Blog the World Cup 2010: Italy

Julius Caeser

Julius Caesar was born on 12th of july 100 BC. Julius Caesar died on 15th of march 44 BC.

When Julius Caesar was in a Colosseum and a gladiator was on the ground the other one would look at Julius Caesar.

He would put his thumb up which meant live. If he put his thumb down they die.

The month July was named after Julius Caesar.

Written by Owen

The Roman Gladiators

The Roman Gladiatars wore a helmet with spikes on top of it. And a thing that went down the nose. A metal skirt a metal top a sword and a shield.

In Italy there was Rome so there were lots of gladiators that were fighting.

They sometimes had long hair and some times they were very very strong. Sometimes they were very very weak but not all of them got killed cause they had armour.

They was very brave too. Gladiators were volunteers who risked their lives by appearing in the arena.

Written by Shireena

Nero

Nero the Roman emperor played a violin while Rome burned to a crisp. He led the Roman empire.

He also led the whole of Italy as well as the Roman Empire.

He ruled Rome with 2,705,603 people. Romans hated christians and killed them.

Written by Tor

Roman Soldiers

Roman soilders had a cape and a sword and a shield. Roman solders fight in war time and they where feather hats with feathes on the top of there hat.

Roman soldiers like to battle. Roman soldiers fight other soldiers. Roman soldiers ride on horses. The shield is really strong it is good in war time. Roman soldiers have a spear. The soilders are in legions. There are over 5,000. The roman soilders have a number each. When they train they have a wooden spear and a wooden sword and a wooden shield. They have a flag and a pole and on the flag they have a word wot says LEGXX to help to be brave.

The legate was the leader of a legion. One of the early legionary legates in Britain called Vespasian went on to become emperor.

Written by Adam

Chariots

Chariots was kind of like a car with a group of gladiators towed by a horse. It was a peace and war vehicle.

Proto-chariots were built in 3000 BC. Chariot wheels were made of wood.

The word *Chariot* comes from lattin carrus. A chariot of war or of triumph was called a car.

Written by Warwick

The Colosseum

The colosseum originally the flavian Amphitheatre is in the centre of Rome. The closseum was the largest ever built in the Roman Empire .

 

The Romans started building it between 70 and 72AD under the emperor vespasian and was finished in 70 AD under titus. The Colosseum could seat around 50,000 people, the colosseum was used for contests such as gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. The Colosseum was used for nearly 500 years with games recorded as far back as the 6th century. Some of the spectacles that the Colosseum was used for included mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions and re-enactments of famous battles.

 

Once the Colsseum was not used for these spectacles it was used for housing, work shops, quaters for a religious order a fortress a quarry and a christian shrine. The Colosseum is now a ruin because of damage caused by earthqualces and stone robbers. The Colosseum still has close links with the Roman catholic church. On every Good Friday the Pope lead a torchlit procession to the amphitheatre . The torchlit procession is called "The way of the cross".

 

The Colosseum is stamped on to the Italian version of the five cent euro coin.The original Latin name for the Colosseum was the Amphitheatrum flavium, the building was built by emperors of the Flavian dynasty.

 

In the 8th century the Venerable Bebe wrote a famous saying celebrating the symbolic significance of the structure. The famous saying is "As long as the colossus stands, so shall Rome; when the colossus falls, Rome shall fall; when Rome falls, so falls the world."

 

Written by Jessica

What happened in Pompeii?

In Pompeii a volcano erupted in AD 79. The villagers ran to safety. 3,ooo,000 people were killed. When Mount Vesuvius erupted it went over Herculaneum as well. After the volcano they left the city buried underneath ash.

Recently people dug it back up.

Written by Tor

Tour Ancient Rome

If you have Google Earth, then you could take a trip back in time and see what Rome used to look like;

Romulus and Remus

Romulus and Remus were brothers.

They were left in a forest to die but a she-wolf looked after them until they were old enough to leave.

They wanted to build a city, but they wanted it in 2 places. So they had a fight.

Romulus won and killed his brother. He built the city in honour of his brother and called it Rome.

That is the story off  Romulus and Remus.

Written by Louise

St Francis of Assissi

Giovanni Bernadone was born in 1181 and died in 1226. He was nicknamed Francesco. In 1205 he gave up his riches to become a monk. He looked after the poor and the sick. He also looked after animals.

This image is taken from Wikipedia

Written by Warwick