Ap World History : Michael Foley

6. Greek and Roman cultures had an impact on modern day american and European culture. They passed on architecture and literature. They also passed down law and christianity.

Athens was not truly a democracy. The definition of democracy states that it is a system of government by the whole population. In ancient Athens the only people that were eligible to make decisions were citizen men. Women did not have the right to vote which contradicts the definitions of democracy. Only twelve percent of the Athens population were able to vote meaning that eighty-eight percent were left powerless. Metics were not even eligible to vote and they were a key part of Athens economy.

The Greeks and the Romans were among the most influential societies in the history of the world. Evidence of Greek or Roman influence can be found in almost every culture or country that has ever existed. Though both cultures were different in practice and incredibly competitive with one another, their politics and their beliefs set the stage for future civilizations, including those of the modern world. In particular, the values and practices of Greek and Roman citizenship and politics, more than any other cultures, influences American policies today in terms of values, government, and self-image.

In Ancient Rome, wine emphasized social divisions between its drinkers, as opposed to Ancient Greece, where guests drank as equals from a shared krater. In Ancient Rome, finer and more expensive wines were served to citizens of higher social status, while coarser, cheaper wines were served to less important guests.

Civilization. The word “civilization” comes from the Latin term for “city.” The first civilizations were the river-valley civilizations, so-called because they all developed alongside major rivers to secure an adequate water supply for agricultural production. 2 of the greatest river-valley civilizations were Mesopotamia and Egypt. All though they both supported having a patriarchal leader or king, Egypt had a strong, centralized government, whereas Mesopotamia was decentralized, and built based on small city-states operating independently.

Wine was a popular drink back in ancient Rome. Many people desired the consumption of wine as it grew to be an important factor in Rome’s trade. Wine allowed Rome to control more territory. Also many new people started writing books on how wine was produced like Cato the Censor, Varro, and Columella. These works provided insight on how wine played a part in Roman culture. Consumption of wine started bringing taxes on the quantity people drank. However, wine was an essential need in everyday life. The trading of wine helped Rome many beneficial ways because it allowed the Romans to get different goods from many places and it also allowed their empire to expand in territory and influence.

During the expansion of Rome the citizens of Greek greatly impacted the Roman culture. This particular Culture was based on entertainment, and the importance of celebration. They entertain themselves by watching plays, circuses and fighting. The Romans were very talented architects (Whittaker, 1). The culture of Rome has many values and tradition like no other, and they all came from Greek (Whittaker, 1). This shows the roots of Rome mostly came from Greek, the Greek also had an impact on the Romans culture. They created the kind of people the Romans are today and the activities they take

That is to say that Greece looks more like a western civilization than Mesopotamia does. Greece is also the founder of one of the main ideas that every western civilization has today, democracy. Democracy as it exists today is of a very different manner in the Greek times. In Athens, the pinnacle of Greek democracy, it was a pure democracy vote that decided matters. That is to say that a plurality of a vote was all that was needed, and citizens voted on all kinds of issues that people today would not have any control of. The limits on who could vote closely resembled the American laws of voting in its early history. You had to be a male above a certain age, and you had to go vote yourself in the assembly. Athenian democracy also provides a sort of blueprint of attaining it. Athenians attained democracy in almost the same as many western civilizations attained democracy, and that was by warring with the ruler until he capitulated. (Early Greek Documents 2) The reasons why the people would find it preferable than living under the rule of a tyrant were obvious. Having control over how you live your life and whether or not you will go to war with another is a very enticing proposition. Democracy as it is in the USA differs for another reason from Athenian Democracy, and that is people have less direct control over their lives. For instance, the people

A second benefit to exploring history through non-written sources is they can tell you a lot about the everyday life of a person who lived in the time period you are studying e.g. what objects they used and how they used it. Another benefit to exploring history through non-written sources is it is more likely to be accurate. With physical objects there is less of a chance of forgery and bias being committed than with written documents. Another benefit to non-written sources is they provide a direct connection to the exact time of the event or time period and most likely was made closer to the happening. One other benefit to exploring history through non-written sources is if they are not complete and some part is missing it requires you to really pay attention to finer details and develop good observation and inference skills by trying to determine exactly what happened and what it is. Another benefit to exploring history through non-written sources is you can get a glimpse into the culture of past civilizations by actually seeing the art, clothes, and weapons they created. One other benefit to exploring history through non-written sources is it sometimes gives you a tangible object, so you can have a better hands-on. Another benefit to non-written sources is the laborious task of translating from

The civilization of Rome is one that is remembered today as “the most powerful world state in ancient history” (Fiero 139). From their superior culture to an army of 300,000 men who behaved as if “they had been born with weapons in their hands”, the Roman culture was unparalleled (Fiero 139). The location of Rome on the Italian peninsula put them in a prime location to encounter rich cultures such as the Greeks. Roman culture would not have been the same if it had not been for the Greeks, because they incorporated multiple aspects of the culture into their everyday life. The Romans were heavily influenced by Greek philosophy, theology, literature, art, and architecture.

Date Name Professor’s Name Course Greek and Roman influence on Western Civilization Western civilization can be defined as what is known as the modern society and it includes Western Europe and North America. It is important to note that the way of life in the western societies heavily borrows from the way of life during the Greek and Roman empires. Therefore, one can conclude that Greek and Roman cultures had a great influence on the western civilization. This paper seeks to look at the seeks to look at the influence that Roman and Greek empires had on the western civilizations by looking the social, economic and political systems in these different societies.

The spread of Roman customs and culture: in the earliest period of Roman culture which was probably due to the social competition among the people, whose reputation might be enhanced by possessions which might associate them with such a powerful and prosperous society. This argument applies most certainly to the less developed society thus the upper classes of the Celtic peoples of “Gaul and Britain”, even before Roman Conquest, measured their social success in the terms of their access wine from the Roman world. The of the paraphernalia of wine drinking were buried with jars of imported wine and mixing bowls which formed parts of the ritual of wine-drinking, and their armor and weaponry were influenced by the Roman technological

Many often lump Greek and Roman culture into one movement. The Greeks were an influence on the Roman Empire in everything from their art, architecture, and mathematics to their political structure. Though they are separated by over 500 years, the building of the Parthenon and Pantheon were each hugely significant architectural strides for each culture. Each has their similarities, as well as differences. On a whole, they set the way for the architects of the future with their vision.

Isn’t it ironic that in Ancient Greece the consumption of wine was encouraged for promoting liberated speech in intellectual social gatherings? We in the United States treat alcohol as a slow but deadly poison that should be avoided. By imbibing wine in events known as symposiums, the Greek would discuss intellectual ideas which lead to the acceleration of knowledge. In some cases, the symposia weren’t only for poetry and discussion, the symposiarch would hire woman for entertaining purposes. The woman would play instruments, dance, or even engage in sexual encounters with the men livening up the event with culture and music. Unfortunately, this was the only way woman could partake in symposiums due to cultural norms regarding their social

Civilizations started only when humans started to domesticate plants and animals opting to settle in one location in favor of constant relocation. The domestication of plants and animals allowed people to settle in one area because now extra food could be produced and stored allowing people to no longer spend their days seeking food. The creation of a written language also allowed for people to trade giving people the opportunity to have other skills and then trade those skills for food or any other resources they needed. The domestication of plants and animals triggered the start of civilizations and the creation of writing allowed cities to flourish economically and created a more efficient system of trade. The