C Curriculum Explorer
History·Ancient Greece & Rome·conceptual

Gladiators & Pompeii

Know that Romans watched gladiators fight in huge arenas like the Colosseum in Rome, that gladiators were usually enslaved people or prisoners trained to fight, and that the city of Pompeii was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, preserving an extraordinary snapshot of Roman daily life

Suggested ages 7–9

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Evidence of understanding

  • Describe what gladiators were and where they fought
  • Explain that the Colosseum in Rome was a giant arena for public entertainment
  • Retell what happened to Pompeii and why it is important for understanding Roman life

Assessment prompt

Could Gladiators & Pompeii tell you what gladiators were, describe the Colosseum, and explain what happened to the city of Pompeii?

Standards alignment

No external standards are linked to this topic.