After learning about the innovations of Roman architecture, like using arches to span doorways and concrete of varying densities, students worked in pairs to study photographs of ten different Roman buildings and Roman roads. They looked for and recorded ways the Romans used elements like Greek column styles, added to their own innovations, like the arch or the dome. They looked for ways the invention of concrete helped in building these large structures. Later, they used this information to explain how the Roman’s architecture illustrates their values of practicality, organization and a little showing off. Then, students hypothesized, discussed and wrote about  how these structures  assisted the Romans in conquering such a large empire.