The Ancient Romans The ancient Romans were around as far back as the 8th Century BC. They had a very advanced system of law and government. The Romans built stone roads, houses and they even had a type of central heating. The ancient Romans spoke Latin. They never ruled Ireland, but the Roman name for Ireland was Hibernia. The ancient Romans were pagans. They worshipped gods and goddesses. Rome became a Christian city during Emperor Constantine's reign. The Vatican City is a country that lies within Rome and it's the home of the Pope.
Pompeii Mount Vesuvius is a volcano in Italy. Pompeii was a town near Mount Vesuvius. It often smoked but one morning in 79 AD, Vesuvius started to erupt. The volcano sprayed dust, cinders and ashes all over the town. Many people fled the city and headed towards the sea. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing in the wrong direction so they could not escape by boat. A roaring avalanche of ash, rock and poisonous gas came down the mountain at a speed of 100 kph. Pompeii was buried. The hot ash that buried animals and people moulded itself around them. When the ash hardened and the bodies rotted, the ash formed a mould. Early scientists poured plaster of Paris into these moulds to make exact copies of the dead bodies.
The Renaissance The Middle Ages were known as the Dark Ages in Europe. This was because of a great lack of learning and art. The Renaissance began in the 14th century. It started in Italy. Renaissance means "rebirth". There were several reasons why it began in Italy: Italian is based on Latin, so they could read about the ancient Romans. The Roman Empire was in Italy and they wanted to repeat the great achievements of the Romans. Italy traded with lots of countries and the traders brought back great ideas, such as maths and geometry from other countries. Italians were very rich. They wanted to show off their wealth. They hired artists to paint. Even the Pope hired artists. Effects of the Renaissance on Art Art became more realistic. Fresco paintings, which were designs carved on wet plaster work and then painted,became common. Perspective was used to create depth or distance. "Sfumato", a technique using light and shading, was also used.
"The Girl with the Pearl Earring" painted 1665 By Johannes Vermeer
"The Last Supper" painted 1495–1498 By Leonardo da Vinci