Rome And Greece Similarities

Did you know that the Romans built stadiums that are twice as big as the biggest stadium today? The Circus Maximus is the biggest stadium ever built. It is very similar to what we know as today as football stadiums. The Circus Maximus was built in the sixth century by Lucius Tarquinius Priscus. Rome and the US are more similar than different the similar because of government, agriculture, and entertainment.

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).

Two of the greatest civilizations of the ancient world were the civilizations of Greece and Rome. These two civilizations were especially significant from the time periods prior to the Roman Republic. These two civilizations both affected Europe and the Mediterranean regions including the rest of the world around them. Though the two civilizations differed in location, they also had many aspects that were very similar. One of these includes the government, with both showing the beginnings of the representative government. Another aspect between these civilizations was the military with similar strategies, tactics, and organizational similarities.

The Athenian and Roman governments both had similarities in their form of government, but the differences that they had made them unique because of the parties and rules they lived by. To start off, the Athenian Government was a democracy and the Roman Government was a republic. Each of them had very important specific details which make them unique and different like what made them citizens and able to vote for the officials, and how they organized their government system.

The Greek and Roman religions were the two major religions that were established in the ancient world. Greek religion was the first to be recognized and instituted, followed by the Roman religion. Many people believed that the Romans mimicked the Greek religion; however this was a common misconception, even though they appeared to be the same there are many distinctions between the Romans and the Greeks. Even the similarities between the two religions had slight distinctions, like their gods, they had similar functions but some of their gods were completely unique to one culture (Ferguson 154). Roman religion also had different concepts like religio, ideas about afterlife and gods that emphasis on household religion. The Romans integrated certain aspects of Greek religion into their own practices, they also maintained their own ideas which made it unique and separated the Romans from the Greeks.

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.

     The ancient Greek and Roman civilizations of Europe began to progress toward a more civilized order of society. As there were no previous establishment to base their ideals on, it was understandable that there were some difficulties in their progression as a society. Although the ancient Greek and Roman governments fell, both had similar paths of creation, conquest, and destruction.

During the era before Classical Greece Sparta and Athena had different paths because Sparta had two kings and an oligarchic government, while Athens had instituted democracy. Sparta treated men to be warriors and women could have their own properties, while in Athena men were trained to be public speakers and women had only several rights. Despite the differences they joined to a war against Persia, and after that there was a Peloponnesian war between the two poleis, where Athena lost, at the end, Sparta, Athena and Thebes each took turn on the dominant Greek power. One interesting fact is also that the buildings that they built had a political purpose also to celebrate civil power and pride.

The Greeks and the Romans were two empires with similar goals, but contrasting government control. Within Greece were the Spartans and Athenians, which had two diverse governmental bodies. The Spartans were ruthless and focused on military success, while the Athenians lived off of a democracy and let their people decide what was best for the state. Close by were the Romans, who cared for their people liked the Athenians, but made acquiring land a necessity as to the Spartans. Although the Spartans, Athenians, and Romans were made up of different laws and government, they still kept control over their people for centuries to come.

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.

Ancient Greek and Rome started out as small city-states they both grew into large empires. From the similar roles they agree on religion, both ancient civilizations approach quite successful. Ancient Greek and Roman admit being polytheistic, adoration of many gods and goddesses. Devotions to all the gods increase importance of recognition of their honorable deeds when they were alive. Donald L. Wasson said, “At the end of the day were concerned with the relationship between the gods and humans, differing in this regard from fairytales and folktales.” They thought that performing sacrifices and rituals would satisfy their gods they would gain protection from the bad vibes.

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.

Roman and Greek gods and goddesses are often compared because they have similar stories that provide the same morals and their personalities are the same for the most part. Although they are mainly compared, they are also very different in appearance, name and behavior. One of the main differences between the Greek and Roman deities is their physical appearance and how they dressed. The Greek deities look a great deal different than their Roman counterpart.

In around 428-65 BC, Greece and Rome were both creating new cultural ideals, ways of using government, and built allies to help benefit the country. Both Empires created similar cultures including cities,technology, complex institutions, record keeping and specialized works. Eventually when they began to expand into a vast empires, they had to come up with ways of organizing and obtaining enough resources for their people. This lead to complex trading tactics, forms of government, and social structure. Even though Rome and Greece were both critical to the creation of the United States, Rome was more influential due to the way it trades with other countries, glorified people of certain social positions, and structured its government.

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.