Early Rome · 753 BC

Romulus and Remus: how Rome began

Twins, a she-wolf and a quarrel on the Palatine Hill: Rome's founding legend is famous. Students compare the story with what archaeologists have found, and ask why the Romans told it.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
10–13
On the map
3 steps, 753 BC to 500 BC
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

Twins, a she-wolf and a quarrel on the Palatine Hill: Rome's founding legend is famous. Students compare the story with what archaeologists have found, and ask why the Romans told it.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Retell the legend of Romulus and Remus and the traditional founding date of 753 BC.
  • Explain the difference between a legend and evidence found by archaeologists.
  • Give two reasons why the site of Rome, on the river Tiber, was a good place for a settlement.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

753 BC

Where Rome began

Open the map in 753 BC. Turn on Historical Events and find the Political Events marker for the founding of Rome. Rome lies about 25 km from the sea, on the river Tiber. Why might a spot inland, by a river, be safer than the coast?

Open this view on the map
b

600 BC

The salt road

Turn on the Trade Routes layer and find the Via Salaria, the old "salt road" that runs northeast from Rome. Salt was precious. How could a village on a trade road grow rich?

Open this view on the map
c

500 BC

Rome and its neighbors

Jump to 500 BC. Find the small territory of Rome and its neighbors: the Etruscans to the north and the Sabines to the northeast. How big is Rome compared with them?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. In the legend, Romulus kills his own brother. Why would a people keep such a dark story about its founder?
  2. The date 753 BC was worked out by Roman scholars about 700 years later. How could they have calculated it, and can we trust it?
  3. Archaeologists found traces of huts, not palaces, from the 8th century BC on the Palatine Hill. What does that tell us about early Rome?
  4. Rome grew at a river crossing on a salt road. Can you name a town today that grew for a similar reason?
  5. Later, the poet Virgil linked Rome's founders to the hero Aeneas of Troy. Why would a ruler like Augustus want that link?
4

Game round

9 min

No ruler in Rule History lived this early. Play one round as Augustus, who loved the founding legends: he lived on the Palatine Hill, where Romulus was said to have founded the city, and some senators even suggested he take the name Romulus. Discuss: why did Rome's first emperor want to look like a second founder?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.