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Year 4 · The Romans in Britain

Why did the Romans come to Britain?

The Roman Empire and its impact on Britain

25 minutes4 checks6 exit questionsNational curriculum objective

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

The Roman Empire and its impact on Britain

Key learning points

  • • Two tries and then success
  • • Britain before Rome
  • • What Rome wanted
  • • What happened next

This lesson at a glance

  • 25 minutes
  • 20 parts to scroll through
  • 4 quick checks
  • No marked quiz yet
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

empireimpactbritainsuccessbefore

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 20 · Discover5%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 20

Watch first

Why did the Romans come to Britain?

Find out how a small city by a river grew into a mighty empire.

In a nutshell

The Roman Empire and its impact on Britain

2

What you already know

Part 2 of 20

Before we start

What you already know

You know that history is the study of the past, and that Britain has been lived in for thousands of years.

3

Key words

Part 3 of 20

Key words

Words you'll need today

empire
A group of lands ruled by one country.
invade
To enter a land with an army and try to take control.
conquer
To beat a people and take charge of their land.
AD
Years counted forwards from about two thousand years ago.
4

Learning cycle

Part 4 of 20

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 — Rome looks at Britain

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

5

Explore the idea

Part 5 of 20

Learn

Two tries and then success

Julius Caesar brought ships to Britain in 55 BC and again in 54 BC. Both times he fought, took hostages and sailed home. Britain was not conquered then. The real invasion came in AD 43, under the emperor Claudius, with a much bigger army that stayed and built.

6

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 20

Learn

Britain before Rome

Britain was not empty or simple. People lived in tribes with kings and queens, farmed the land, made beautiful metalwork and traded across the sea. They did not write things down, so most of what we know comes from objects dug out of the ground.

7

Quick check

Part 7 of 20

Quick check

When did the Roman conquest of Britain really begin?

8

Quick check

Part 8 of 20

Quick check

Why is Britain before Rome hard to study?

9

Reset break

Part 9 of 20

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
10

Learning cycle

Part 10 of 20

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 — What Rome wanted

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

11

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 20

Learn

What Rome wanted

Britain had tin, lead, iron, corn, hunting dogs and people who could be enslaved. Rome also wanted glory: an emperor who won new land looked strong at home. And Britain was a place where Rome's enemies in Gaul could find friends, so taking it made Rome safer.

12

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 20

Learn

What happened next

It took years, not days. Some tribes made deals with Rome; others fought hard, like Boudica of the Iceni in AD 60 or 61, who burned Roman towns before being defeated. Slowly Rome built roads, towns and forts, and Britain became a Roman province called Britannia.

13

Quick check

Part 13 of 20

Quick check

Which of these did Rome want from Britain?

14

Quick check

Part 14 of 20

Quick check

Who led a rising against Roman rule in AD 60?

15

Investigate evidence

Part 15 of 20

Evidence 1 of 1

object

Hadrian's Wall

The Roman army in Britain, Begun AD 122

A stone wall, ditches, gates and forts running about 73 miles across northern Britain, much of it still standing today.

The wall marked and guarded the north-west edge of the Roman Empire. It shows how much work Rome would spend to control and watch a border.

Think like a historian

A wall this big took years and thousands of workers. What does that tell you about how much Rome wanted Britain?

Source: English Heritage, Hadrian's Wall visitor and learning pages

View the archive record ↗
16

Common mix-ups

Part 16 of 20

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

  • Thinking Caesar conquered Britain in 55 BC. He raided and left; Claudius invaded in AD 43.
  • Thinking Britain had no towns, kings or trade before Rome.
  • Thinking everyone fought Rome. Some British rulers chose to become Rome's allies.
17

Challenge round

Part 17 of 20

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

18

Challenge round

Part 18 of 20

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

Julius Caesar brought ships to ____ in 55 BC and again in 54 BC.

Some tribes made deals with Rome; others fought hard, like Boudica of the Iceni in AD 60 or 61, who burned Roman towns ____ being defeated.

19

Mastery quiz

Part 19 of 20

No quiz for this one

This lesson has no marked quiz attached yet.

20

Lesson round-up

Part 20 of 20

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Source

A factory inspector's notebook, 1842

"I visited the mill at seven in the morning. The machines were already running. I counted fourteen children at the frames, the youngest no more than nine years of age. The overseer told me they work from six until seven, with forty minutes for dinner."

"The air is thick with cotton dust and the windows are kept shut so the thread does not break. Two of the children showed me hands cut by the shuttles. The owner assured me that the work is light and that the families beg him for the places, since without the children's wages the rent cannot be paid."

"I have written to the magistrates. I doubt much will follow from it."

Original source-style text written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Who wrote this, when, and why might that make it useful to a historian?
  2. What does the source tell you about children's work — and what does it not tell you?
  3. How far does this source show that mill owners were to blame? Answer with a judgement and evidence.

Source for this lesson

Use this for the source work task below.

Hadrian's Wall

object

The Roman army in Britain, Begun AD 122

A stone wall, ditches, gates and forts running about 73 miles across northern Britain, much of it still standing today.

The wall marked and guarded the north-west edge of the Roman Empire. It shows how much work Rome would spend to control and watch a border.

Source: English Heritage, Hadrian's Wall visitor and learning pages

View the original record ↗

  • Source work

    Reading

    Read the source closely. Write who made it, when, and what it tells you — then what it does not tell you.

    2 paragraphs

  • Essay answer

    Writing

    Answer the enquiry question with a clear judgement. Use two pieces of evidence and finish with a sentence that weighs them up.

    300–400 words

  • Timeline

    Diagram

    Draw a timeline of the events in this lesson with dates, then photograph it.

    6–8 events

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 20 · Watch & discover

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