📚 History5e4e3e⏱ 45 min

Educational Activity: Dialogue with Julius Caesar in Class

A session to understand the crisis of the Roman Republic from the inside

⚔️

Roman Republic · 49 BC

Julius Caesar

Format: Work in pairs or small groups on Parlova

Group size: Whole class — 15 to 30 students

Curriculum: History Curriculum 5e — Rome and the Ancient Mediterranean

Learning objectives

📖Knowledge

The crisis of the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC
The major stages of Julius Caesar's career
The institutions of Rome: Senate, tribunes, generals
The conquest of Gaul and its political consequences

🛠️Skills

Analyze a political speech by placing it in its context
Distinguish what a historical actor knows from what they do not know
Formulate precise and reasoned questions in writing
Compare Roman institutions to contemporary democracies

🧠Critical thinking

Identify the biases and blind spots of a witness from the era
Spot political propaganda in Caesar's speech
Question the legitimacy of military power versus civil law
Evaluate the reliability of a testimony situated in history

Recommended level (French system)

Middle School

Curriculum reference: History Curriculum 5e — Rome and the Ancient Mediterranean

Lesson plan

Total time: 45 minutes

📖10 min

Phase 1 —Introduction

Present Julius Caesar: who is he in 49 BC? Reminder of the context (end of the Gallic Wars, imminent crossing of the Rubicon). Distribute the character sheet. Remind the golden rule: Caesar does not know what happens next.

💬20 min

Phase 2 —Conversation with Caesar

Students ask their questions to Caesar on Parlova, in pairs or small groups. Each group chooses 2 to 3 questions from the proposed list — or formulates new ones. The teacher circulates to guide the formulation of questions.

🔍10 min

Phase 3 —Collective Synthesis

Sharing Caesar's answers. What does he say? What does he omit? What does he not know? Compare his answers to already known historical facts. Highlight Caesar's justifications and contradictions.

⚖️5 min

Phase 4 —Debate and Critical Perspective

Is Caesar lying? Is he lying to himself? Can one be objective about their own era? Open discussion on the notion of historical perspective and political legitimacy.

Skills practised

Argumentation

Construct a precise historical question and justify its intellectual interest.

Historical Analysis

Place Caesar's answers in their context and compare them to the facts.

Critical Thinking

Identify the limits and biases of a testimony from an actor of the time.

Contextualization

Understand that a historical figure does not know what the future holds.

🔧 Adapt this activity to your class

From your teacher area, duplicate this activity to adapt it: add your own teaching documents (PDF, textbook extract…) — Julius Caesar will rely on them and quote the exact passage to the student — and choose a reliability level for the AI: Restricted, Semi-restricted or Open. A blank student worksheet, without the answers, can still be printed separately for the lesson.

Create my custom version →

🖨️ Printable version

Print this sheet or save it as a PDF from your browser (File → Print → Save as PDF).