Roman Army
Segedunum Fort and Museum, Wallsend. Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums
Key Stage:
KS2 History National Curriculum: History. The Roman Empire and its impact upon Britain, non-statutory examples include Hadrian's Wall.Overview:
.Suggested Classroom Activity
Show the pupils the film “What Is Segedunum?”. Ask them what they think a roman cavalry soldier’s training might have been like. Check they noticed the minimum height requirement for roman cavalryman.
Household Cavalry Soldier.
Show the class the page from the army website and tell them their task will be to create an equivalent document for the Roman Cavalry. It will be a piece of persuasive writing aimed at encouraging recruitment. They can either use some of the same headings from the webpage; combat, qualifications, training, move up the ranks etc. or create their own framework.
British Army Household Cavalry soldier
Army Tactics
Pupils can find information from the Handbook of Army Tactics sheet which can be downloaded here, as well as from other internet research. Download research.pdf
Images sheet
Students can incorporate the pictures from the images sheet, available to download here, in their final document. Download images.pdf
Development Activity:
1. An important element of the cavalry's duties was to act as messengers. There is evidence to show that the cavalry soldiers worshipped Mercury, the Messenger.
There are more resources on the Roman Lead Shrine page on Culture Street.
2. W.H.Auden's poem Roman Wall Blues gives a witty insight into an ordinary soldier's life on the wall. It is written in rhyming couplets, the same pattern used in rap / hip-hop. Pupils can be tasked with writing additional or alternative couplets with a specifically cavalry soldier perspective.
Link to Auden poem.
Learning Objectives:
Pupils will use a variety of sources to develop a knowledge base about the Roman Cavalry. They will evaluate similarities and differences between the experience of a cavalryman in the Roman Army and in the modern British Army
Research, Notes and Links:
Download this lesson plan