The Contributions of Rome to Our Western World - Essay Example

?Ancient Rome is seen by many to be the highpoint of the ancient world. Would you agree? What were the contributions of Rome to our Western world in politics, society and religion? The wonders of ancient Rome are many. It is easy to understand why historians feel that this society was the highpoint of the ancient world. This opinion is supported by the fact that so much of ancient Rome is still alive today in the cultures of the West. One way that the ancient Romans have affected the world is through the invention of the republican form of government. Their conversion of Greek direct democracy into a system of government that allowed the masses to participate while incorporating checks and balances to protect against corruption is a marvel. Many of the liberal representative democracies in Europe and North America are based in some way on the Roman Republic. Consuls, tribunes and the senate have modern counterparts in the House of Representatives, Senate and President in the United States. This form of government has spread all over the world thanks to the focus on individual and human rights that must be protected in order for this sort of democracy to work. Another way the Romans influenced our current world is through their focus on the rule of law. Roman laws were codified in The Twelve Tables. This became a foundation for all of Roman law that was to be enacted throughout the empire. The Roman emphasis on the rule of law ensured that justice could be guaranteed for all Roman citizens throughout the Roman Empire. This security encouraged trade and travel all over the Empire. Establishing the rule of law helps many Western nations today ensure that all citizens are treated fairly regardless of race or religious affiliation. A final influence that can be seen in America specifically is the connection between religion and politics. It is campaign season in America, and even though the Constitution of the United States declares freedom of religion, the religious and moral beliefs of the candidates is of great importance. It is reported in the news almost daily. Roman politicians were among the first to manipulate the religious beliefs of the population in an effort to win votes. The modern politics of religion have their origins with the orators and politicians of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. In class we talked about the ‘cradles of civilization’ we discussed four major ones, what are the similarities of these areas and are they the only ones? Along with the cradles of civilization what are the general characteristics of ‘complex societies or civilizations’? Physical geography is the major unifying feature of the ‘cradles of civilization’. Civilization started in geographic locations where a food surplus was easy to obtain. All of civilization is founded on the ability to raise more food than each individual farmer needs. This excess food leads to specialization of labor and provides the means for the beginnings of trade. All early civilizations started in places where some outstanding physical feature allowed for the creation of surplus food. In the case of the earliest civilizations, the physical feature was a river valley. The Sumerians in Mesopotamia were supported by the Tigris and Euphrates, the Harappans had the Indus, the Egyptians had the Nile and the Chinese had the Huang He. Rivers provided a source of food through fishing and irrigation for crops. As civilization developed, they also provided a means of transportation. Physical geography also affected later civilizations such as the Greeks and the Romans. Access to fertile, grain producing regions in Sicily and Crimea caused much of the imperial expansion and diplomatic intrigue for both of these civilizations. As each of these river valley civilizations grew, they developed certain characteristics that all complex civilizations seem to share. The first of these is a means of social stratification that is possibly justified or explained through religious beliefs and teachings. This is seen in Egypt through the embodiment of Re in the form of the pharaoh. The belief that pharaoh was a god on earth and that the greatest pleasures were to be had in the afterlife was central to the organization of Egyptian society. It explained why a select few were wealthy while everyone else was poor. Another characteristic of complex societies is a government that produces and enforces a code of laws or a code of conduct. Hammurabi’s Code and the Twelve Tables are both examples of early written laws that saw government exert control over individuals. As society became more complex through trade, conquest and technological advancement, governments needed to grow and keep pace with changing conditions. A final aspect all of these early civilizations had was a written language. Writing is the hallmark of a complex society. Without writing, documentation concerning trade, governance and historical events cannot be produced. While writing methods and styles varied greatly, all complex civilizations had writing as a source of record keeping. Compare and Contrast both Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome was one society better than the other? Did the Romans pick up where the Greeks left off or create a society all their own outside of Greek culture? Ancient Greece and Rome had many things in common. They were both civilizations that placed a high value on the worth of ideas and the arts, though they used these ideas in very different ways. Greek and Roman art and architecture continues to inspire the world to this day. The classical Doric columns of the Parthenon and the majesty of the Coliseum are instantly recognizable by millions of people all over the world. The ideals of beauty, symmetry, balance and proportion that were developed by the Greeks were done so that the world might look upon a particular city-state and recognize that this place was indeed superior to any other. The Greek city-states were in constant competition with one another, so the architecture and art that developed served the dual purpose of outdoing one’s neighbor and hopefully pleasing the gods and