Alabama Social Studies SS24.7.16a
The Standard
- SS24.7.16
- Trace the development of the Roman Empire, including the actions of Julius Caesar and the reigns of Augustus Caesar and the Five Good Emperors.
Explain Rome’s shift from Republic to Empire, including economic, political, and geographic causes.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain how land inequality, generals with loyal armies, and faraway provinces weakened the Republic. They show how civil wars cleared the way for Augustus to rule as Rome's first emperor.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can use a map to explain why distant provinces were hard to govern. They can link small farmers' land losses and generals' armies to unrest and civil war. They place Caesar's civil war before Augustus's rule.
Common Misconceptions
- Some students call Julius Caesar the first emperor instead of Augustus. Others think expansion alone ended the Republic, overlooking land inequality and generals' growing power.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Give students a map of Roman territory around 100 BCE. Ask them to name one economic, one political, and one geographic pressure, then explain how one helped Augustus take power.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a Roman expansion map and cards labeled land inequality, army loyalty, and distant provinces; have them place and explain each card.
Ask partners whether stopping conquest could have saved the Republic, using land loss and army loyalty to support their answers.
Run a timeline relay with cards for small-farm losses, generals' armies, Caesar's civil war, and Augustus's rule; teams order them and defend one link.
Give students a state road map and a Roman province map; compare how travel time could delay decisions in each.
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Printable SS24.7.16a Worksheet
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Related Standards
- SS24.8.1
Analyze the economic, political, and social consequences of the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.
- SS24.7.16c
Summarize the economic, political, and social factors that led to the split and eventual fall of the Western Roman Empire.
- SS24.7.15e
Describe the internal and external factors that led to the eventual collapse of the Roman Republic.
- SS24.7.15
Outline the key geographic, political, economic, and cultural elements of the Roman Republic.
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