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Aztec Myths and Stories for Kids - Aztecs for Kids

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The Aztecs believed in many gods, goddesses and magical beings. The Aztec gods were hungry gods. The Aztecs had to feed their gods all the time to keep their gods happy. If their gods were not happy, the Aztecs believed the world would end. They fed their gods sacrifices of grain, goods, animals, and even people.

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Ancient Chinese Stories, Fables, and Legends for Kids

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Our Free Lesson Plans and Classroom Activities

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The ancient Egyptians gods were very different from the gods in other ancient civilizations. For one thing, most their gods had animal heads or blue skin or something that set them apart from people. There were over 2,000 gods in ancient Egypt. That left lots of room for lots of stories and myths and tall tales about their many gods. Here are just a few of them:
Ancient Egypt Creation Stories - Nun, Nut, Atum, Ra, Osiris, Isis The Legend of Isis and Osiris
The Myth of Isis (animated, video)

Death of Osiris (animated, video) or The Myth of the Death of Osiris (Ted Ed)

What did the ancient Egyptians believe in? and cartoon
Can you name these Egyptian gods? (interactive game) Ancient Egyptian Tall Tales - Curse of the Gods
The Egyptian Creation Myth (animated, youtube)
Mehetra, Young Priestess, the TimeKeeper Meet the Many Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt
See Also: Ancient Egyptian Stories for Kids (some interactive, some animated)
Interactive GAMES about Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt for Kids

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Ancient Egypt for Kids - Myths and Legends - Ancient Egypt for Kids

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The ancient Egyptians gods were very different from the gods in other ancient civilizations. For one thing, most their gods had animal heads or blue skin or something that set them apart from people. There were over 2,000 gods in ancient Egypt.

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33 Myths about the Ancient Greek Gods for Kids - Ancient Greece for Kids

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The ancient Greeks believed their gods often got involved in the lives of mortals, sometimes to help, sometimes to hinder, and sometimes quite accidentally, causing all kinds of trouble. According to the storytellers, the ancient Greek gods were not always the most thoughtful of magical beings. Although the storytellers were quite inventive, and each told a myth in their own way, each god’s personality and powers remained the same from story to story. That’s because the ancient Greeks knew their gods well.

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Myths and legends from Ancient Mesopotamia

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Myths and legends from Ancient Mesopotamia

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Ancient Mesopotamia Stories and Myths - Mesopotamia for Kids

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Ancient Greece | Educational Videos for Kids

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Ancient Greece | Educational Videos for Kids

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Ancient Greece | Educational Videos for Kids

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MESOPOTAMIA | Educational Videos for Kids

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MESOPOTAMIA | Educational Videos for Kids

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MESOPOTAMIA | Educational Videos for Kids

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ROMAN EMPIRE | Educational Video for Kids.

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ROMAN EMPIRE | Educational Video for Kids.

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ROMAN EMPIRE | Educational Video for Kids.

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The Ancient Egypt - 5 things you should know - History for kids

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At the bottom of the page there is a play button where you can listen to someone read you the page!

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Kids learn about the ancient civilizations of the Americas including the Aztecs, Maya, and Inca Empires.

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At the bottom of the page there is a play button so you can listen to someone read the whole page!

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Kids learn about the history of Ancient China. Educational articles for teachers, students, and schools including the culture, art, religions, clothing, geography, empire, government, daily life, people, and dynasties of Ancient China.

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Kids learn about the civilization and history of ancient Greece including the government, philosophy, science, Athens, Sparta, daily life, people, art, architecture, theater, and mythology. Educational articles for students, schools, and teachers.

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Back to History for Kids
Ancient Rome was a powerful and important civilization that ruled much of Europe for nearly 1000 years. The culture of Ancient Rome was spread throughout Europe during its rule. As a result, Rome's culture still has an impact in the Western world today. The basis for much of Western culture comes from Ancient Rome, especially in areas such as government, engineering, architecture, language, and literature.

The city of Rome is the capital of Italy today
Map of Italy from the CIA World Factbook

The Roman Republic

Rome first grew into power as a Republic. This meant that Rome's leaders, such as senators, were elected officials that served for a limited amount of time, not kings who were born into leadership and ruled for life. They had a complex government with written laws, a constitution, and a balance of powers. These concepts became very important in forming future democratic governments, like the United States.

