Transcript Black people in Roman Britain

Lesson resources:
2x worksheet
8x clue cards
Students guess fill in the identity worksheet from clue cards in small
groups, and then complete the main worksheet individually.
Print slides 2 and 3 (worksheets) as whole page slides
Print slides 4-12 as handouts (6 to 1 sheet A4) and cut up to make
cards
WORKSHEET1 (PRINT AS
SLIDE)
Finding the facts
• Name _________________________________
• Appearance____________________________
• Place of birth (City and
continent)___________________________
• What century was he alive?________________
• Age at time of death______________________
• Job______________________________
• What was his main
achievement?___________________________
______________________________________
WORKSHEET2 (Print as slide)
Septimius Severus: A Black Roman Emperor
Heads and tails: complete these sentences by copying them into your book.
HEADS
TAILS
Septimius Severus was from
He became emperor in
One of his greatest achievements was
He was not the only powerful African
the year AD193
soldier in the Roman army
the rebuilding of Hadrian’s wall
Lepsis Magna, in North Africa.
Complete the following questions in your book
1.
2.
3.
4.
What evidence do we have to say that Septimius was a good Emperor? (Which sources on the cards)
Make a list of the kind of ways that historians could find out about the other black soldiers in northern Britain.
(Try to think of at least 5 ways)
Why do you think there were so many black soldiers in the Roman army?
Imagine you have the job of interviewing Septimius. Think of 5 questions you would like to ask him.
Extension activity:
Had you heard of Septimius Severus before today’s lesson? If so,
what did you know? If not, why do you think it is that most of us
know so little about powerful black figures in history?
• There were three
Roman legions in
Britain for most of the
period, each consisting
of 6,000 men. The
legions were made up
of different ethnic
groups from Spain,
Africa, Italy and
Germany
Slides 4-12= clue cards.
Print as handouts, 6 per
page, and cut up
I was
born
here
My statue. Look at
my clothes, what
do they tell you
about my status?
Cassius Dio, a Roman writer
described me as:
'a man of such
energy...wise and
successful...that he left
no battle except as
victor'.
•The Roman Empire
stretched from England
to Africa, and we
recruited men from all
the countries we
conquered.
My tomb at
York
• My army fought hard
and I was proud to
lead them. Hadrian’s
wall – the wall
protecting England
from the Scots had
been destroyed by
the Scots and I set
out to put that right.
A souvenir I kept from a
special day in AD 193:
Citizens of Rome,
Emperor Pertinax is dead!
Hail Septimius Severus,
your new Emperor!
….So in AD 197 I ordered it to be
rebuilt! That is what people will
remember me for!