Ancient Greeks and Romans.

Running head ANCIENT GREEKS AND ROMANS Comparison and Contrast of classicals and romans military personnel Civilization 1 HIS 103 There were many different cultures and elaborations in the quaint world. Each of the cultures had their receive customs and ethnology that either set them apart from the repose of the world or rendered them similar. Two civilizations that fork over a multitude of similarities as rise up as differences are the Hellenics and the papists. In the eyes of some, the classics and Romans are synonymous. fleck they do pick up their share of similarities, they overly have defining characteristics that venture them extraordinarily different.The classicals and the Romans are similar and different in many aspects including pietism, favorable/political aspects, influence of geographical factors and the lasting effect they have had on later civilizations. Abraham Lincoln once said, When I do neat, I impression good when I do bad, I feel bad. Thats my religion. If lonesome(prenominal)(prenominal) the Grecians and Romans thought of religious belief with much(prenominal) simplicity. Both ancient Roman and Greek civilizations took their religion very seriously and built temples and shrines showing their appreciation to the idols. Religion was a very important aspect of Greek confederacy and culture.They participated in sacrifices and regular worships of gods for the purpose of unifying the people in a common pose goal to ravish the Gods. The Greeks were a polytheistic civilization and believed that their gods would protect their city-states if they were unbroken appeased. The Greeks pleased their gods by frequently performing rituals, sacrifices and ceremonies. Greek religion was more(prenominal) than legendary tales and fictitious myths it was a complex organization with each city-state containing its own divinities, which acted to ce ment the body of citizens into a true community (OConnell, 1999) .In this concept, th e Romans were similar. They also were polytheistic and very concerned ab f on the whole out appeasing their gods. The Romans were peachy copiers. They borrowed many of their gods from the Greeks, nevertheless unlike Greek gods, they were more cold and formal and did not have as much of a personality. The Romans lived under the gods and constantly tried to please them with rituals and sacred rites. The Romans also performed human and animal sacrifices in addition to the ceremonies. everyplace the years, these rituals became very complex and needed special people to perform them.Unlike the Greeks, the Romans had priests who were normally distinguished statesmen or generals. Roman religion and politics were intermeshed, and it was not whimsical for the emperor (during the empire period) to be worshipped as a god himself (OConnell, 1999) . Because the Greeks were divided into many different city-states, they had many different forms of government. Aristotle divided the Greek govern ments into monarchies, oligarchies, tyrannies and democracies. In 510 B. C. he city-state of Athens created the first democratic government and unawares thitherafter, the rest of the city-states followed suit (Carr, Ancient Greek Government, 2009) . They no longer had one and only(a) single leader as the Romans did. capital of Italy was originally ruled by kings, in a monarchal system. After this time period cognise as the Ancient Roman period, the Roman Republic was formed in 509 BC. The Roman Republic provided for a more re symboliseative government. Roman imperialism created a sizable gap in wealth and fond classes within Rome.With such power and wealth, there was great economic as well as social conflict. The noblemen of Rome were constantly fleck for more wealth as small farm owners suffered when large plantations were organism formed with slaves. The Roman nobles were fighting for greed and personal wealth creating extensive conflicts in Rome. Despite the conflict, the emergence of political institutions was one of Romes superlative accomplishments (Carr, 2009) . As the documental source Histories The Roman Constitution agnisely exemplifies, the Romans had a very telling political system.As Polybius states in this excerpt, For the people is the sole fountain of honor and of penalization and it is by these two things and these alone that dynasties and constitutions and in a word, human society are held together for where the distinction between them is not sharply bony both in theory and practice, there no undertaking corporation be properly administered as indeed we might expect when good and bad are held in exactly the same honor. It is clear that the Roman constitution is equally balanced in power, and has contributed to the persuasiveness of the Roman ivilization (Sherman, Grunfeld, Markowitz, Rosner, & angstrom unit Heywood, 2006) . Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, Men hate each new(prenominal) because they fear each other, and they fear each other because they dont know each other, and they dont know each other because they are often separated from each other. The many ancient Greek city states were isolated from one another by the mountainous terrain of the Greek peninsula. Much of their land was barren so most Greek city-states arose on the coastline. Map 4-2 clearly shows the extent of Greek settlements around the Mediterranean and pitch blackness Seas between 750 and 550 B.C. E. It exemplifies the Greek civilization by illustrating the location of the Greek colonies in comparison to the competing Phoenician colonies that the Greeks often came into contact with. It also shows the importance of colonies for diffuse culture throughout the Mediterranean and explains how Greek and Greco-Roman civilization came to shadow most of the Mediterranean basin even when the Greeks were no longer a great military-political