Task 2
Synthesis
The ancient Rome was an empire built by the romans who acquired this by conquering most countries. The empire spread from Rome to other parts of Europe as well as Africa. The Romans followed a thriving civilization that developed from the Italian Peninsula in the early 8th century. The roman civilization grew from monarchy to an aristocratic empire; still in the present times the influence attributed to the romans still exists. The romans had distinct history that got insight from their present and future which was similarly embraced. They established a positive image which was put in place hence meaning a sense of confidence, optimism and the ability to act and present the type of world that they desired.
It is in the later future that the ancient Roman Empire crumbled in the year AD. 476. This was attributed to external invasions from barbarians while others attribute it to variety of people during conquest. The romans had an insight of bringing down of internal political rivals which led to a gap in the persons that could rule properly (Kreis Steven, 2006). With the passage of time, the roman society became an attribute of intense disparity of the rich and the poor. The lack of the middle class may be attributed to the extreme failure of Rome.
The roman civilization is termed to as being the leading of all which is attributed to its wide range of popularity and acceptance by most individuals. Presently, the effect is felt in a wide range of fields for instance law, art, battles, language and architecture among others. Ancient Rome’s civilization is the first of a kind of civilizations. It grew from a rather small agricultural community located in the Italian peninsula around the 10th century BC. In ancient Rome, agriculture was extraordinarily different than how agriculture is today. The most important staples were various types of legumes for human consumption and animal fodder, as well as a large number of herbs for culinary and medicinal purposes (Leakey 2004 page 179). I believe it is this civilization’s ability to sustain itself that makes it unique from many others of its time, except for maybe the Greeks, from whom they learned much about governing themselves and similar trades.
The characteristic features of the roman civilization are vast among them being the Italian peninsula which is where civilization arose. The language spoken by the romans became very popular considering the discovery of the varied number of facts about the culture. Moreover, the romans added value to their culture with the Etruscans.
The ancient roman civilization had its importance that has even extended to the present point in time, considering the society and more so of the family, this was considered as the most important basic part of the society. The father was the head of the family as well as the household who set a good precedence that would be followed by the sons in the coming future. Women on the other hand were responsible for taking care of the family by cooking, cleaning and looking after the children. In the political scene, the leaders were responsible for making the major decisions and instilling discipline in the people it ruled, a trend which was taken after in the modern life.
The romans made an interface of the far parts of the empire using roads that were strong and solid. They additionally made the transportation of water easy to the bigger cities. The baths in the empire enable the use of hot water by creating varied means to do so, a technique that is still currently in use. Another important roman civilization was trade. The ships traveled long distances to bring and send goods to far markets leading to the establishment of roads. The romans had several forms of entertainment like philosophy, drama, death and destruction of which some like death and destruction are rarely practiced today. The form of political structure in place was strict; the ancient roman legal tradition does still continue to be applied in the present times. The roman civilization is known for the hugeness of the empire, success of the army, strong structures, embracing of the Christian religion, and the growth of the roman laws, practices and ideals. Consequently the fall of the empire served a good teaching for the present governments.
These aspects of life has little contrast when compared to what kind of civilization we see today; the present political structures, the economic statue of varied countries, and the social attributes that a country has accustomed itself to.
Most of the famous writers and scholars developed criticism of the life that the romans used to follow. Most of the debates lay in the economic and religious aspects of life. Famous writers like Shakespeare and Julius Caesar lay their criticism on the political aspect that the romans used to follow. The latest debate on the political matter was about the Elizabeth England and Ancient Rome.
John Jump (1974) says that Julius like Shakespeare uphold the “Tudor myth” where the Queen is rightfully to the throne. Shakespeare demonstrates in his plays. Rose on the other hand argues that the play has controversies on the authority that the leader has similarly for England considering religion and politics.
The culture division that was adopted in the ancient history in the time of the cold war had an alignment with the Soviet Union. Critics have however argued against this terming it as confusion with the Eastern Roman Empire with Russia. More so laying consideration to the roots with was based in Greece. Criticism of the Roman spectators and spectacles are termed to as being of highly excited and violent.
Rome is particularly intriguing when one takes into account the fact that it was a highly sophisticated civilization that was nearly forgotten about when Europe slipped into its Dark Ages after its fall. However, thanks to its well-kept records and countless artifacts, scholars of the past few centuries have been able to unearth the accomplishments for contemporaries to study and emulate. As Rome’s territory expanded, the pattern of land tenure became more complex (Leakey 2004 page 177).
Reference
Leakey A. et al (2004). Handbook to life in ancient Rome. InfoBase Publishing.
Kreis Steven (2006). History Guide: Early Roman Civilization.
Scurman, Ike & Malam J. ().Ancient Roman Civilization.
