First Children Encyclopedia

The Romans

A large house in the countryside.^89

The Roman Empire

The Romans conquered

a vast empire. They

built this wall between

Scotland and England

to protect the boundary

of their empire.

Julius Caesar was a

great general who ruled

Rome. He was murdered.

Augustus was the first

Roman emperor. After his

death, he was made a god.

Ovid was a Roman poet.

He wrote many poems

about myths and legends.

Spartacus was a slave

who led an army of slaves

against the Romans.

Famous Romans

Below, you can read

about some of the most

famous Romans of all.

The Roman army

The Romans had the best army

in the world. Their soldiers

conquered many

countries and

guarded the

empire. The

soldiers often had to

march long distances.

Roman roads

In peacetime, Roman soldiers

were kept busy building

roads. Roads were important

for moving the army around

the empire. Roman roads

were usually very straight.

Some are still used today.

Latin language

The Romans spoke a language

called Latin. Roman children

learnt to write Latin by scratching

out letters on wooden boards that

were covered in wax.

A soldier’s sandals

A standard

(army flag)

This inscription is

written in Latin.

Hadrian toured the

empire and built walls

and forts to guard it.

The purple area on this map shows the size

of the Roman Empire in about 300 CE.

Hadrian’s Wall

Rome

Asia

Europe

Africa