Evidence for Greek and Roman Life
Understand that historians and archaeologists piece together ancient Greek and Roman life from evidence — pottery paintings, coins, inscriptions, ruins like Pompeii, and written texts by authors such as Homer and Pliny — and that the same evidence can be interpreted in different ways by different historians
What a learner can do afterwards
- Name at least three types of evidence historians use to learn about ancient Greece and Rome
- Explain why Pompeii is especially valuable as a source of evidence about Roman life
- Give an example of how the same piece of evidence could be interpreted in more than one way
The lesson
No one alive today saw ancient Greece or Rome. So historians and archaeologists piece the story together from evidence: objects people left behind, and words people wrote down.
In the year 79, the volcano Vesuvius buried the Roman town of Pompeii in hot ash. Buildings, wall paintings, and even loaves of bread were sealed underneath. Because so little of it decayed or got knocked down and rebuilt, Pompeii shows historians Roman daily life in far more detail than almost any other place.
Written texts add another layer. Homer told exciting stories about heroes and gods, written long after they were said to happen, mixing fact with legend. Pliny the Younger, though, wrote a letter describing the Vesuvius eruption as he watched it happen, an eyewitness account historians trust for real detail.
Two historians can look at the very same object and disagree. One might say a ruler's face on a coin was meant to look powerful. Another might say it just helped people recognize the coin. Evidence still needs a historian to think hard about what it means.
Historians rebuild ancient Greek and Roman life from objects like pottery, coins, and ruins and from written texts, and different historians can read the same evidence in different ways.
Watch it
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.