What Role Did Rome Play In Roman Society

Romans were a civilization that originated after the Greek culture. They, like Greeks, saw an extreme significance in the idea of a love for one’s country and loyalty. The Romans, however, were more concerned with public affairs such as education, sanitation, and health. They held a strong connection with their ancestors and wished to imitate what the ancient Romans did. Although Romans rejected the idea of a Rex, or king, they favored the common hero. They wanted a leader who a “regular Joe”, someone who was average and could still led an average life after doing extraordinary things. The Romans also had a very defined government that was broken into consuls, senate, and assembly. There were two consuls who served in place of the king as the leaders of the Roman Empire. Next in succession was the senate, comprised only of patricians who debated and passed legislation. Finally, there was the assembly made for the plebeians to approve laws.

The Roman government is very unique compared to other societies. The majority of societies were either controlled by monarchy or democracy, however the Romans found a way to have both. The Roman empire had both a senate and an emperor. The Senate was Democracy which was made up by electing officials who although made laws couldn’t finalize the law without approval from emperor. The Emperor made up the Monarchy part having the final say in all important objectives.

At one time, all of Rome was united by a common religion. This religion, commonly referred to as the Roman religion, was derived from the religion in Greece. Members of this religion, which included the majority, if not all, of the Roman citizens, worshiped many different gods, including the creator or father god, Jupiter, the sun god, Apollo, the god of inspiring wars, Mars, and many others as well. The popularity of this religion began to decline when Christianity arose. It appealed to the majority of the people, particularly the lower class and slaves, who now had something to put their hope and faith in. This religion spread rapidly, and Roman emperors felt that because it was so influential it would become a possible threat. These leaders began persecuting Christians, but many Romans had already committed to this religion and refused to abandon it because they viewed it as the most important part of their life. This led to a lack of patriotism in Roman citizens who then rejected politics and became independent of the government.

The story of ancient Rome is a tale of how a small community of shepherds in the central Italy grew to become one of the greatest empires in history, and then collapsed. According to Roman legend. Rome was founded in 753 B.C. By 275 B.C., it controlled most of the Italian Peninsula. In the A.D. 100’s, the Roman Empire covered about half of Europe, much of the Middle East, and the northern coast of Africa. The empire then began to crumble, party because it was too big for Rome to govern.

Religion played a key role in the daily life and social system of Ancient Rome. Religion included the worship of many gods and more gods were often adopted from conquered areas. Because most religions were polytheist at the time, the Romans rarely disallowed a cult from a conquered region to continue. A few cults ran into controversy and opposition from citizens or government, such as the cult of Deus Sol Invictus, and that of Isis. Romans were also not keen on monotheistic religion which explains their separation from the Jews. But above all other religions, the Romans disagreed with, persecuted and were threatened most by Christianity.  The introduction of Christianity to the Roman Empire

Rome began in 31 BCE when Augustus Caesar became the first emperor of Rome, and the Roman empire was a significant and powerful western civilization with a complex political, religious, and social system by 117 CE (Mark, Roman Empire). From the parallel streets in cities of the Roman empire to the layout of the Roman forum to the living structures of the different classes, the Roman empire at this time was highly organized and methodical. And these are but a few examples of the power and authority of the Roman empire, which clearly put the citizens in their place. Looking at Rome and Pompeii, ancient art, building structures, and city layouts clearly stratified citizens based on economic and social status.

Rome was extremely organized in the sense that it had in-depth infrastructure and politics. For example, the Roman road network was most complex and advanced road network in the classical world. (Doc 3) Travel, trade, and military actions were all made quicker and easier. This, of course, kept the empire alive for so long. Rome was also organized politically. From a very early point in its history, Rome wrote extensive laws. This is shown by codes such as the Twelve Tables, detailing points such as different ways to deal with debt. (Doc 7) Codes of law such as this are indicative of Rome’s early political organization. The main purpose of creating laws such as these was to maintain order and control over the people of Rome. Without laws and codes detailing aspects of life, the civilization would not be very effective in governing its people. Not only was Rome highly organized, it also had a significant amount of social progress. This can be seen in the ability for people in the civilization to become citizens. In Rome almost every person living in the empire can be a citizen with the exception of slaves. (Doc 8) This contrasts with other civilizations such as Athens that only offered citizenship to males born in the republic. This social progress found in Rome in combination with the great organization of the civilization aided Rome in lowering unrest and adding to the overall

In Ancient Rome, The way society worked was much similar to America. The Roman social class is and has been very significant in the operational American social class. None of the Roman class’ was oppressed or enslaved rather they were split into two. Once the Romans defeated the Etruscans they went on to build an empire that would change the world. Their influence in today’s society is still very present. We still borrow ideas from them. They formed a government where they would elect people to represent for them, called a republic. This is still the foundation for government in most of today’s world. They formed a system of law that was completely ahead of it’s time so much so that it has become the base for many countries legal system today; one of these being The United States. The political system they built, coincidental caused a division between the Romans. Plebeians were the common people of Rome; the Patricians who were the ones of higher class could serve in the consul. This was the highest position in the senate. The Assembly was made up of Plebeians. They had gained a significant amount of importance when they were the ones given the power to elect Consuls. The Assembly head position was a tribune; he was the leader of the Assembly and had a lot of power. Then they developed the Law of Twelve Tables, a

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.

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.

Rome was a highly hierarchical and class-conscious society; yet, since its power extended for centuries, the distinction between different classes varied in time. In the Roman kingdom and the early Roman Republic, the most important division in Roman society was between the Patricians and the Plebeians. The struggle for power between these two classes resulted in the development of the Roman system of government (McManus, 1997).

Ancient Rome consisted of two main forms of government, the Republic and the Empire, each of which lasted about five centuries. At first, Rome was a republic, governed by members of wealthy classes. As the Republican form of government continued, a series of civil wars led to the breakdown of the system, and a new form of government, the Empire, was established in its place. The Empire began with a prolonged period of peace, the Pax Romana. However, like the Republic, the Empire also turned foul and collapsed after the Pax Romana. Still, a citizen of the Empire was better off than a citizen of the Republic. Health problems were less severe in the Empire than in the Republic. Moreover, the Empire was more peaceful and better able to provide necessities for average citizens than the Republic was. The political situation was also better in the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire generally provided a healthier and higher quality of civic life than the Roman Republic.

Throughout the history of Rome, from the monarchy to the late empire, religion had played a great role in it's society and was involved in almost every aspect of the life of the Roman citizen. It was common for each house to have it's own patron god/gods and ,on special occasions, the head of the house would make a sacrifice to the personal gods of the family. Also, great festivals were usually held in honor of certain gods and would include spectacles like chariot races and Gladiatorial fights.

During the Roman Republic, Ancient Rome was at its very beginnings and a civilization was just being created. Like any other civilization there were different levels of status between classes and several positions of power in which people could obtain. Subsequently, just as there were people of power and wealth, there were also people of little to no power and poverty. The Ancient Romans utilized the institution of slavery to help promote their civilization and became a major factor in the economy of the Roman Republic. In a way slaves helped shape Rome into what it is today. Without slavery in Ancient Rome, history could have been written differently when considering Rome as a powerful city and civilization.

Ancient Roman society is an aristocratic society which means that social resource mainly dominated by upper class. At the beginning, there were only two different social classes of ancient Roman society, including patricians,