Some very important facts about the use of a school blog: Blogs are read from bottom to top. Homework will be set for every week, no excuses will be accepted if you don't comply. If you decide to post a comment, remember to do it as " anonymous" and to include your name at the end. This blog means a big effort on my behalf, I do hope you enjoy it! Prof. Sosa D'Este

Tuesday, 17 May 2011

Roman Colchester

Who destroyed Colchester?
Was it an important city?
 Colchester Castle built on the Roman ruins
 Way down to the Roman Temple Base

Maquette of Emperor Claudius Temple in Colchester

Friday, 13 May 2011

Some pictures...

This statue of Boudicca stands beside the River Thames in London. It was made in 1897 and shows her in a chariot.
Colchester Castle (Essex) is built on the remains of the Roman temple destroyed by Boudicca's army.

Only "1" video...

Watch carefully and answer the questions:
  • Write 4 differences, easily seen in the video, between the Roman army and Boudicca's men.
  • What do YOU think of Boudicca's fighting?
  • What order does Suetinius give his army?
  • What do YOU think of the Roman formation?

Thursday, 5 May 2011

Think!

Answer the following questions about gods:
  1. Who would ask Mercury for help?
  2. Who would ask Vesta for help?
  3. Who would ask Juno for help?
  4. Who would ask Diana for help?
  5. Who would ask Mithras for help?
  6. Who would ask Neptune for help?
The idea is to write down the name of a job, occupation or profession that would ask each of the mentioned gods for help. E.g. a schoolboy who has a test would ask Minerva for help.

    Nice short video about gods. ENJOY... and don't complain!


    Why was it good for Romans to have many gods?
    Who was Neptune?
    Who was Minerva?
    Who was Cloacina?
    Who was Mercury?
    What does the phrase "your soul is at risk if you do not keep up sacrifices" mean?

    Some useful Vocabulary for the video:
    • petty: small, unimportant
    • theft: robbery, noun of thief
    • waste away: to gradually become thin and weak, disintegrate
    • navel: belly button, the scar of the umbilical cord

    Wednesday, 6 April 2011

    Is it better than my version?

    Roman Invasions


     
    Answer the following questions about the romans.
    1. Why did the Romans invade?
    2. What do you think of their ships?
    3. What did a Roman soldier carry with him?
    4. What was the Romans' most terryfying weapon?
    There are no questions about the fort, just watch.

    Monday, 4 April 2011


    Answer these questions:
    1. Why is the narrator proud of the wall?
    2. What did Hadrian want?
    3. What were the dimensions of the wall? (Length, width, height)
    4. Who were the bulidres?
    5. How many soldires guarded it? What nationalities were they?
    6. Describe the baths and their routine.
    7. What happened when Hadrian died?

    Wednesday, 23 March 2011

    Watch carefully and answer the questions


    Why were Celts primitive or barbarian?
    How did Greeks describe the Celts?
    What did Celtic warriors want?
    How did Romans describe Celts?
    Where did Celts spread?
    Why did Celts move?

    Some Celtic music

    Enjoy!

    Sunday, 20 March 2011

    Hillforts




    What do they have in common?
    What were they built for?
    What were they made of?
    Do you think they served their purpose?

    Thursday, 10 March 2011

    Read carefully !

    Celtic Britain
    (The Iron Age) c. 600 BC - 50 AD
    ________________________________________
    Who were they?
    The Iron Age is the age of the "Celt" in Britain. The “Celts” were warring tribes who certainly wouldn’t have seen themselves as one people at the time. The "Celts" as we traditionaly regard them exist largely in the magnificence of their art. The Celtic peoples were described as barbarians and the Romans as a great civilizing force.

    Where did they come from? What we do know is that the people we call Celts gradually infiltrated Britain over the course of the centuries between about 500 and 100 B.C. There was probably never an organized Celtic invasion.The Celts were a group of peoples loosely tied by similar language, religion, and cultural expression. They were not centrally governed, and quite as happy to fight each other as any non-Celt. They were warriors, living for the glories of battle and plunder. They were also the people who brought iron working to the British Isles.

    Celtic family life. The basic unit of Celtic life was the clan, a sort of extended family. The term "family" is a bit misleading, for by all accounts the Celts practiced a peculiar form of child rearing; they didn't rear them, they farmed them out.
    Clans were bound together very loosely with other clans into tribes, each of which had its own social structure and customs, and possibly its own local gods.

    Housing. The Celts lived in huts of arched timber with walls of wicker and roofs of thatch. The huts were generally gathered in loose hamlets.
    Farming. The Celts were farmers when they weren't fighting. One of the interesting innovations that they brought to Britain was the iron plough.

    Women. Celtic lands were owned communally, and wealth seems to have been based largely on the size of cattle herd owned. The lot of women was a good deal better than in most societies of that time. They were technically equal to men, owned property, and could choose their own husbands.

    Druids. Another area where oral traditions were important was in the training of Druids. They were a curious lot; a sort of super-class of priests, political advisors, teachers, healers, and arbitrators.

    Religion. The Celts from held many of their religious ceremonies in woodland groves and near sacred water, such as wells and springs. The Romans speak of human sacrifice as being a part of Celtic religion. One thing we do know, the Celts revered human heads.

    The Celts at War. The Celts loved war. If one wasn't happening they'd be sure to start one. They arrayed themselves as fiercely as possible, sometimes charging into battle fully naked, dyed blue from head to toe, and screaming like banshees to terrify their enemies.
    The Celts were great users of light chariots in warfare. From this chariot, drawn by two horses, they would throw spears at an enemy before dismounting to have a go with heavy slashing swords.
    They beheaded their opponents in battle and it was considered a sign of prowess and social standing to have a goodly number of heads to display.

    The main problem with the Celts was that they couldn't stop fighting among themselves long enough to put up a unified front. Each tribe was out for itself, and in the long run this cost them control of Britain.

    Check words you don't know in the dictionary!
    A good on-line dictionary is:
    wordreference.com

    The Druids...




    ...in Stonehenge!

    Some photos








    What can you see in these pictures?

    Watch the video carefully

    Find ten things from the video you have read about previously or discussed in class