The Ancient Roman Civilization

In the ancient Roman world, religion played the most important role in everyday life, as well as in matters of the state. The Romans looked to the gods for political stability and for control of the unexplainable and natural phenomenon. The gods were believed to control all aspects of Roman life, and for that reason, a great deal of importance was placed in the appropriate worship of the gods. Women played an extremely influential role in ancient Roman religion. Not only did they participate in religious rituals, but some even held religious positions as Vestal Virgins.

What kind of technology in the Roman Empire affect its growth the most? I will be investigating from the start of the Roman Empire in 753 BCE to when the Western Roman Empire fell in 476 CE. This investigation will have a broad scope while investigating and include things from the Roman Legion to aqueducts and concrete. This investigation will not include technology that was not widely used to better the Roman Empire. The research question will answer my question by conducting research on how different groups of technology made the Roman Empire better based off of their potential uses and different contributions to Roman society.

Throughout history there have been many great empires, but none have made a greater impact than the Greek and Roman empires. These empires began as small city-states, and grew to become the powerful empires we know today. The Greek and Roman empires were not always enemies, considering the Romans were greatly influenced by the Greek culture. The two civilizations shared many similarities, but had different opinions on government operations. There are three different periods that span the history of the Greek and Roman empires; the Hellenic, Hellenistic, and Roman civilization. I will thoroughly examine the differences in religion, philosophy, societal struggles, territory expansion, trade, commerce and the decline of each

As one of the strongest maritime armies of their time, the Carthaginians controlled land that the Romans wanted. Thus, the Punic Wars spanned over a century between Rome and Carthage. The Romans initiated the first Punic War in Sicily, Hannibal declared war on Rome which marked the start of the second Punic War. The Carthaginians broke their treaty with Rome when they declared war on a neighboring state which resulted in the third Punic War. The Romans ultimately claimed victory in all three wars which resulted in a large transfer of power. The Roman and Carthaginian dispute illustrates a change in power, and this caused historians to question how the Punic Wars affected Roman history. Because the Carthaginians formed one of the most powerful empires based on trade, the Romans obtained land and power from the Carthaginians, and as a result, the Romans succeeded in the Punic Wars which resulted in

Banking activities in Greece are more varied and sophisticated than in any previous society. Private entrepreneurs, as well as temples and public bodies, now undertake financial transactions. They take deposits, make loans, change money from one currency to another and test coins for weight and purity.

There are many different religions within the world. From Judaism, to Hinduism, to even what the Egyptians believed. The greatest one to study though is definitely the Roman religion. From minotaurs to hydras to even the Gods. The Roman religion has so many interesting stories, such as how their nation came to be through Romulus and and Remus. There are many stories about sword fights and God’s intervening into their society. The Romans had many early beliefs such as being an Animistic society, meaning that they believed that spirits dwelled among the world that helped with their farming and harvesting, to the God’s, who they believed controlled their everyday life, but the fall of this fantastic religion was when Judaism and Christianity

Ancient imperialism reached its high point under the Roman Empire, the eastern part of which lasted until late into the middle Ages as the Byzantine Empire. In Western Europe no true empire arose to replace Rome; the Holy Roman Empire was more than a confederation of princely states so imperialism did not exist that long in this particular empire. However, imperialism remained an important historical force in places like North Africa, the Middle East, the Arabs and years later the Turks who all constructed large empires. In the east if unstable, empires of the nomadic Mongols and others arising out of Central Asia, were long-lasting and complex imperial organizations exemplified by a number of Chinese dynasties.

With the introduction of the hoplite phalanx to the Roman army, came a multitude of wars and long drawn out campaigns that the Romans were involved in throughout the republic period. One such campaign or campaigns that set the Roman republic as the uncontested superpower in the Mediterranean was the Punic Wars. Rome fought three wars against Carthage between 264 and 146 BCE. These wars constituted major events in the history of Rome and the Mediterranean basin (Marcel Le Glay 2009) p. 73. Though these wars were fought for reasons such as competing economics, revenge (most notably the Carthaginian general Hannibal), and a fear that could be related in today’s terms of opposing forces such as (the United States and Soviet Union feared each other during the Cold War) the fact is in the end Rome defeated the Carthaginians, not only were the Carthaginians defeated, but the city of Carthage was demolished and the people massacred or sold into slavery so as not to threaten the Romans ever again. In the fall of the city, in obedience to the Senate’s orders the inhabitants were reduced to slavery or forced to emigrate, the town was burnt and soil was

