From Republic to Empire: Augustus

Active learning builds empathy and historical perspective by letting students embody roles and examine evidence directly. For this topic, moving beyond lectures to experiences like role play or collaborative investigation helps Year 4 students grasp complex social hierarchies and fairness issues in ancient Rome.

• Year 4
• History
• 3 activities
• 30 min–45 min

Role Play

⏱ 45 min·Whole Class

Role Play: The Senate Debate

Assign students roles as senators and key figures during Augustus's rise. Have them debate the merits of a single ruler versus the Senate, culminating in a vote on Augustus's proposed powers.

Prepare & details

Differentiate between a Republic and an Empire in terms of leadership.

Facilitation Tip: During the Role Play: A Day in the Forum activity, assign clear roles with props so students physically experience the boundaries between Patricians, Plebeians, and enslaved people.

Setup: Open space or rearranged desks for scenario staging

Materials: Character cards with backstory and goals, Scenario briefing sheet

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Jigsaw

⏱ 40 min·Small Groups

Timeline Creation: Augustus's Reign

In small groups, students research and create a visual timeline of Augustus's major achievements and reforms, such as building projects, military victories, and administrative changes.

Prepare & details

Explain how Augustus consolidated power after Caesar's death.

Facilitation Tip: During the Think-Pair-Share: Rights and Responsibilities activity, provide sentence stems to scaffold academic language about fairness and status.

Setup: Flexible seating for regrouping

Materials: Expert group reading packets, Note-taking template, Summary graphic organizer

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

Jigsaw

⏱ 30 min·Pairs

Compare and Contrast: Republic vs. Empire

Students work in pairs to create a Venn diagram or chart comparing the key features of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, focusing on leadership, decision-making, and citizen rights.

Prepare & details

Assess the methods Augustus used to bring peace and stability to Rome.

Facilitation Tip: During the Collaborative Investigation: The Roman House activity, assign small groups specific areas of the domus to research so each student contributes to the class model.

Setup: Flexible seating for regrouping

Materials: Expert group reading packets, Note-taking template, Summary graphic organizer

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

Teaching This Topic

Teach this topic by balancing narrative with inquiry. Use primary sources like coins or slave sale notices to make abstract social structures tangible. Avoid oversimplifying by separating wealth from status, and give students time to process the moral complexity of slavery without rushing to judgment. Research shows that concrete activities like role play help young learners retain hierarchical concepts better than abstract explanations alone.

What to Expect

Students will demonstrate understanding by comparing social classes, questioning power structures, and explaining how Augustus transformed Rome. Look for thoughtful discussions, accurate use of vocabulary, and respectful debate about historical fairness.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

During Role Play: A Day in the Forum, watch for students assuming all enslaved people looked alike or came from one place.

What to Teach Instead

During the same activity, display diverse primary source images of enslaved people from different regions on the classroom walls so students notice varied clothing, tools, or languages that reflect diverse origins.

Common Misconception

During Think-Pair-Share: Rights and Responsibilities, watch for students equating wealth with status.

What to Teach Instead

During the Think-Pair-Share, provide a list of wealthy Plebeians from history (e.g., merchants or freedmen) and ask students to compare their rights and social recognition to Patricians in a shared table.

Assessment Ideas

Exit Ticket

After Role Play: A Day in the Forum, have students complete two-column notes comparing two social classes they portrayed, then write one sentence explaining how status affected daily life.

Quick Check

During Collaborative Investigation: The Roman House, circulate and ask groups to point out one feature of their area that reveals class status, then explain why it mattered in one sentence to assess understanding.

Discussion Prompt

After Think-Pair-Share: Rights and Responsibilities, facilitate a class discussion where students must cite evidence from their paired arguments about Augustus’s reforms to support whether he was a hero or dictator.

Extensions & Scaffolding

• Challenge: Ask students to design a social media post from Augustus’s perspective defending his actions as necessary for stability.
• Scaffolding: Provide a word bank with terms like Patrician, Plebeian, enslaved, and reform for the exit ticket.
• Deeper exploration: Have students research modern parallels to ancient slavery or class systems and present findings in a short paragraph.