Chapter 8 Activities

The Romans began minting coins for hundreds of years before Christ. Most of the ancient coins that are around today were made from 200 AD to 400 AD.

The Romans usually designed the coin with a head profile on one side and goddesses, ships, lions, temples, soldiers, chariots, battle scenes, etc. on the reverse. The coins were made of silver, copper, or gold. The gold coins were worth more than the silver or copper. Coins were the size of a dime to the size of a half dollar, but thicker.

We enjoyed designing coins. First we cut circles from poster board. We cut out shapes from card board and glued them onto the poster board circles. We covered the circle with aluminum foil. On the raised areas, which were formed from the card board, we added glitter. The coins we made don't look like real, but we learned about design.

The Romans used the arch shape in most of their public buildings. Triumphant arches were built to honor the great achievements of emperors and generals in Rome. Some of the arches included:

Arch of Titus
Arches of Constantine
Arch of Septimus Severus
Arch of Trajan

The arches varied in appearance. Some were single while others have triple arches. They were usually decorated with pictures or scenes. Columns were often part of the arch.

We built the arch above from a cereal box. The arch shape was cut out of the box and the opening was taped closed with masking tape. The arch was then painted with acrylic paint. We printed a picture of a relief and pasted it above the arch. Columns were formed with dowels. The tops and bottoms of the columns were formed with clay.