Ancient Greeks and Romans.

Running head ANCIENT GREEKS AND ROMANS Comparison and Contrast of classicals and roman letterss orb Civilization 1 HIS 103 There were some different elaborations and civilizations in the past adult males. Each of the cultures had their receive customs and ethnology that either set them apart from the relaxation behavior of the creative activity or rendered them mistakable. Two civilizations that produce a multitude of similarities as well as differences be the classicals and the romans. In the eyes of some, the Greeks and papistics are synonymous. sequence they do engender their share of similarities, they withal prolong defining characteristics that adopt them extraordinarily different.The Greeks and the papists are similar and different in many aspects including religion, well-disposed/political aspects, influence of geographic pointors and the lasting effect they have had on subsequently civilizations. Abraham Lincoln once said, When I do upright, I nip good when I do bad, I feel bad. Thats my religion. If unless the Greeks and Romans thought of worship with such(prenominal)(prenominal) simpli city. Both ancient Roman and Greek civilizations took their religion very seriously and built temples and shrines showing their appreciation to the matinee idols. Religion was a very important aspect of Greek ordering and culture.They participated in sacrifices and regular worships of gods for the purpose of unifying the people in a common land goal to disport the Gods. The Greeks were a polytheistic civilization and believed that their gods would protect their city-states if they were unplowed appeased. The Greeks pleased their gods by frequently per take forming rituals, sacrifices and ceremonies. Greek religion was more than legendary tales and fictitious myths it was a complex organization with each city-state containing its receive divinities, which acted to cement the body of citizens into a true community (OConnell, 1999) .In this concept, the Romans were similar. They also were polytheistic and very concerned about appeasing their gods. The Romans were big(p) copiers. They borrowed many of their gods from the Greeks, provided unlike Greek gods, they were more cold and formal and did not have as ofttimes 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. all over the years, these rituals became very complex and needed special people to perform them.Unlike the Greeks, the Romans had priests who were unremarkably distinguished statesmen or generals. Roman religion and politics were intermeshed, and it was not anomalous 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 Gre ek governments into monarchies, oligarchies, tyrannies and democracies. In 510 B. C. he city-state of Athens created the kickoff democratic government and concisely thereafter, the rest of the city-states followed suit (Carr, Ancient Greek Government, 2009) . They no longer had bingle 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 body politic was formed in 509 BC. The Roman land provided for a more representative government. Roman imperialism created a sizable gap in wealth and social classes within Rome.With such power and wealth, there was great economic as well as social conflict. The noblemen of Rome were constantly contend for more wealth as small farm owners suffered when large plantations were being formed with slaves. The Roman nobles were fighting for greed and personal wealth creating extensive conflicts in Rome. Despite the conflict, the teaching of political institutions was one of Romes greatest accomplishments (Carr, 2009) . As the nonsubjective source Histories The Roman Constitution clearly exemplifies, the Romans had a very strong political system.As Polybius states in this excerpt, For the people is the sole fountain of honor and of penalty 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 among them is not sharply drawn two in theory and practice, there no undertaking bay window 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 contri scarceed to the strength of the Roman ivilization (Sherman, Grunfeld, Markowitz, Rosner, & Heywood, 2006) . Dr. Martin Luther queer Jr. once said, Men hate each other because they panic each other, and they fear each other because t hey dont cognize 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. overmuch of their land was barren so roughly Greek city-states arose along the coastline. interpret 4-2 clearly shows the extent of Greek settlements almost the Mediterranean and Black Seas between 750 and 550 B.C. E. It exemplifies the Greek civilization by illustrating the location of the Greek colonies in analogy to the competing Phoenician colonies that the Greeks often came into contact with. It also shows the importance of colonies for diffusing culture throughout the Mediterranean and explains how Greek and Greco-Roman civilization came to dominate 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 we re not as on the fence(p) to attack as the Romans were.Map 5-1 clearly shows some of the civilizations that occupied Italy and its immediately adjoin territory during the fifth blow 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 paramount 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 cultural milieu played an important role in the development of the Roman Republic (Sherman, Grunfeld, Markowitz, Rosner, & Heywood, 2006) . The Roman and Greek cultures have long been admired for their literature, government and scientific accomplishments. They have not only left their foot prints on later civilizations, but they continue to be studied and admired all around the world today. Greece was home to Herodotus (the first historian) who is regarded as the father 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 democracy and republics and the fundamentals of classical western philosophy, as found in the plant life 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 pastiche 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 su its him then, when he has made his choice, he may found his State. It is clear that Plato did not hairgrip the Athenian form of democracy in highest regards (Sherman, Grunfeld, Markowitz, Rosner, & Heywood, 2006) . The Romans contributed just as much as the Greeks did.Their styles of architecture are mum used around the world today. Most importantly, Christianity arose and was adopted as the official faith of the Roman Empire. Although it contradicted Roman civilization by insisting that there is only one God, it passive 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 quaternate century CE when Christianity prevailed. The Greco-Roman population in the seventeenth century did much to shape the contemporary western world.The philosophy focused rigorously on the role of reason and inquiry. Many philosophers today concede that GrecoRoman philosop hy has shaped the entire Western 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 itemise 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 ways they are parallel.The Greeks and the Romans are similar and different in many asp ects 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. charm 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 globe and until we can court them, provide always do so. Our greatest strength as a human race is our ability to acknowledge our differences our greatest weakness is our failure to embrace them (Henders on, 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 ThinkQuestLibrary