How did the Romans feel about 'foreigners'?

This lesson uses a range of primary and secondary sources to examine how Romans really felt about foreigners.

The lesson starts with a look at definitions of ‘foreigner’ to us today vs what ‘foreign’ meant to the Romans and discussion can ensue about potential reasons behind this difference.

Students are then provided with a worksheet (as a slide in the .ppt file ready to be printed out) where students examine evidence from the following sources:

Juvenal
Livy
Watts (secondary)
Cicero
Tacitus
Athenaeus
Ulpian
Beard (secondary)

Students have to infer from passages of the authors’ own writing (all included) what the Romans believed about foreigners living in their city, but also examine Romans’ own identity as ‘foreigners’ themselves from the beginning of the city’s foundation.

The progress check invites students to define Roman attitudes to ‘the other’ halfway through the lesson, but then revisit this answer at the end to see if their views have changed (they should be more nuanced by the end of the lesson).

There are a series of questions at the end of the lesson designed to allow students to exhibit their understanding. HA students are challenged by being asked to consider how Romans perceived foreign rulers, using Cleopatra as an example.

An SMSC plenary centring around whether the Romans are that much different than modern society (in terms of distrust of foreigners) using Brexit and Immigration controls as a parallel, rounds off the lesson.