成人快手

What was a Roman family like?

Cartoon of a Roman woman with a child.
  • Men were in charge of the family in Roman Britain. Mothers were thought to be less important than fathers.

  • Boys from rich families learnt Latin and wrote on wax tablets.

  • Children could be married at the age of 14 and marriages were often arranged between families.

  • Life for women in Roman times was often hard.

  • Women ran the home, cooking and raising the children.

  • In wealthy families, enslaved people often did this work.

Cartoon of a Roman woman with a child.
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Watch: Being a child in Roman Britain

Find out what life was like for children in Roman Britain

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Building roads, bridges and drains

  • The Romans were excellent at building鈥roads and bridges. These allowed soldiers and supplies to move from town to town quickly.

  • Many Roman roads still survive today, 2,000 years later.

  • The Romans didn鈥檛 invent the arch, but were the first people to use them in big buildings and aqueducts.

  • Aqueducts are like a bridge, with a stone channel on top to carry water.

A view of inside the Roman baths in the city of Bath in Somerset
Image caption,
Aqueducts supplied water to baths like these, found in the city of Bath.
A Roman road sign
Image caption,
This milestone from around AD120 used to stand beside a Roman road. It showed the distance to the nearest fort, Kanovium (the Roman for Caerhun in north Wales).
  • Aqueducts were built to supply towns with water from springs, rivers or lakes.

  • The Romans liked to keep clean. Towns and forts had underground drains to take away dirty water and sewage.

  • The drain pipes were flushed with water from the baths, so they didn't get too smelly.

  • Fresh water and sewers were important. Without them, people risked catching diseases.

A Roman road sign
Image caption,
This milestone from around AD120 used to stand beside a Roman road. It showed the distance to the nearest fort, Kanovium (the Roman for Caerhun in north Wales).
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Activities

Activity 1: Roman homes

Click on the labels below to find out about the different rooms of a Roman villa.

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Activity 2: Important Roman buildings

Click on the town below to find out about some of the important buildings.

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Activity 3: Quiz 鈥 Life in Roman Britain

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Bitesize Primary games. game

Play fun and educational primary games in science, maths, English, history, geography, art, computing and modern languages.

Bitesize Primary games
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More on Roman Britain

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