Lesson resources:2x worksheet8x 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 slidesPrint slides 4-12 as handouts (6 to 1 sheet A4) and cut up to make

cards

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?

_________________________________________________________________

WORKSHEET1 (PRINT AS SLIDE)

Septimius Severus: A Black Roman Emperor

Heads and tails: complete these sentences by copying them into your book.

HEADS TAILSSeptimius Severus was from the year AD193

He became emperor in soldier in the Roman army

One of his greatest achievements was the rebuilding of Hadrian’s wall

He was not the only powerful African Lepsis Magna, in North Africa.

Complete the following questions in your book

1. What evidence do we have to say that Septimius was a good Emperor? (Which sources on the cards)

2. 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)

3. Why do you think there were so many black soldiers in the Roman army?4. 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?

WORKSHEET2 (Print as slide)

• 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

Lepsis Magna

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

Septimius Severus

Born AD 145

Died AD 211

Cremated here

• 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!