Similarities Greeks and Romans Essay
3RD pd world cultures | Similarities and differences between Greece and Rome. | Essay. | | Zack Skone | 4/18/2013 |
This document is about the similarities and differences between Ancient Greece and Rome. |
Comparisons and differences between the Ancient Greeks and Romans
The Ancient Greeks and Romans both began their histories as city-states. While the coastline and the mountainous terrain of the Greek peninsula isolated the various Greek cities from one another, the city of Rome was located in the middle of north-south boarder. Bordered on the east with mountains and on the west by the sea. Therefore, Rome was exposed to the migrations of people from the Po River in the north and Sicily in the south.
The two primary ethnic and cultural influences upon the Romans were determined by this geography. The first influence was that of the Etruscans in the north, and the second large influence was that of the Greeks in the south. By the time the city of Rome had emerged as a distinct entity out of its Etruscan origins and was prepared to expand its own unique influence, Greek civilization had spread throughout the Mediterranean basin. However, the fierce exclusiveness of the Greek city-states from one another, stemming from their geographical isolation, had determined that Greek colonization of the Mediterranean would be an extension of isolated city-states. The Greek polis did not permit the building of a Greek empire, and the strict barriers to the extension of citizenship prevented any one city-state from becoming dominant. As we have seen from Greek history, the Athenians were on the way to creating an empire through their domination of the Delian League, but this trend was reversed in the Peloponnesian Wars.
The Romans, on the other hand, brought other communities on the Italian peninsula under their control, first by conquest, and then by extending Roman citizenship to elements of the conquered peoples. Over time, in the crucible of
This document is about the similarities and differences between Ancient Greece and Rome. |
Comparisons and differences between the Ancient Greeks and Romans
The Ancient Greeks and Romans both began their histories as city-states. While the coastline and the mountainous terrain of the Greek peninsula isolated the various Greek cities from one another, the city of Rome was located in the middle of north-south boarder. Bordered on the east with mountains and on the west by the sea. Therefore, Rome was exposed to the migrations of people from the Po River in the north and Sicily in the south.
The two primary ethnic and cultural influences upon the Romans were determined by this geography. The first influence was that of the Etruscans in the north, and the second large influence was that of the Greeks in the south. By the time the city of Rome had emerged as a distinct entity out of its Etruscan origins and was prepared to expand its own unique influence, Greek civilization had spread throughout the Mediterranean basin. However, the fierce exclusiveness of the Greek city-states from one another, stemming from their geographical isolation, had determined that Greek colonization of the Mediterranean would be an extension of isolated city-states. The Greek polis did not permit the building of a Greek empire, and the strict barriers to the extension of citizenship prevented any one city-state from becoming dominant. As we have seen from Greek history, the Athenians were on the way to creating an empire through their domination of the Delian League, but this trend was reversed in the Peloponnesian Wars.
The Romans, on the other hand, brought other communities on the Italian peninsula under their control, first by conquest, and then by extending Roman citizenship to elements of the conquered peoples. Over time, in the crucible of