You are on page 1of 3

Mya Yorke

Mr. Ferguson
World History
15 February 2016
The Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was an extraordinary civilization. It was very advanced
and influenced the modern world in many ways. For example, the economy. There
was a significant separation between the rich and the poor. The rich owned the land
and the poor became slaves on this land. This made it difficult for the farmers
because they had to compete with the large estates, causing most of the farmers to
be jobless.
The Romans ruled under a republic government. It was balanced between a
monarchy, an aristocracy and a democracy. They had two officials called consuls,
the job of the consul was to command the army and direct the government. When
Caesar died, the Roman republic was destroyed. Augustus soon took over rule and
restored Rome to its original state.
There were many values that were important to the Roman Empire. One was
war/military. The empire always had a strong military that were ready to fight war.
Also, they found fine arts and education an essential part of life. They learned the
Latin language which has helped to shape many other languages in the world today.
Part of the fine arts was architecture and sculptures that were found throughout the
civilization and in many gardens of the homes of the citizens. Many building had
very intricate architecture that was very beautiful and everyone admired, so it
carried onto the modern world. Also, having these sculptures in homes made them
very luxurious. Government and laws were also valued by the Romans. It was long
lasting and some of the laws are used in the American Constitution today.
Romans were worshipers of Numina, which were gods present with them in all
aspects of their life. Each family had a guardian, there was a God of the harvest,
wisdom, love, power; everything that effected Roman society was watched over by
Numina. Later in time, Rome became a Christianity based culture because of a Jew
named Jesus. Him and his followers started a religious turn for Roman society.
Gladiator games were increasingly popular at this time. People would pile into
large arenas called coliseums to watch people such as slaves, lower classman, and
men looking for fame fight. Winners were highly honored in the eyes of the public.
Some of the most famous gladiators were Spartacus and Commodus. They both
won multiple battles and were idolized among the common day people.

(1)The Roman government and the American government are very similar.
They are both Republican but they do have many differences as well. The Executive
branch of Rome had two consuls that are elected by the assembly and rule for one
year and the USA has a president that is elected by the people and rule for four
years. In the Legislative branch of Rome, there are 300 members of the senate who
are there for life but in America there are 100 members of the senate who are there
for a six year term. In the Judicial branch of Rome, there are Praetors which is eight
judges chosen for one year and in the USA, there is a Supreme Court with nine
judges who appointed for life. Lastly, in order to be considered a citizen in Rome you
had to be an adult male landowner and in America you have to be a native born or
naturalized adult.
(2) The Roman Empire had a very fragile social relationship. The rich and the
poor were not balance in this civilization, which caused more turmoil between the
two classes. The slaves occupied a whole third of the Roman society at one time.
The poor were over run and oppressed by the rich. Rome was a monarchy from
1200 to 509 bc. Once Caesar died in 44 bc, the Roman republic ended. Many other
reforms and changes occurred in the Roman society. The lives of Romans were
constantly changing.
(3)Rome was divided into social classes for the main majority of their
existence. Though these classes were not equal or balanced in the roles they
played, the social classes of our current society is based on it. Both of the lower
classes from Rome and the lower classes of America are based on income and social
status. The higher you go up on the social pyramids the more money and wealth
those people have. Without Romes existence, our social classes might not be like
they are today.
(4)The most long lasting and important contribution of Roman civilization on
modern civilization is, architecture. Architecture is the most important because it
lasted all these years and is still used in many buildings today. For example, The
White House is made of a lot of the Roman architecture as well as many other
famous and not so famous buildings. It helps bring significance, symbolism and
sophistication.

WORKS CITED
http://www.personal.psu.edu/mow5058/group.htm
http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/arth200/politics/roman_architecture.ht
ml

http://www.archeologyvirginia.org/overview-of-the-renaissance-and-romearchitecture/
http://romangov.weebly.com/

You might also like