Romans
In 509 BC a tribe called the Latini took over the
town of Rome. They later called Romans and spread their Latin language and
their way of life, throughout Italy and most of Europe. They built well-planned
towns. Water was piped to markets, fountains and public baths. They also built
proper drains. Romans could visit the theatre or watch chariot racing and
gladiator fights at a stadium.
At first the Romans did not have a
king. Two consuls were elected to run the government and the army which was
organised into legions of about 5,000 men. The first emperor, Augustus, came to
power in 27 BC. The Roman empire came to an end when the last Emperor Romulus Augustus was
overthrown by barbarian tribes in 476 AD.
Did you know?
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| Monument of Julius Caesar |
Julius Caesar first invaded Britain in 55 BC. Nearly a century later in 43 AD, the Emperor Claudius began the real conquest of Britain. The Romans built roads, towns, and forts to control the country. The emperor Hadrian built a wall across northern England to act as a frontier barrier against the Scots.
Normans
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| Duke William of Normandy |
Normans were Vikings who moved to
northern France. In 911 their leader, Rollo, was given some
land round Rouen, later called Normandy. The Normans were good fighters,
especially on horses, and travelled in search of conquests. Normans ruled
Sicily until 1194, in 1066 the Norman Duke William defeated King Harold of Wessex to
become the king of England. Later on, Normans joined the crusades and helped to
capture Jerusalem. After the Norman conquest there were drastic changes for
English people. Anglo-Saxon lords were replaced by Norman barons. Many free men
lost their land to the new lords. Most of the poorest villagers became
villeins, who had to work for the lords at set times. Ordinary people still
spoke English, but if you wanted to get on you had to speak Norman, French and
Latin.
Vikings
The Vikings lived in Norway, Denmark
and Sweden. When they needed more land in the 8th century, they moved to other
countries such as Britain and France. Vikings were farmers who grew grain and
vegetables, and kept cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens. A Viking farmhouse
usually had a great hall where the family lived and cooked on an open fire. We
remember them for their daring journeys in longships. They raided other
countries, and were also great traders and explorers. In fact, Leif Ericsson the
Viking sailed across the Atlantic, about 500 years before Columbus started off
as a sailor.
Incas
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Portrait of the last Incan emperor Atahualpa |
Incas were South American Indians who ruled an empire in the 15th and 16th centuries. Their capital city was Cuzco in Peru. From Cuzco they built roads over the mountains to all parts if their empire which extended 4,500 km from north to south. They were farmers, and kept llamas and alpacas for food and wool. Everyone had to give food and goods to the government, run by the emperor and the government made sure that no one starved in return. The last Inca emperor was Atahualpa. In 1532, Spanish invaders, led by Fransisco Pizarro, arrived in Peru. Pizarro captured Atahualpa and demanded roomful of gold and silver as a ransom. He took the gold and silver but still had Atahualpa killed. By the 1570s the Incas had been utterly crushed by the Spanish conquerors. One among many facts is that the Incas had no system of writing. Messages were learned by heart and taken all through the empire by relays of runners.
Greek
We remember the ancient Greeks for their splendid
buildings and works of art. They also gave us our political system,
‘democracy’, meaning people’s rule. In the cities of Greece all male citizens
made laws by voting at big public meetings, while women and slaves had no right
to cast vote. The Greeks fought several wars against Persia. When the Persians
were finally defeated in 479 BC, the Greek city state of Athens ruled an
empire. A magnificent temple, the Parthenon, was built on the Acropolis in the
centre of the city.
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Reign of the Macedonian empire under the rise of Alexander the Great |
The main rival city state was Sparta,
where all men had to be in the army. Sparta controlled most of the Southern
parts of Greece, called the Peloponnese. Athens and Sparta began the
Peloponnesian war in 431 BC. Athens had more people, but the Spartan army was
too strong to fend which eventually resulted as the victory of Sparta and
taking over the Athenian empire. Greek democracy gradually come to an end.
Later on, the Macedonians, under the
kings such as Philip and Alexander, took over most greek cities. By the 2nd
century BC, Roamn armies had conquered most of Greece. Greeks have not only
given us the idea of democracy but also in the field of sports, such as the
first ‘Olympic’ games with events such as discus and javelin throwing, were
held by the Greeks in 776 BC to honour their chief god Zeus.
Aztecs
The Aztecs lived in what is now Mexico. They built the city of Tenochtitlàn, the Aztec capital, in about 1345. Most Aztecs were farmers, but they also made superb sculptures and buildings, particularly their pyramid shaped temples. In 1519, the Spaniard, Hernàn Cortés arrived at Tenochtitlàn with the view to conquer the entire of Aztecs.
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