Did you know that YouTube is a good place to spend your hours learning about various aspects of the ancient Romans and the civilization in which they lived? For instance you can learn about how slaves and gladiators lived in a video by the History Channel called “Life and Death in Rome – Gladiators and Slaves”. The video is divided into five parts and it explores the importance of slaves and gladiators in ancient Rome. The video details the treatment and especially the punishment inflicted on slaves. Basically it examines the grim reality of slaves in ancient Rome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xOgxPbIcYQ
Let’s switch to a more positive topic. The Discovery Channel has a video entitled: “Seven Wonders of Ancient Rome”. It’s a video that you can watch in four parts. The Video examines how the ancient Romans were able to build and create such marvels. It’s a great educational video with graphics that show the architectural blueprint of some of Rome’s buildings. There are also various interviews from experts that help reiterate how advanced the ancient Romans were.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z1vZcYRntM
This Documentary is about the excavation of a Gladiatrix found in London. The term Gladiatrix refers to a female gladiator. The Documentary begins with a burial site that uncovered the remains of a Gladiatrix. From this burial site, scholars try to piece together some clues about the Gladiatrix buried there. The Documentary can be viewed in nine parts. I highly recommend this documentary. You really learn a lot about the gladiator culture through various artifacts and objects that were found buried with the Gladiatrix.
This next video is from the History Channel and it’s on the brothel paintings in Pompeii. Through the excavated evidence, scholars try to piece together what the ancient Romans thought about sex and sexuality. From the artifacts of Pompeii, the scholars then try to figure out if the attitude towards sex was similar to the attitude about sex in ancient Rome. Interesting as this video is, some of the scenes are not appropriate for children, so it might not be a good instruction video for a primary school classroom!
