Popular Culture In Ancient Rome By Jerry Toner

The Roman Empire was once one of the most powerful empires in the world, but still to this day we ask, how did the empire end? Romans built their territory to be the best. They expanded their land across regions, had all the power, a large population, and technological innovations; so how could such a ‘great’ empire end? Rome was once at it’s peak but was destined to fall due to political instability, overconfidence, negligence, and barbarian attacks.

The later Roman Republic and early Roman Empire controlled most of modern day Europe through Northern Africa to Asia Minor. This time of complete dominance over much of the known world propelled Rome into a new era of wealth and prosperity that allowed Romans to look past military expansion. The Roman state now turned towards betterment of society and the “craving for a good education.” Education was seen not only as a tool for the furthering of personal careers, but as a way to improve Rome. Education passed along virtue and the skills necessary to run the Republic and early Empire. This knowledge began in the home, transferring from father to son through the role of fathers as paterfamilias or head of household. Fathers were in charge of ensuring the best possible education for their sons in hope that they would further the ideals and goals of a glorious Rome. Education, through the different steps of the informal Roman education structure and through the influence of the father, furthered the ideal of Roman virtue and ensured generations of virtuous leaders.

The seemingly unstoppable Roman empire was certain to fall in a matter of time. Even though Rome was majorly affected by external attacks, I feel like the fall was because of the internal decline. The economy and social issues were the key factors that led to the descent of the large empire. A vast amount of their problems came from within the city. Every decision that Rome made had an extensive effect on the city itself and the rest of the world. Many foolish decisions made by terrible emperors weakened the city and eventually cause the many aspects of Roman life to crumble.

Ancient Rome is one of the greatest and most influential societies in the history of the world. From the basic rules of how the Roman Empire is set up to the infrastructures in the city, the strict hierarchy of Roman social structure can be reflected clearly all over the whole ancient Rome. In fact that “public architecture presents people with the official view of a society and provides the background against which its individual markers live their lives.”1 With the great desire of Roman for entertainment and their special taste for blood, the amphitheatre is considered as the most popular and most representative type of the entertainment building in the ancient Roman culture. And

In 27 BCE, Octavian appointed himself as the first Roman Emperor. After being a republic for approximately 700 years, Rome was now an empire. The Roman Empire grew to be one of the greatest empires in history, conquering the majority of Europe, the Asia Minor, and much of North Africa. Rome went through a time of peace called Pax Roma. During Pax Roma many contributions were made such as arts and architecture. The Roman Empire declined because of its weakened military. The military began to weaken due to laziness, the land was easy to invade, and there we many different leaders throughout the empire.

The Roman Republic began in 509 B.C.E. with the overthrow of the Etruscan monarchy. In 27 B.C.E the Roman Empire began with Octavian Caesar becoming the emperor, this ended almost 500 years of republican self-government. There is much debate over why Rome became so powerful so quickly. Many think it had to do with Rome’s military strength. Others think that it was because Rome knew of and controlled most of the trade routes. Still others believed it had to do with the technology that was advanced during the Roman Republic. All of these factors played significant roles, but which one played the most important role?

The era dominated by Roman empire is one the most well-known and influential periods of history, home to famous names from Julius Caesar to Jesus Christ. At its height, Rome’s territory stretched from the Atlantic coastline to the Middle East, reigning over 60 million people, one-fifth of the population of the ancient world. However, the Roman empire’s treatment of their conquered people’s and their own citizens ultimately led to the permanent downfall of Rome.

The Flames of Rome by Paul Maier is a documentary-fiction that has not only brought to life the evolution of Christianity in Rome but has also painted a clear picture of what it was like to live in Rome at the time. Understanding the Roman’s way of life and reasoning behind their actions plays a major role in the reasoning for Maier writing this book. The Flames of Rome is equivalent to reading a textbook but Maier makes it much more enjoyable and intriguing by adding plausible details of his own. Maier’s portrayal of the death of Claudius Caesar, in chapter nine of the novel, closely follows the primary sources of Tacitus and Suetonius but also loosely follows that of the secondary sources. It is important to compare Maier’s version to other

In the dialogue between Bryan Ward-Perkins and Peter Heather “The Fall of Rome” the two historians answer a few questions that relate to the fall of Rome. The one specific time the two authors both agree is when Ward-Perkins mentions “disappointingly (perhaps) I basically agree with Peter here – neither of us have much time for the theory that the empire was quietly ‘transformed’, by the peaceful ‘accommodation’ into it of some Germanic barbarians. We both believe in invasions that were violent and unpleasant” (Heather, Peter, and Bryan Ward-Perkins). This is the only time presently written that both historians agreed on a given point. Peter’s statement that Ward-Perkins followed up with the agreement is “I am entirely convinced by all the evidence that shows that the late Empire was not being torn apart by irrevocable processes of decline by the fourth century” (Heather, Peter, and Bryan Ward-Perkins). The two authors are convinced that the transition was not peaceful, and from the information provided from the different wars there would have had to have been violence and not peace.

The Roman way of life is different and similar to modern day. Though one may not know much over the Roman’s the culture is fascinating and still remembered in history. The clothes, food, customs, and leisure are major in Roman lifestyle.

The term “Romanitas” refers to the general practice of Roman culture, including the concepts of political and cultural ideology that helped Romans define themselves from others. Romanitas was the overall growth of the Roman systems and its ideas, linking the concepts of what it actually means to be Roman to their culture and population. The reason why Romanitas was necessary for the Roman culture was because the Romans felt that they needed their own language and ideas, and they longed to be unique in the Mediterranean world. Also, Romanitas is the direct use of Roman beliefs, ethics, literature, architecture, ect.. that defined their culture and encouraged the Roman population to use Roman art, history, clothing, food, and architecture in cultural concepts and everyday life.

In the ancient Italian peninsula, numerous languages were spoken in many different regions. The most influential, extending to modern-times, is Latin. Latin was the vernacular of the region of Latium; the same region that gave rise to the remarkable city of Rome. Rome was perhaps the greatest empire to have taken shape in history, exerting an infinite amount of influence in politics, medicine, civilization, military, and language. While Rome spread her borders, Latin would soon become the lingua franca of the Mediterranean world and beyond. The war against the vast Carthaginian Empire that enabled the Romans to rule the known-world and establish their long-lasting influence will be examined.

By 264 BC, Rome became the major super power of the Italian peninsula. This was due to many factors such as the military, their government system, and their structural achievement. Rome’s ever expanding military was relentless in their pursuit of both growth and power. They defeated the Latin League, The Samnites, The Etruscans, The Gauls, and Pyrrhus of Epirus (sometimes more than once). Though many of these battles were costly, it was their tenacity that saw them to victory in the end. Pyrrhus of Epirus won many of the early battles in his siege against the Romans, but because they never gave up they ended up victorious in the end. The fact that they did not concede after two losses truly surprised Pyrrhus, because that was what he

Rome became a powerful empire engulfing much of Europe, North Africa, and parts of Asia and what seemed like this great entity called the Romans were always in the search of more territory and land to conquer and assimilate into their ever growing vast empire. However, this was not always the case, before Rome became one of the greatest empires in all of history, Rome was a republic. They were government consisted of a Senate who much like our country today represented certain classes of the citizens of the Republic. During the growth and rise of the Roman republic conquering neighboring territories and competing for land grabs was not Romans primary objectives. Romans

BibliographyCorbishley, Mike. Cultural Atlas for Young People: Ancient Rome. New York: Facts on File, 1989.