The Roman Empire was a very successful empire because they knew how to govern it and they had a fierce army to protect it. Their constitution was basest off of many other constitutions such as the Athenian system or the Spartan system. They were able to piece and part together a strong government off of their neighbors. The Romains also made a strong army to protect themselves. In the time of the Punic wars that army was used for conquering new territories. The Romans started to expand as they did they went after the Carthaginians. The Carthaginians fought back because they were not going to be ruled by Rome and thus was borne the Punic wars. The Punic wars went on for a very long time in the end Rome won, but even in the time of war Rome’s

When Rome was founded in 753 BC it was constructed as a representative republic in which the governing body consisted of the Senate, the assemblies and two consuls. This system was suitable as the city was “a sanctuary of refuge for all fugitives, which they called the temple of the god Asylaeus, where they received and protected all, delivering none back, neither the servant to his master, the debtor to his creditor, nor the murderer into the hands of the magistrate, saying it was a privileged place (Plutarch’s Romulus).” Allowing representation to the people who were the outcasts in other societies created fierce loyalty. As the size of the Roman Empire increased around much of the Mediterranean Sea the difficulty of governing such an expansive amount of land became clear and the switch from the Republic to the Principate, in which one ruler led the people, aided in its ultimate decline. Leadership was constantly changing in the first century BC and caused inconsistencies in direction and many forms of political corruption. Looking specifically at the reforms of Sulla, Caesar, and Augusts it will become evident that over expansion, military reforms, consolidation of power and corruption created by these administrators ultimately led to the dissolution of the Roman Republic.

The surrounding civilizations Rome and Greece traded with depended on the location of the two. In Rome the transportation was limited, that was caused by lack of innovation on land. The Romans had Numeric land routes that they themselves built. The sea routes covered the Mediterranean and the Black Seas. One of the most important ports in Rome was the Ostia port. The Ostia port was located at the mouth of the Tiber River. Ships arrived from Spain and France though later on the Ostia port also brought the downfall of Rome.

Rome, the first long and lasting empire that swept through other nations like wildfire. Rome broke the barriers of politics and government. Rome also stood for something that citizens of today look at as grotesque and savage. The fact that citizens would come together and cheer for another man while he plunged his sword through his chest, with no understanding of life or family. The building that represented this evil act is the Roman Coliseum. Although inside the coliseum death was glorified and wished for the idea and meaning demonstrated politics and power.

The Roman Empire is among the greater ancient civilizations known to man. In 753 B.C. Rome at one point consisted of The Rhine River to Egypt and from Asia Minor to Britain accumulating some 2 millions square miles. This essay goes over some of their culture and the great strides made throughout 753 BC to 27 BC and from 64 AD to 1453 A.D.

The Punic Wars were a turning point in the history of Rome in political, economic, and military terms. In fact, before the conflict with Carthage, Rome had never gone to war with non-Italian populations, although naturally they did not ignore their existence. In fact, the Romans had maintained peaceful relations and agreements with Carthage itself long before the Punic Wars. These relations and agreements had their reason in fundamentally different interests: the Romans were almost peasants and had their interests in the mainland (and in fact they did not have a naval fleet), while

Carthaginians were wealthy and from the North Africans city that was founded by Phoenician’s they had more power, military, and naval experience than the Romans (Backman, Cultures of the West, p.184). Because Carthaginians were trying to expand into Sicily which held just one of Rome’s greatest grain producing cities this unsettled the Romans, who feared being cut off from a great food source (Backman, Cultures of the West, p.184). Though they tried a workable solution of sharing control of the Mediterranean this was not to be. This inability to work together was one of the reasons for the start of the Punic wars, a series of three different wars (Jones, Rome, Podcast 1). In the bloody 3rd war of the Punic wars Rome defeated the Carthaginians (Jones, Rome, Podcast 1). After the Punic wars the Romans had found they had accumulated vast amounts of wealth and land. This put them in an awkward position, because they had no plan in place for this and did not know what to do with it (Backman, Cultures of the West, p.187). This huge wealth also created a problem for Rome, one of greed and corruption which began to take control over Rome (Backman, Cultures of the West, p.187). Senators who amassed wealth begun to become lazy and accustomed to a life of leisure, also the more wealth they got the more they wanted (Jones, Rome, Podcast 1). The next problem for Rome was these greedy senators not only wanted the wealth they wanted power too