Roman Influen the Western Civilization

Western civilization is what is presently called modern or contemporary society that mainly comprises Western Europe and North America. It is believed that civilization came in through the influence of ancient cultures the two main ones being Greek and Roman. The influence by Greece was mainly by their golden age and Rome with its great Empire and Republic. Ancient Rome formed the law code much like the one used in the present time in many countries. The belief that a person is innocent until proven guilty originated from the Roman laws. Rome had senates just like the ones used today, with both upper and lower class. Ancient Rome was a civilization that expanded out of a small agricultural community. The empire was founded on the Italian peninsula in the 10th century B.C.

This means that civilization has been in place for centuries. During its existence, it moved from a kingdom to an Oligarchic Republic then to an expanding Autocratic Empire. Roman civilization grew to dominate Southwestern Europe, Southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean area through capture and assimilation. The Roman Empire spanned a wide spread of territory and included a number of cultures. The Roman Empire is categorized into classical era, comprising the joining civilizations of ancient Rome and ancient Greece, jointly referred to as Creco-Roman world. The Romans were proud of their rule but they appreciated Greeks leadership in the fields of art, architecture, literature and philosophy. The Romans were singular people who were once terribly cruel but benevolently democratic. They were barbaric and intolerant at the same time creative and intellectual. By the 2nd century B.C. Romans conquered Greece and came to appreciate the Greek culture. Educated Romans studied the Greek language. The mixing of the elements of Greek, Hellenistic and Roman culture produced a new culture that was referred to as Greco-Roman culture. This is often known as classical civilization. This is the era when the Greek and Roman literature thrived. Ancient Rome contributed very much to the establishment of law, art, literature, war, technology, architecture, religion, and language in the western society. The history of the Ancient Rome still has a key influence on the world today. The Romans were a bridge between the older cultures and the western civilization.