Looking back at civilizations such as the Romans and the Greeks provides insight into their sucesses and also their downfalls. The Romans were able to unify while the Greeks were not, there are many reasons for this. The Romans created a huge empire that lasted many centuries due to their strong military and obedient soldiers, their centralized government, and lastly the similar traditions and religions. Meanwhile the Greeks were not able to unify due to all their city states that were not as centralized and had a diverse population with different beliefs, the different government types, and the Pelponnesian War all led to the downfall of the Greeks unification. The Romans were so strong and able to unify due to the strong miliary and obedient soldiered that were on their side. "The Romans devoted themselves to the discipline of warfare in ways the Greeks (except for the Spartans) and the Persians did not." Not only were they devoted to the dicipline of warfare, each individual soldier had a duty to honor his ancestors. "The Roman man’s primary duty …show more content…
"The rapid growth of cities had both political and eco-nomic causes. Greek rulers imported Greek officials and especially Greek soldiers to maintain their control over non-Greek populations, making many new Greek settlements necessary. Alexander himself had founded some 70 cities as outposts of imperial domination; in the next two centuries, his successors founded about 200 more." This conquest played a huge role in the downfall of the Greeks due to how swiftly they took over these populations. These populations had structures set up previously and had completely different beliefs and lifestyles than the Greeks. Because of this population that of city states that were't centralized and didn't have the same cultures, the Greeks were not able to unify with this diverse set of people which included the Ionians and
He spread Greek culture which is one reason he was great. According to Document E, it states, “Number of cities founded by Alexander: 70” (Document E). Alexander would not give up on conquering cities, but his troops started getting tired. The troops started heading back home because
One trait every army must have to be successful is the willingness and drive to dominate. The Roman army took these traits to a whole different level. The Romans were very extreme in battle as well. They often enjoyed humiliating other city-states by burning them to the ground. In 264 B.C.E. a battle between other Greek city-states forced Rome and Carthage, who dominated the western part of the Mediterranean, into conflict. The First Punic War was for the control of Sicily.4 This battle lasted twenty-three years.4 The Romans were losing a lot of men, but they continued to battle on.4 Finally, the persistence paid off.4 The Romans learned how to fight by sea and cut off the Carthaginian supply line into
Polybius, a Greek commander who spent years on military campaigns with Roman armies in the second century B.C.E. (Hunt, Al., 2012, 160) Polybius venerated the Roman camp but it was army discipline that authentically fascinated him. It was rigorous to the point of inhumanity. Polybius believed the ideal Centurion was instilled with the Core Values of the Arête, the Greek value of competitive individual excellence. This commitment or drive imbues a zealousness of self-sacrifice, accolade, obligation, and a commitment to culminate ones ' life in the accommodation rather than peregrinate home in disgrace. Utilizing this philosophy a committed army, led by Centurions who Rome wanted “not so much to be bold and eager to take risks, but rather to be capable of leadership and steady and solid in character, nor do they want them to initiate attacks and precipitate battle”. (Vegetius, F. 2011, 176) It was prosperous in incrementing Rome 's elevate in a troglodytic time into a more Western Civilization.
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.
He recruited the Greeks to establish themselves in the new cities so they could be the ruling groups, and Greek became the common language. An empire was created that incorporated all the old eastern civilizations that preceded Alexander, except for China. They were no longer a small, tight knit community but a large kingdom with a bureaucracy governed at the king’s command. The plastic art went through the same changes by introducing Central Asia to the Western world and there were direct trade contacts between Bactria and India with the Mediterranean (Pouwels, Adler, 2015, pg. 109). There was a political balance that was disrupted due to the
The Roman Empire was said to be one of the most powerful and largest empires in all of history. The Roman Empire had a monstrous army and was always on the hunt for new land. Also, the Romans built a strong wall around the border to prevent Barbarian invasions. In order to defend and preserve the empire, the Romans were very militaristic. They used a variety of procedures to preserve the empire. The Romans fought in numerous wars to defend their empire, and they were very successful. An example of the Romans fighting to defend their empire was the Punic Wars. The Punic Wars were fought between Rome and Carthage. The Romans felt that the Carthaginians were an imminent danger to their empire, so they thought quickly to destroy them. Throughout the Punic Wars, the Roman army faced very tough military forces, including
Nearly 37 million military personnel and civilian bystanders lives were taken during the Great War.(How many People Died in WWI).The negative and positive aspects of the war can severely change ones outlook on life. Due to the war, over the course of the novel’s five books, Lt. Frederic Henry’s views and feelings for many attributes in this life undergo drastic changes. His once optimistic view on the war turned bleak, and his once close group of friends soon began to drift apart due to Henrys hectic life.
The civilians of Ancient Greece had to be resourceful. Most civilizations had rivers to channel, irrigate, and predict. Ancient Greece is a series of islands. This means that the people of Ancient Greece had to learn to live on the ocean. They had to deal with being more vulnerable to land attacks as they were used to battling with ships. And they also had to deal with huge ocean storms. These storms could destroy a new society with no notice. (Acrobatic, 2014)
In order for the city-state to prosper they would need to keep the population low to prevent chaos or disagreements in the society. This would allow the Greeks to be able to individually fit into the overall system of
Because mountains cut off the Greek, this led to the formation of city-states. There was limited interaction and unity of the city-states. Rivers also made boundaries. Such physical barriers prevented a unified Greece. Because the country was composed of mountains, islands, and small farming valleys, this created natural divides and boundaries of the people into small population centers with their own language, religions, and traditions.
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 Greek Empire occurred before the Romans and when compared to the Roman Empire, seems to be modest, not as great. The Greeks did not have as much conquered lands, which lessens their power. What they did have conquered was divided into parts amongst different rulers, who were constantly at war with each other, lacking the peace that Pax Romana had. The conquered Greek lands did not have a chance to civilize as one great empire as the Romans had.
One of the problems was that the "Greeks lived in independent communities or societies isolated from each other." As stated in Document five, Also stated in document five "Later these communities were organized into polesis or city-states. " The natural boundaries were hills and mountains and there was many of them in Greece. " Also, when Greece was attacked by a different country or civilization like Persia most of Greece would unite together. " That's what the first negative effect it had on ancient Greek Civilization, now on to the second negative
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 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.