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6th grade · Social Studies · Unit 6 of 15

Greece & Rome

Democracy, republic and law

What your child practices

Athens and Sparta, direct and representative democracy, the Roman Republic and Empire, and the Greek and Roman ideas found in US government.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 6.5a; 6.5b; 6.5c · Athens and Sparta, the Roman Republic and Empire, and their governments and golden ages

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Athens is the birthplace of democracy. Homer's Iliad and Odyssey are Greek epic poems.
  2. A republic is a government where citizens elect representatives, as in Rome.
  3. The Mediterranean was Rome's route for trade and armies. Enslaved people did much of the work with few rights. Roman concrete built the Colosseum.

Example: What is a republic? Romans did not want a king. Citizens chose leaders to govern for them. Answer: a government where citizens elect representatives

Greece & Rome in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 6 of 15 in 6th grade Social Studies, after World Beliefs and before Rome's Fall & Byzantium.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Christianity spread across the Roman Empire and became its official religion under…

    • Emperor Theodosius, by 380 CE
    • Hammurabi
    • Pericles
    • Alexander the Great

  2. Question 2

    Why did Greece develop many separate city-states instead of one kingdom?

    • Rome ordered it
    • Mountains and seas divided the land
    • They spoke many languages
    • The rivers joined them

  3. Question 3

    How did Athenian democracy differ from US democracy?

    • They are exactly the same
    • Americans can't vote
    • Athenian citizens voted directly on laws; Americans mostly elect representatives
    • Athens had a president

  4. Question 4

    The Parthenon in Athens was a temple to…

    • Jupiter
    • Zeus's brother Hades
    • Ra
    • Athena

  5. Question 5

    The Code of Justinian, from the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire, was…

    • A Chinese poem
    • A Greek play
    • A collection of Roman laws that shaped later legal systems
    • A map of Rome

  6. Question 6

    Which idea in the US Constitution comes partly from ancient Rome?

    • A caste system
    • A Mandate of Heaven
    • A pharaoh
    • A republic with elected representatives and a senate

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