The Romans by 4C
4C have been enjoying their Roman topic.
The story ‘Escape from Pompeii’ inspired us to write our own setting descriptions using figurative language – fronted adverbials, adjectives and similes. Here is an excerpt from Rawa:
Pompeii’s sky was now thick with pumice and black with ash. People were choking because of the big cloud of ash. Children could hear dogs barking with fear. A dark devil touched everyone’s hearts as they looked at Pompeii being destroyed by the flames. Ash flooded the city like a river breaking its banks. The people that once prayed to Mount Vesuvius are now people who feel betrayed by Mount Vesuvius. As quick as a flash, people ran away from the ash.
Our Roman topic came to life on Wednesday 4th December, when we visited the Verulamium museum in St Albans. We were fascinated that this was one of the largest Roman settlements in Britain, along with Colchester and London. Did you know that Verulamium was burnt down during Boudicca’s revolt in AD 60? She was a very important lady in the history of Britain.
During the day, we visited the Roman mosaic and Hypocaust. We were fascinated to discover that the Romans had underfloor heating systems. Hot air from a furnace or fire flowed under the floor mosaics and up into the hollow walls of the rooms.
We admired beautiful mosaics that would have once decorated the houses or villas of rich Romans. The different floor designs were made of small cubes of stone or tile arranged in colourful patterns. We spotted interesting artefacts in the museum, including a small bronze statue of Venus, the goddess of love.
During our workshop, we had the opportunity to handle Roman artefacts. We learnt about building materials, hygiene, food preparation and dining. We found out that the Romans had manicure sets, which were not that dissimilar from what we use today.
Here were some of our comments:
‘I still can’t imagine how it took them so long to complete a floor mosaic’ Sophie
‘I really like their style of clothing and their jewellery’ Scarlett
‘I can’t believe that a hoard of gold coins was discovered by a metal detectorist in 2012 – The Sandridge Hoard’ Hashir
‘I can’t get my head around how deep under the ground they had to dig to excavate the ruins – as deep as a fully grown man’ Daniel
‘Their clothes were surprisingly comfortable’ Oliver
‘I am amazed that some of the mosaics are still intact, after all these years’ Summer
Do you have any questions about the Romans for 4C?
