The Development And Development Of The Greek And Greek Empire

The City-state of Rome became a republic in 509 BC. Rome fought numerous battles to become what it was at its height. It all started with the Punic wars. After they won, there was no stopping them. By the first century BC, Rome controlled most of the known world. (Mahoney, 2001)

In examining the impact that the ancient world has had on modern Western civilization, the two ancient civilizations which are frequently understood as having had the greatest influence are Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. These two civilizations would eventually come to shape much of what would become the modern European culture, politics and society, and by extension, a vast proportion of global culture and society. In examining the trajectory of modern history in an era of globalization of Western ideas and modes of living, the importance of these civilizations in world history is extensive, contributing to cultural, political and social trends which may well dominate the globe in the future.

The roman republic came into existence at the termination of the Roman kingship in 507 B.C.E. The last king of Rome, Tarquin the Proud, was expelled by Collatinus and Brutus, as a result of his arrogance involving the matter of one of his relations raping the wholesome Roman matron Lucretia and her subsequent suicide. The rape of Lucretia was really a representation of the frustration that the roman citizens felt regarding the kingship. The later kings had little regard for roman values and the roman populus, which they used as something of a slave labor force. Brutus and Collatinus became the first Roman Consuls, elected by popular vote.

Greece: Engineering an Empire, began with a depiction of Greece as city-states that were both self-contained and self-reliant, yet faced the issue of trying to unite disparate city-states; lacking a sense of nationalism. To address this matter, Themistocles cultivated a plan to overthrow the Persian Empire through blockading their army into the Solomon Straits. Conversely, although he made Greece a victorious nation, many viewed him as power hungry and a danger to the political process. As a result, he was exiled from Greece; where later he became an administrator for the Persian King.

     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.

Some policies and institutions of the Roman Republic were useful to help them succeed in conquering first Italy and then the Mediterranean world. Before of the institution of the republic, the romans were a monarchy since their beginning and they were basically a pastoral people. Rome suffer several changes and improvements under the control of the Etruscan kings. The Etruscan were civilization settled north of Rome in Etruria, and they once had control over almost all the Italic peninsula. The Etruscans influences in Rome were profound, they transformed Rome from a pastoral community to a city (91). The Etruscan built the street and roads that help the development of temples, markets, shops, streets, and houses. They basically brought urbanization to Rome. It is fairly to say that the Rome republic was a fusion between the elements of the Etruscan civilization and the Rome elements. The combination of the different political institutions and policies made the Romans succeed in their conquest territories.

There were four great multicultural Empires in our world’s history Ancient Greece, The Roman Empire, Persia and China. I am going to focus on Ancient Greece and the Persian Empire, what geographical features did each region offer to help the people build these great empires, what were some of the cultures of this empires, and what changes did they have over time? Going further into details on the Persian Empire, who were two of the leaders and what contributions did they make to Persia, what methods did they use to expand the region and gain power? How did the political system change over time?

From 509 BC to about 27 BC, Rome was considered a republic. During this time there was no single leader of Rome and the government was run by elected officials. The main leaders of the Roman Republic were the consuls. There were always two consuls in power at a time. Each year new consuls were elected to serve for a one-year term. This kept any one man from becoming too powerful in the government. At the time the Senate was the most powerful governing body in Rome. The Senate had control of the state’s finances and foreign policies. Senators were elected by the people to represent them in government. The Senate was made up of 300 of the most elite and wealthiest of the Roman Republic. One of the most important roles of the Senate to undergo the checks and balances of the Roman government. Checks and balances are the “principle of government under which separate branches are empowered to prevent actions by other branches and are induced to share power” (The Editors). The checks and balances of Rome helped to stabilize the government and allowed the power to be distributed somewhat equally between the consul, the Senate, and the people. However, the fall of the Roman Empire eliminated this type aspect of government in Rome (Kagan 101-103).

The video on YouTube named “THE ANCIENT GREEKS - ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE - Discovery History Science (full documentary)” by AncientDiscoveryHistory tells the story of the Ancient Greece. The video mentions that for over one thousand years, the charismatic and strong people of Greece made the most advanced technological wonders that the world has ever seen. Greece is a country of islands and city-states that was ruled by leaders whose thirst for greatness united people. However, Persia was the world’s superpower of that time. Persians were self-confident and multi-ethnic. Persia was a land power. A Persian invasion force of epic proportions came to Greece to add it to its empire, but Greece was ready to battle.

In ancient times, the Greek and Roman Empires were the leading figures in their world. In these civilizations, the world saw continuous new inventions of items, thoughts, and ways of living. As ancient Greece and Rome grew, the characteristics of culture grew as well, with cities, arts and architecture, technology and science, social structure, government, religion and philosophy, and writing and literature becoming more diverse and modernized. Though they began nearly 3,000 years ago, the Greek and Roman Empires’ advancements still impact the modern world in all areas of culture, particularly in government, religion and technology.

In 509 B.C Rome became a republic, from there the Romans were expanding more and more every year. Over a 500 hundred year time period the Romans grew from a big city to a vast empire of many countries with a tremendous army. Rome changed over time because of when Rome change their government to a Republic, to allow their people to elect officials of the government, the important results for the Romans were getting wealthy from trade, and expanding Rome into a immense empire. First, when they formed the Republic it made a organized way to elect citizens to rule Rome. The second reason, is the road system they built. The wanted lots of money from all of their empire and they got from thousands of miles connected roadways. When Rome drove out their Etruscan ruler and formed a Republic, the Romans wanted to spread their beliefs, farther than Italy.

By the late sixth century Rome had a republic government, but through a series of civil wars, the roman republic turned into the Roman Empire under a military control. Republics have been able to create empires, they have all, fallen prey to the ambitions of the strongest and most influencial among them. This is what became of the Greek city-states, and it is what finally became of roman when the empire had grown too big.

The Roman Republic was a “democratic” republic, which allowed first citizens to vote, and to choose their governors in the senate (Hence, their consuls). However, it was a nation ruled by its aristocracy, and, consequently, the entire Republic`s power was concentrated in a few individuals. Furthermore, the Senate was controlled by Patricians, which directed the government by using wealth to buy control and power over the decisions of the senate and the consuls. This situation aroused the inconformity of the people; as result, a civil war took place in the Republic (destroying it), and then the Roman Empire was born.

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.

Very few civilizations have had as profound an influence on the world as those of ancient Greece. The Greeks laid the foundations for fields varying from philosophy to political theory to war tactics. However, this influence was not just due to their intelligence or success, but their widespread presence in the Mediterranean. Greek culture was spread throughout their known world in two distinct manners, the foundation of apoikia in the Archaic Age (8th century to 500 B.C. ) and imperialists by poleis, primarily Athens of the Classical Age (490 - 323 B.C ). Though the culture of a mother city (mētropolis) may have spread through two very different manners of “colonization.” The word is not used in the literal sense, but rather hereafter used to mean “spreading of culture”, as the former can hardly be described using the contemporary definition of colonization and the latter was through Athenian empire-building. These developments had a significant impact on ancient Greece and our modern perception thereof. Like most of the ancient world, we can best analyze these methods of colonialism through extant artifacts. I will analyze an inscription of the foundation oath of Cyrene, which recounts the decision and manner in which the island of Thera sent its citizens to the form a new polis, and the fragments of the Lapis Primus, a marble monolith that documented tributes to Athens when the city was at the peak of its imperial age, evidencing the magnitude of their power and influence in the Greek region.