A day in the life of a 10-year-old in Roman Britain

Did you know that Britain was once Roman? Watch Eric in this video as he imagines what life was like in Roman times.

Instructions

Do the preparation task first. Then watch the video and do the exercises. Remember you can read the transcript at any time.

Transcript

Dad      To think a Roman villa stood here, eighteen hundred years ago. Just imagine …

Eric      This is where I live. It's a big, posh Roman villa, because my dad's got a big, posh Roman job. He's a tax collector, and it must be a really popular job, because people are always waving at him.

And this is my pet, Quackus Maximus. All my friends have pets. Some have dogs, cats, geese and even monkeys. But everyone knows a duck's a man's best friend. Salad for breakfast, Quackus?

This villa's brand new. It's got all the latest gear. We've got baths, hot water, glass, central heating and mosaics. We've also got a school room where I study with my own personal tutor, unfortunately. I don't really like being the only one in the class.

Tutor    Homework?

Eric      Sorry, sir. The duck ate it!

I've got to be on my best behaviour today because dad's big boss is coming to dinner. Him! Virius Lupus. He's the governor. Just look at all this amazing food we're having in his honour: dormice stuffed with pine kernels, boiled pigs' udders, snails fattened on milk, peacocks' brains and flamingos' tongues … roast hare with birds' wings stuck on, so it looks like a flying horse … Lucky we also have a flushing toilet. Excuse me …

Dad says I've got to wear my toga for dinner tonight. This could take a while!

Dad      Eric! The governor's arriving!

Eric      Veni, vidi, vici … ready!

Dad      Come on in. Thank you …

Eric      Oh no!

Dad      Eric? Where is that son of mine?

Eric      Oof … good job the Romans had central heating!

© BBC

Discussion

Would you like to travel back in time? What time period would you go to?

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Comments

Submitted by cookiepg on Wed, 08/26/2020 - 08:03

I like it
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Submitted by CherryBlossomEnglish on Wed, 02/28/2018 - 16:02

Of course I would like! I would go to prahistoric period. I would like to see how people discovered fire.
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