Roman Culture During The Roman Empire Essay

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.

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 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 Roman leaders found Rome empty and built it into one of the greatest cities of all time. Augustus build a new Forum, with statues of great heroes of Rome, theatres, porticoes,etc. (Document 1). It was called “to be a spectacle from which its is hard to tear yourself away from,” Strabo. Augustus and his men built aqueducts, arches, etc. which are all 21st century items. The government leaders in Rome were always looking out for the safety of the people. There are ancient pictures of Augustus telling the architects to structure all the buildings to stand at least seventy feet high (Document 6). Rome’s people all were permitted to freely gather and bathe. Today we have swimming pools in which all people are allowed to access. Something that has shaped society today, when reflecting back on Roman times, are aqueducts. The Romans received water by using this method of irrigation which was first used in 312 BC. In America and throughout other countries we use irrigation as our water source, a similar source to the aqueducts. Romans used cement to build arches in which water would flow through (aqueducts), today in modern life we still use bridges/arches for many things. Roman architecture is still shown throughout America

The Roman empire started around 750 BCE, as a spreading empire. They conquered land from modern-day Scotland to Spain, and gained control of the whole mediterranean sea, and established colonies in North Africa, Egypt, the middle east, and Asia Minor. The vast empire had some twists and turns and soon fell mainly because of the natural disasters, economic problems, and most significant of all, the poor military skills.

The Western Roman Empire was a very strong and dominant empire during its reign. It flourished from trade, had a strong military which led to having no major wars and traveling was safe and easy which ultimately made the 200 year span a relatively peaceful time. From the years 32 BC till 180 AD, which was called the Pax Romana, Rome was in a state of prosperity. When Marcus Aurelius was empire the Pax Romana slowly began to end which led to the fall of Rome. While the Western Roman Empire declined because of the spread of Christianity and economic breakdown, the Barbaric invasions was the main and ultimate cause of the fall of Rome.

Conquering three continents, Rome lacked the proper amount of soldiers required to protect the empire. This was due to its “immoderate greatness (Doc 2).” According to Document 2, the size of Rome played a great and inevitable role in the decline of Rome. Regarding the military, a large portion of the soldiers not only lacked discipline and training, but were not actually Romans. As seen in Document 5, “the Roman army was composed entirely of Germans.”

The Roman Empire, once one of the largest and most powerful empires in history, conquered the whole Mediterranean region and spread throughout the Middle East, Western and Central Europe and even Northern Africa. It reached its pinnacle during 100 and 200 AD but then slowly began to unravel. As it has been said, “Rome wasn’t built in a day” so it certainly didn’t take only a day for Rome to fall. Rome began to face many issues during the third century. The Roman Empire became much too large to manage.

Beginning in the eighth century B.C., Ancient Rome grew from a small town in the center of Italy near the Tiber River into an empire that, at its peak, defeated and conquered most of continental Europe, Britain, western Asia, northern Africa and the Mediterranean islands. From the start, the Romans showed a talent for borrowing and improving upon the skills and concepts of other cultures.The Kingdom of Rome grew rapidly from a trading town to a prosperous city between the 8th and 6th centuries BCE. Among the many expansions of the Roman empire, they started to gain dominance over other well-known practices and were able to widespread the Romance languages derived from Latin, the modern Western alphabet and calendar, and the emergence of Christianity

For about 200 years, the Roman Empire was thriving in a time called the Pax Romana. It was a time with emperors that brought peace, order, unity and prosperity throughout all of its conquered land. However, like with any great empire, problems arise and lead to its downfall. Many different factors contributed to its fall, both from in the empire and outside it. However, most of the downfall of the Roman Empire was caused from within, through its political corruption, economic problems and a lack of their previous social values, the Roman Empire fell into a decline which lead to their end.

Rome was the largest and most powerful empire of its time. Its reign from 27 CE to 200 CE was by far the greatest civilization at that point. However, at some point every empire falls. The primary reason for this was the people of Rome. Due to the citizen’s unhappiness, Rome slowly crumbled starting with its leaders, then its army, and finally its economy.

The Roman Empire left a legacy that still continues to affect people with modern technology. The Romans’ technology might have not been as advanced as modern technology today, but they still managed to caused great impact over the ancient people. The Roman Empire’s inventions and innovations such as indoor plumbing, aqueducts, and construction of roads and buildings with their fast drying will always be notable attention because they managed to acquire extensive progress without modern methods. However, the Romans were not restricted to new inventions, they also managed to improve the existing fields of medicine, law, government and warfare.

Religion played a significant role in the Roman civilization but, “many people believe that Rome was not a religious place. What they probably mean is that it was not a moral place.” (Burrell, 65) The Romans had innumerable gods that they worshiped which included giving gifts and sacrificing for their gods. Sacrificing animals was common for ancient Roman civilization. The idea of sacrificing came from the people before the Roman Empire was built. Religion primarily used sacrificing as a means of showing appreciation to the gods but later became a way to get things from the gods. The increases in the expansion of Rome lead to an increasing number of sacrifices. Roman sacrifice was done in many different ways and there were numerous

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?