity in the past in order to decide just how ‘Roman’ was Roman Britain.

The session begins by introducing the concepts of continuity and change. It then goes on to consider a number of themes, such as rulers, writing,

religion, and food and drink which can be investigated using objects from Iron Age and Roman Britain.

The session concludes with a recap of the role of change and continuity in history and a look ahead to early Anglo-Saxon England.

Key themes include change, continuity, Iron Age and Roman Britain, everyday life – rulers, writing, eating and drinking, belief and ritual, personal adornment.

Key vocabulary includes Iron Age, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, change, continuity, rulers – king/queen/emperor, writing, food and drink, religion, personal adornment/jewellery.

Preparing for your session Locate the ancient Roman Empire on an atlas and on a globe. Identify the

modern countries which lay within the border of the ancient Roman Empire.

Introduce/revise the key themes and key vocabulary listed above. Discuss the concepts of ‘continuity’ and ‘change’. Revise Iron Age Britain with the students, in particular key aspects such as

social organization, food and drink, communication tools and belief and ritual.

Notes for teachers

Create a time line of ancient Britain to revise and introduce the vocabulary commonly used to label the historical periods in British history up to AD 1065.

Look for objects from Iron Age Britain and Roman Britain under the Explore section of the British Museum website at www.britishmuseum.org

Ask your students to browse objects from Roman Britain on ‘Museum Explorer’ in the Discover section of our children’s website Young Explorers www.britishmuseum.org/youngexplorers.

Following up your session Create a chart comparing a number of aspects of life in Iron Age and Roman

Britain. Populate the chart with examples of objects which provide evidence of change and continuity across the two periods. Examples can be drawn from the British Museum website alongside objects from the online collections of regional museums. For example, Iron Age and Roman objects found near Sheffield can be explored at http://www.idigsheffield.org.uk/index.asp?menu

Imagine you lived in late Iron Age Britain. Write a first person account of the arrival of the Romans in your area. This account can be region specific – for example a person in southern Britain who has been aware of Roman objects being traded into the area and used by the local elite before the arrival of the Romans whilst early experience of the Romans in northern Britain would focus on local military forts.

Explore aspects of cultural fusion in modern Britain. For example, compile a list of different food stuffs and cooking styles which have been introduced to Britain from other parts of the world. The same activity can also been undertaken for Roman Britain by looking at the food stuffs introduced to Britain by the Romans, many of which are still eaten today and considered ‘British’.

Try using the same process on a two different time periods. For example, look for examples of continuity and change between the Bronze Age and the Iron Age in Britain or late Roman Britain and early Anglo-Saxon England.

Galleries with related objectsRoom 50: objects from Iron Age BritainRoom 49: objects from Roman BritainRooms 69: Greek and Roman everyday life galleryRoom 70: objects from imperial RomeRoom 41: objects from Anglo-Saxon England

Curriculum linksKS2 History – Roman Britain

Notes for teachers

This session supports work on how to find out about events and people from appropriate sources of information and how to select information relevant to the focus of an enquiry within the context of Roman Britain.

KS2: How Roman was Roman Britain?summary sheet

In this session you will:• find out how the Romans influenced life in Britain • identify examples of what changed and what stayed the same

Change and continuity• You will find out about the ideas of change and continuity and how they help us to understand what happened in the past.

Iron Age and Roman Britain• Using a range of objects from the past you will think about how the Romans influenced life after Britain became part of the Roman Empire in AD 43. • You will think about how objects help us to understand what changed and what stayed the same for the people living in Roman Britain.

Looking ahead• You will decide how ‘Roman’ you think life was in Roman Britain.• You will look ahead to possible changes in everyday life when the Anglo-Saxons arrived in Britain.

Key wordsIron Age BritainRoman BritainAnglo-Saxon EnglandChange (things changing)continuity (things staying the same)rulers, writing, religion, food and drink, jewellery

Notes for teachers