goddesses of the city. The Romans used art and architecture to inspire the confidence of the citizens within the Republic or Empire. The government used art and architecture as propaganda. This was done so that they could keep the population in line and motivated to push forward with imperial progress or to uphold the ideals of the Republic. The differences in how art and architecture were used reveal larger differences between the Greek and Roman cultures. The Greeks truly laid the foundation for much of the civilization of the West, so it is understandable that the Romans would be eager to emulate the Greeks by adopting their gods and goddesses. They also tried desperately to link their origins back to ancient Troy through political mythology such as the Ennead. Though the Romans copied and admired the Greeks, they were not a continuation of Greek civilization. The Roman culture of militarism was nothing like the Greek approach to war and conquest. The Romans created a unique culture that pledged loyalty to a united and expanding empire, rather than a local city-state. Romans strove for uniformity, law and conquest. Greeks embraced philosophy, art and education. While Greece offered monumental ideas to the world, the Romans focused on conquering the world. The ancient Greek and Roman worlds have been and are seen as the true birthplace of our modern Western Civilization. Please describe and discuss the contributions of both of these ancient societies to our modern world. The ancient Greeks offered many ideas and inventions that still affect our lives in the modern world. This is especially true in the areas of academics. The Greeks offered the world the beginnings of rational thought that went beyond superstition and tradition. Aristotle and Herodotus were among the first people to take scientific approaches to the natural world and the recording of history. The list of Greek mathematicians is substantial as well. Euclid and Pythagoras were brilliant mathematicians that not only devised ingenious theorems, but also inspired cultural movements and revolutions. Archimedes and other inventors sought to use the promotion of technology to better society and gain the upper hand in warfare. The Greeks also gave us cultural phenomena such as theater and competitions such as the Olympics. Many of the plays written by Greek playwrights still contain themes and elements that resonate with modern readers. Lysistrata and Antigone are still performed throughout the Western world and read in many schools as studies in the literary themes of justice, retribution and revenge. The Greeks enjoyed competition and have given the world one of the greatest global completions we have today, the Olympics. The original format of homage to Zeus has not been retained, but the competition surely has. The Olympics is seen as a unifying event for the world. This was true in Greek times as well. Wars were suspended and disagreements resolved so that the athletes of each city-state could compete without the cloud of political intrigue or animosity. The Romans have given us much in the way of political culture. The Romans transformed the direct democracy of the Greeks into a representative democracy and formed a republic. The Founding Fathers of the United States copied the Roman Republic as they sought for a form of government that would allow individual rights and democratically elected representatives. The Romans were very good at constructing governmental institutions that encouraged patriotism and obedience to laws. Many parallels are made between modern sporting events and events such as the gladiator battles held in the Coliseum. The imperial mindset of the ancient Romans has many parallels in Western nations. Discuss the Bible as history in particular the Old Testament and its sources from a historical standpoint. What are the events that we can back with historical evidence, from the Old Testament through the time of Christ? The Bible is a collection of documents detailing the dealings of the ancient Hebrews with their god. It is also a collection of historical writing that detail the movements and conquests of this ancient group of people. The Bible is divided into the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament is full of historical happenings, while the New Testament focuses on the teachings and doings of Jesus and his followers. The Bible is suspect in many was as a historical document. Many of the stories and events have no real foundation in historical or scientific findings. Major events such as the Exodus have little or no archaeological evidence to support their veracity. Some historians have therefore discounted all of the Bible as a historical document. Other historians point to the fact that much of the Bible was oral traditions for hundreds of years before it was ever recorded. They also point to the fact that many different historians or prophets recorded their thoughts and activities in the Bible and that retranslations have scrambled the original meanings of the text. There are some events in the Bible that can be verified through archaeological evidence and historical records. This is especially true for the portion of the Old Testament that records the struggles of the Israelite nation under the kings of Saul, David and Solomon and in the subsequent conquering by the kingdoms of Assyria and Babylon. Other civilizations as well as the Hebrews record these events. These records do not always agree with the events as recorded in the Bible, but they do confirm that the event spoken of in the Bible did happen. Archaeological excavations throughout modern Israel, Jordan and Iraq reveal clues to the ancient cultures that corroborate the ‘captivity’ of Judah in Babylon and the following release and return to rebuild Jerusalem. In the New Testament, there are records in Aramaic that speak about the existence of Jesus of Nazareth and refer to his followers. There are also documents in Latin that mention unrest in Judea before and after the death of Jesus. The Bible is not infallible as a historical document, but some portions of history that it mentions are substantiated by archaeology and other historical documents. Read More