← Classical Studies syllabus

ScotlandClassical Studies

Life in the Roman World

6 dot points across 6 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How did people earn a living in the Roman world, and how did work differ between rich and poor?

Making a living in the Roman world: the work of farmers, craftsmen, traders and shopkeepers, the heavy reliance on enslaved labour, and the contrast between the wealthy and the urban poor.
How Romans earned a living: farming, craft and trade, the shops and workshops of a town like Pompeii, the heavy reliance on enslaved labour, and the sharp contrast between wealthy landowners and the working urban poor.
11 min answer →

What happened to Pompeii in AD 79, and what does the buried town reveal about Roman daily life?

Pompeii in AD 79: the eruption of Vesuvius and the destruction of the town, and the exceptional evidence the buried site gives us about everyday Roman life.
The eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 that buried Pompeii, the warning earthquake, the stages of the eruption and how the town and its people died, and why the preserved site is such exceptional evidence for everyday Roman life.
11 min answer →

How did Romans entertain themselves, and why were the games and the baths so important?

Roman entertainment: the gladiatorial games and beast hunts of the amphitheatre, the chariot racing of the circus, the public baths as a social centre, and the political uses of public spectacle.
Roman entertainment: the gladiatorial games and beast hunts of the amphitheatre, the chariot racing of the circus, the public baths as a daily social centre, and how rulers used free public spectacle ('bread and circuses') to win popularity.
11 min answer →

What did the Romans believe about their gods, and how did religion shape both home and state?

Roman religion: the state gods and their link to Greek gods, household worship of the family's protective spirits, the central practice of sacrifice and divination, and the tie between religion and the Roman state.
Roman religion: the state gods (often identified with Greek ones), the household worship of protective spirits such as the Lares and Penates, the central practices of sacrifice and divination, and how religion was bound up with the success of the Roman state.
11 min answer →

How was the Roman family organised, and what power did the father hold over it?

The Roman family: the household under the authority of the male head (paterfamilias), the upbringing of children, marriage, and the place of the family in Roman society.
How the Roman family was organised: the household (familia) under the wide authority of the male head, the paterfamilias, the upbringing and education of children, the customs of marriage, and why the family was central to Roman society and values.
11 min answer →

What were the lives, roles and freedoms of women in the Roman world, and how did this differ from Athens?

The role and status of women in the Roman world: their legal position, their role as wives and mothers, the greater public freedom they enjoyed compared with Athenian women, and the differences by social class.
The role and status of Roman women: their legal position under a guardian yet greater everyday freedom than Athenian women, their role as wives and mothers, their ability to appear in public and influence affairs, and how their lives differed by wealth and class.
11 min answer →