🏛️ Life and Culture in Greece and Rome

What you’ll learn

1. Two Lands by One SeaPlace Greece and Rome by the Mediterranean and see that Greece came first.The Greeks and then the Romans lived beside the Mediterranean Sea, with Greece flourishing centuries before Rome's empire. Because Greece came first and achieved so much, the Romans grew up admiring and imitating Greek culture.
2. Meet the Greek GodsIdentify major Greek gods and the parts of life each one ruled.The Greeks worshipped a family of gods living on Mount Olympus, each ruling a domain such as the sky, sea, wisdom, war, or love. Their myths were the shared stories of everyday Greek life.
3. Same Gods, New NamesMatch Greek gods to their Roman names and see them in the planets.The Romans adopted the Greek gods but renamed them — Zeus to Jupiter, Athena to Minerva, and so on. Rome named the planets after these gods, so the names survive in the night sky today.
4. The Heart of the TownDescribe the forum as the market and meeting hub of a Roman town.At the centre of a Roman town lay the forum, an open square that served as market, meeting place, and news centre all at once. It was where townspeople shopped, gathered, and heard the day's announcements.
5. An Afternoon at the BathsExplain the Roman bathing routine and the hypocaust heating system.Roman public baths were social centres where people moved through warm, hot, and cold rooms in order, treating bathing as a relaxing afternoon. The rooms were warmed by a hypocaust — a raised floor with hot air flowing beneath.
6. Homes, Families, and SchoolPicture a Roman courtyard home and how children were schooled.Well-off Romans lived in courtyard houses decorated with mosaics, led by the father and staffed by servants or slaves. Some children attended school, writing on wax tablets with a stylus and often learning Greek alongside Latin.
7. Masks and the Open-Air TheatreDescribe Greek open-air theatres, their parts, and the use of masks.The Greeks built vast open-air theatres — Epidaurus held around 13,000 to 14,000 people — with famed acoustics, made of curved seats, a round orchestra, and a stage building. Actors wore large masks showing comedy or tragedy so huge crowds could follow along.
8. What They Left UsSummarise how Greek ideas passed through Rome into today's world.Rome spread Greek gods, theatre, and stories across its empire, so the two are remembered as one shared world. Their legacy survives in planet names, the drama masks symbol, town squares, and Latin-rooted English words.

Questions this course answers

Grounded in trusted sources

• The British Museum — Ancient Greece and Rome collections
• Wikipedia — Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus
• BBC Bitesize — The Romans and Ancient Greece (KS2 History)
• World History Encyclopedia — Roman daily life and religion

Every Wunder lesson is built from real, reputable sources — never invented.

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