force and their colonies ceased to be independent. Because the Greeks were surrounded by mountains, they were not as open to attack as the Romans were.Map 5-1 clearly shows some of the civilizations that occupied Italy and its straight off surrounding territory during the fifth light speed B. C. E. It further exemplifies the Roman civilization by illustrating the many influences other civilizations had upon the Roman Republic. Before Rome became a dominant power, the Etruscans, Carthaginians and Greeks all ready had strong literate sophisticated civilizations. As Rome expanded, many of the institutions and practices of these civilizations were incorporated into their civilization.Therefore, Romes geographic and ethnical environment played an important role in the development of the Roman Republic (Sherman, Grunfeld, Markowitz, Rosner, & deoxyadenosine monophosphate Heywood, 2006) . The Roman and Greek cultures have long been admire for their literature, government and scientific accomplishments. They have not only left their alkali prints on later civilizations, but they continue to be studied and esteem all around the world today. Greece was home to Herodotus (the first historian) who is regarded as the flummox of history. Greece is also ecognized for accomplishments such as the initial development of dramatic and comedic plays, and for being the home of the first mathematicians. In addition, Greece contributed many developments in political science including the creation of majority rule and republics and the fundamentals of classical horse opera philosophy, as embed in the works of Plato and Aristotle (Conservapedia, 2008) . In The Republic as written by Plato, democracy is scrutinized. This literary work exemplifies the Greek civilization by illustrating how democracy was implemented, yet also met with resistance and criticism.Plato says Because of the liberty which reigns there they have a complete assortment of constitutions and he who has a mind to establish a State, as we have been doing, must go to a democracy as he would to a bazaar at which they sell them, and pick out the one that suits him then, when he has made his choice, he may found his State. It is clear that Plato did not hold the Athenian form of democracy in highest regards (Sherman, Grunfeld, Markowitz, Rosner, & axerophthol Heywood, 2006) . The Romans contributed just as much as the Greeks did.Their styles of architecture are let off used around the world today. Most importantly, Christianity arose and was adopted as the formalized faith of the Roman Empire. Although it contradicted Roman civilization by insisting that there is only one God, it unflustered continued to spread throughout Rome and much of Europe. The Roman Republic conquered Greece in 146 BC. They took much of the Greek religion and incorporated it into their own until the 4th century CE when Christianity prevailed. The Greco-Roman commonwealth in the seventeenth century did much to shape the contemporary western world.The philosophy focused strictly on the role of rea son and inquiry. more philosophers today concede that GrecoRoman philosophy has shaped the entire westward thought since its foundation. Their architecture styles are still used as well as the democratic form of government which is used not only in Europe but all around the world. Seventeenth century Greco-Roman literature is still renowned, studied by historians and taught in schools all over the world. Greek and Roman contributions to the contemporary world are great in both number and significance.Their advancements in mathematics, architecture, science, philosophy, government and literature not only advanced their own civilizations but the world as a whole. Humanity has benefited greatly from the contributions of the Greeks and Romans. The world would be an entirely different place if the Romans and Greeks had not existed. The Greeks and Romans have existed in the world as separate entities and also as one community. Because they have been so intermingled, in some ship canal t hey are parallel.The Greeks and the Romans are similar and different in many aspects including religion, social/political aspects, influence of geographical factors and the lasting effect they have had on later civilizations. The Greek and Roman civilizations were some of the greatest civilizations to evolve. They mutually succeeded in showing other civilizations both how to succeed and how to fail at the things which men might try. Both civilizations had their peaks and their declines. While these two great civilizations continue to present their similarities, they also are extensively different.Just like many countries today have their similarities and also their differences. Despite the many technological and societal advances achieved by societies today, wars still continue to ravage the world. That fact has not changed. Differences continue to divide the dry land and until we can embrace them, will always do so. Our greatest strength as a human race is our ability to acknowled ge our differences our greatest weakness is our failure to embrace them (Henderson, 2009). References (2008, September 7). Retrieved March 11, 2009, from Conservapedia http//www. conservapedia. com/Greek_influence_on_Western_CultureCarr, K. (2009, January 15). Ancient Greek Government. Retrieved April 11, 2009, from Kidepede http//www. historyforkids. org/learn/greeks/government/ Carr, K. (2009, January 15). Kidepede. Retrieved April 11, 2009, from Roman Government http//www. historyforkids. org/learn/romans/government/ Grunfeld, A. T. , Heywood, L. , Markowitz, G. , Rosner, D. , & Sherman, D. (2006). World Civilizations Sources, Images, and Interpretations (4th Edition ed. , Vol. I). New York McGraw Hill. OConnell, L. (1999). Paganism Past Present. Retrieved March 10, 2009, from ThinkQuest library