Greek and Roman Culture Essay examples

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.

The fourth factor was the amazing engineers, inventors, and architects in the Empire. By 200 AD the Romans had built 53,000 miles of roads throughout the Empire. The very first was built in 312 BC. They also invented sewers, central heating systems, and the first types of concrete. (Mahoney, 2001)

Despite all their similarities, The Greeks and Romans engaged in substantive culture differences. Their religions derived from a complex set of gods and goddesses, called deities, who were seen as regulating human life. Since the Romans embraced culture from the Greeks, many traditions were the same. However, the Greek and Roman culture, although similar, are very different and appealing. For instance, the Greeks did not acknowledge an all-powerful god; they believe that deities controlled everything that transpired on earth. In other words, the Greeks sought religious cults to explain the forces that shape the world (Bentley et al, 2008 p.143).

In both Greek and Roman civilizations, mythology played an important part in their empire’s success. Both of these civilizations were polytheistic religions. Likewise, they had major and minor gods and goddesses as part of their religion as well. However, since the Roman Empire conquered many cultures including the Greeks, their gods blended with many similarities with the gods that the Ancient Greeks worshipped.

When talking about the culture in ancient Greece and Rome we are talking about two cultures that have had a major impact on today’s society. We are also talking about two cultures that have highly similar ways of life and or beliefs. One thing that both cultures had in common was that they believed in all the same gods. Although they did have different names for some gods, they all believed in what each god stood for and the myths that they had. For example, the Greek’s called one god Zeus while the Romans called him Jupiter. Another similarity between Greece and Rome was that they both practiced agriculture. Not only did both nations both practice agriculture but they even grew some of the same crops. A few example of crops that both the Romans and Greeks grew are barley, grapes, olives, wheat and so much more. Agriculture in Rome and Greece was essential to anybody was able to grow them. For

It has been known that the Romans and the Greeks have had many interactions with each other, whether it would be due to trading or just plain traveling, the stories of their myths have crossed each other in one way or another. This is may be the reason why there are many similarities between Greek and Roman Mythology. Even though a Greek god or goddess may have a different name in Roman Mythology they still performed similar tasks and were worshiped for similar reasons. I will compare and contrast Greek gods with their Roman equivalences to see how similar they truly are to each other. Probably the most famous Greek god, Zeus, was the god of all gods. Born to Cronus and Rhea, he was the ruler of the sky, and had

The Romans borrowed almost all of its mythology from Greece. The only thing the Romans changed was the names of the Greek gods. And the Greek gods lasted much longer Greece. That is another reason Greece was better than Rome.

Greek mythology and Roman mythology both have an importance in both ancient history and the modern world. People often confuse the two and mistake them for each other. They may be similar on paper but they are very different. Greek mythology is more original, had a bigger influence on the ancient people, and has a bigger influence on the modern world.

The second major similarity between ancient Greek and Roman civilizations was that their citizens voted on who to make their elected officials, however the difference was that each culture differed in their definition of a citizen. The Greeks only recognized native-born males having the right of citizenship, women and slaves could not be citizens and therefore could not vote. The Romans on the other hand, recognized foreigners residing within Italy as half-citizens giving them full legal rights but not the right to vote. Greece mostly voted into office people of middle- to upper-class citizens, whereas Rome only voted in the rich 10% of their population. Even though history seems to show that the Greeks were more fair by randomly selecting citizens to run for office, the Roman government specifically chose who would run for election similar to our political race today where the Republican and Democratic parties choose who will be there candidates.

The ancient Romans adopted every good idea that they saw. If other people were doing something better then the Romans, the Romans changed their way to the better way. They copied anything if they thought it was good. A perfect example of this would be the myths of the Greek gods.

Aside from these physical differences, there is a difference in the goals between the Greeks and the Romans. In the first case what concerns the Greek city-states is limited to self-preservation if not individual fame and success. The Romans, on the other hand, were concerned with the success of the country as a whole; they knew that if the whole was successful, then the individual parts would also benefit.

How do the romans explain their culture? That is more of a complex answer, the creation of Rome and its myth you must understand Roman mythology which is like a collection a stories and beliefs and some rituals. So what made the romans change the names of the Greek gods to make them for a lack of a better term (Make them more Roman). The Etruscan religion was not very well documented by historians. The Romans believed in heroism and this was an important part of these myths and an individual’s responsibility and

When the Romans conquered Greece, not only did they discover that the Greeks had much to offer, but the Romans eventually adopted and built upon many of the Greek traditions. In terms of religion,

The death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC marks the beginning of the Hellenistic Period and covers 300 years to the invasion of Egypt by the Romans. The word Hellenic refers only to the Greeks, but the term Hellenistic refers to `the Greek-influenced societies that arose in the wake of Alexander's conquest' (Sacks, 105). The Hellenistic world extended from Greece all the way to Afghanistan and resulted in the beginning of the mass spreading of Greek culture. Its central characteristics were the mass empires created by Alexander and his successors, the mingling of Greek and other cultures and the diffusion of religions

Romans were hugely influenced by the Greeks. You can see it in many ways: the architecture, the clothing and when someone was crowned winner the Romans also used Bay leaves colored in gold to crown their victors but Romans also invented some of their own gods. For example Bellona, goddess of war and Caelus god of the sky (before Jupiter) Romans had a vast number of minor gods and nearly every aspect of life had its own spirits even of fortune (Fortuna ) and victory ( Victoria) .people only worshipped those deities and spirits associated with their own lives. Each tree or stream required its own spirit, such as the spirit of river