Rome: A Virtual Tour of the Ancient City

Syllabus

• Week 1

  Location and infrastructure

  • Welcome to Rome: A virtual tour of the ancient city

    Welcome! Meet Professor Matthew Nicholls, your lead educator, and learn about the topics you'll be covering over the next five weeks as you explore the old with the new in a 3D virtual tour of ancient Rome.

  • Part I: Building the ancient city

    Why was Rome’s location crucial in helping her become a dominant superpower from such humble beginnings? Explore a brief history of ancient Rome.

  • Encountering the evidence

    Each week you'll investigate the different sources of evidence Matthew used to try and get a full sense of the city to help build the digital model. Find out why a picture on a Roman coin can be worth more than a thousand words.

  • Part II: Walls, roads and building materials

    Rome's roads and walls functioned as the veins and arteries of her growing empire. What materials did the Romans use to build these structures, and allow remnants to remain standing today?

  • Part III: Aqueducts and sewers

    Aqueducts and sewers were an amazing feat of Roman engineering. They towered over and stretched across the city, supplying water to a million people. Explore for yourself by taking your very first steps into the digital model.

  • Review and reflect

    This week you looked at the importance of Rome’s location and the origins of her impressive infrastructure. Next week you'll explore political architecture within the ancient city and how it was used as a symbol of power.

• Week 2

  Political architecture

  • Welcome to Week 2

    Welcome to Week 2. This week you'll head to the core of the Eternal City to look at the political and commercial life of the expanding empire. Let's start with a brief timeline of the kings and emperors, between 753 BC to 337 AD.

  • Part IV: The Forum

    The Forum started as an unpromising, malarial, swampy piece of land. So how did it become the centre of the Roman world? Take a virtual tour of the Forum, and see how the neighbouring imperial fora extended its space.

  • Part V: Monuments and the imperial fora

    Rome is littered with monuments including arches, obelisks and columns. But with little or no practical function, what was their purpose?

  • Texts in the city

    What can poetry tell us about ancient Rome? Watch Professor Matthew Nicholls and Dr Luke Houghton, an expert in Latin poetry, discuss the clues that have been left behind by ancient Roman poets.

  • Review and reflect

    This week you explored the heart of the Roman empire, and the monuments that celebrated the power and wealth of the emperors. Next week you'll adopt a more divine perspective and find out why Rome was known as the city of gods.

• Week 3

  Religious architecture

  • Part VI: Roman religion and republican temples

    Rome was a city of gods. Religion permeated every aspect of public and private life, from small shrines to grand temples. But who were these dedicated to? Join Matthew to find out more in this tour around the Capitoline Temple.

  • Encountering the evidence: music and coins

    Rome’s hills were alive with the sound of music. These songs and tunes entertained but also played a central role in their worship of the gods. Listen to some audio samples and then test your knowledge about Roman gods.

  • Part VII: imperial temples

    Many Roman temples were traditional and conservative in their architectural style. What was so different about the Pantheon? Take a guided tour of this stunning monument to find out more.

  • Worshipping the gods

    The Romans were deeply superstitious and looked for signs from heaven. But what lengths did they go to to placate their gods? And why did religion play such a fundamental role in everyday life?

  • Review and reflect

    This week you looked at religious architecture in ancient Rome and took a guided tour with Matthew around some of the major sites of worship. Next week you'll investigate the buildings that enabled daily life in the city.

• Week 4

  Life and death in ancient rome

  • Part VIII: Life

    Welcome to Week 4! There was a huge disparity between the emperors in their marble halls and the occupants of cheap, top-floor apartments. This week you'll look at life and death in the ancient city for ordinary people.

  • Encountering the evidence: the baker's tomb and Roman food

    In this activity you'll see what the tomb of a prosperous Roman baker can tell us about food supply in the ancient city. And why not try your hand at some historical recipes for a little taste of Roman life?

  • Part IX: Death

    Being remembered by the living was fundamentally important to the dead, and tombs were very significant for both the rich and the poor of ancient Rome. Reading Roman funerary inscriptions will let you discover more.

  • Review and reflect

    You looked at how the city supported its million or so inhabitants to ensure a steady flow of grain, and how the dead could speak to the living. Next week you'll move to the spectacle of the games: 'Bread and Circuses'.

• Week 5

  Bread and circuses

  • Part X: Bread and Circuses

    Welcome to the final Week! With a growing city, teeming with people working and resting, what did the Romans do for play? Let's dive straight into the action and explore the architecture that housed the entertainments.

  • Part XI: Theatres

    Stage entertainment has a long history in Rome. Find out how the Theatre of Pompey set the scene for Roman theatre architecture and pulled out all the stops. And why not take to the stage for yourself in the Theatre of Marcellus?

  • Part XII: Baths

    Bathing was a daily ritual enjoyed by many Romans, from simple balneae to lavish imperial thermae. Take a tour with Matthew to see how the emperors competed to win the affection of the populace with their grand bathhouse designs.

  • Part XIII: Colosseum

    The Colosseum may be the grandest entertainment arena ever to be built. But there’s a dark side behind the grandeur of one of Rome's most iconic landmarks which isn’t for the faint-hearted - feeding the Romans' lust for blood.

  • Encountering the evidence: the Colosseum and entertainment venues at Rome

    The Colosseum was a magnificent venue devoted to the people's pleasure. It left a lasting imprint on the city's landscape, literary texts, and coins. Encounter the evidence one final time with Matthew and Luke to find out more.

  • Review and reflect

    Thank you for joining us on Rome: A virtual tour of the ancient city. Now you’ve reached the end of the course let’s reflect together and think about the next steps you may like to take.

Who will you learn with?