The Republic would rule Rome for hundreds of years from around 509 BC to 45 BC.

The Roman Empire

In 45 BC Julius Caesar took over the Roman Republic and made himself the supreme dictator. This was the end of the republic. A few years later, in 27 BC, Caesar Augustus became the first Roman Emperor and this was the start of the Roman Empire. Much of the lower level government stayed the same, but now the Emperor had supreme power.

The Roman Forum was the center of government
Photo by Adrian Pingstone

The Empire Splits

As the Roman Empire grew it became more and more difficult to manage from the city of Rome. Eventually the Roman leaders decided to split Rome into two empires. One was the Western Roman Empire and was ruled out of the city of Rome. The other was the Eastern Roman Empire and was ruled out of Constantinople (today's Istanbul in Turkey). The Eastern Roman Empire would become known as Byzantium or theByzantine Empire.

Fall of Rome

The fall of Rome generally refers to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It fell in 476 AD. The Eastern Roman Empire, or the Byzantine Empire, would rule parts of Eastern Europe for another 1000 years.

Interesting Facts about Ancient Rome

The city of Rome is the capital of Italy today. It sits on the same site as the city of ancient Rome. If you were to visit Rome you could see many of the original ancient buildings such as the Colosseum and the Roman Forum.

The Circus Maximus, a huge stadium built for chariot races, could seat around 150,000 people.

The fall of Western Rome is considered the start of the "Dark Ages" in Europe.

The highest position in the Roman Republic was the consul. There were two consuls at the same time to make sure that one didn't become too powerful.

The native language of the Romans was Latin, but they often spoke Greek as well.

When Julius Caesar took power he named himself dictator for life. However, this didn't last long as he was assassinated a year later.

Recommended books and references:

Nature Company Discoveries library: Ancient Rome by Judith Simpson. 1997.

Exploring the culture, people & ideas of this powerful empire by Avery Hart & Sandra Gallagher ; illustrations by Michael Kline. 2002.

Eyewitness Books: Ancient Rome written by Simon James. 2004.

Activities

Take a ten questionquiz about this page.
Ancient Rome crossword puzzle
Ancient Rome word search

Listen to a recorded reading of this page:

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For more about Ancient Rome:

Works Cited
Back to History for Kids

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Kids learn about the civilization and history of Ancient Rome including the Roman Republic, Empire, art, religion, army, daily life, people, Senate, and the fall of Rome. Educational articles for students, schools, and teachers.

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Kids learn about the history of Ancient Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Educational articles for teachers, students, and schools including religion, art, daily life, people and kings, Sumer, Babylon, Assyria, Persia, city-states, science, and more.

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Kids learn about the civilization of ancient Egypt including the pharaohs, pyramids, art, government, geography, Nile River, mummies, religion, hieroglyphics, and clothing. Educational articles for students, schools, and teachers.

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Legend of Romulus and Rome: How Rome got its name. 

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Legend of Romulus and Rome: How Rome got its name. 

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The ancient Romans loved myths and legends. As Rome grew and became great, the Romans invented a myth to explain why they had the right to rule everyone else. This was the myth they created, the myth of Romulus and Remus.

The myth of
Romulus and Remus

Rhea was a princess and a mortal woman who was married to Mars, the Roman god of war. Rhea and Mars had twin sons and named them Romulus and Remus. Some of the other gods were jealous of Mars and Rhea, and plotted to kill Romulus and Remus. Rhea heard about the plot. Since Mars was away she needed to protect the boys. She put them in a basket and set it floating down the river hoping that they would be found. They were found by a female wolf who decided to raise them as her own cubs. After the boys had grown some the wolf knew she couldn't keep them so she put them where a shepherd would find them. The shepherd and his wife continued to raise Romulus and Remus.

As the boys grew into manhood, they decided to build a city and rule it as its king. They had a contest to see who would be the top king. When it appeared that Remus was going to win the contest, Romulus got so angry that he killed Remus with a rock and became the first king of Rome. This is an important story for Romans since their city was started by the son of a god it had to be more powerful than any other city.

Now look at the names Romulus and Rome. This is supposed to be how Rome got its name.

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The ancient Romans loved myths and legends. As Rome grew and became great, the Romans invented a myth to explain why they had the right to rule everyone else. This was the myth they created, the myth of Romulus and Remus. Rhea was a princess and a mortal woman who was married to Mars, the Roman god of war.