Roman Empire · 9-260 AD

The legions and the limes: guarding Rome's frontiers

From the Rhine to the Syrian desert, legions and auxiliary troops guarded the empire's borders. Students follow the limes on the map and find out who the soldiers were and how they lived.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 200
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

From the Rhine to the Syrian desert, legions and auxiliary troops guarded the empire's borders. Students follow the limes on the map and find out who the soldiers were and how they lived.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Describe the limes: the forts, walls, roads and rivers along Rome's frontiers.
  • Explain the difference between legionaries and auxiliaries and what soldiers gained from serving.
  • Locate three frontier sites on the Rhine, on the Danube and in the east.
2

Explore the map

15 min

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

a

AD 200

Rivers as borders

Open the map in AD 200 and turn on Historical Maps to lay an old printed map of the Roman Empire over it. Follow the northern border from the North Sea along the Rhine and the Danube to the Black Sea. How much of it is river?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 200

A line of forts

Zoom in on the land between the upper Rhine and the Danube. Here the border left the rivers, so the Romans built a line of forts, towers and a fence, about 550 km long. Why was this gap dangerous?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 200

The eastern frontier

Pan east to the Euphrates and the Syrian desert. Turn on the Cities layer and find Palmyra and Antioch. Which great empire did the soldiers here face?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

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

  1. A legionary had to be a Roman citizen, while auxiliaries usually were not. Why would a non-citizen join the Roman army?
  2. Many forts grew into towns, such as Mainz, Vienna and Budapest. Why do settlements grow around an army camp?
  3. Soldiers on the frontier came from all over the empire and often started families with local women. How did the army spread Roman culture?
  4. The limes had gates where traders crossed. Was the border meant to stop people or to control them?
  5. Paying hundreds of thousands of soldiers was the empire's biggest cost. What happens to an empire when it cannot pay its army?
4

Game round

10 min

Play the Marcus Aurelius round in Rule History. He spent years in army camps on the Danube, fighting the Marcomanni and other peoples. Discuss: why did an emperor feel he had to be with his soldiers in person?

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.