Rome Greece Government
Both Rome and Greece were extremely influential civilizations. They left a lasting impact on the world and its future societies. The two domains contrasted each other in many ways. One very important aspect of both the Roman and Greek empires was the political structure and government systems.
Greece was mainly based on two individual city-states, Athens and Sparta. Both fighting for absolute power and control over Greece. Sparta was very focused and determined to make every male citizen a part of an efficient military force. In contrast Athens was more peaceful and economical. It sought ways to advance itself through conquest of knowledge, education, and philosophy rather than land. For the time Sparta was in power, after winning the Peloponnesian War, it ruled very harshly treating all of the citizens as sort of slaves. The rights were unequal allowing only the rich male landowners to have all of the political power. At first the Greek government was very unstable, because the rich could practically buy their way into it. This kind of government was called aristocracy. Over time Greece experimented with many different concepts and ideas of the perfect government. Sparta was ruled under a council of elders who held unlimited power. Athens' government was more of a direct-democracy, rather than a dictator ship like in Sparta. It was divided into four classes with four reformers. Neither Sparta nor Athens showed any record of written laws, instead they used their government to enforce them. Alexander the Great reined during the Hellenistic Age of Greece. He conquered the Persian Empire and was known for the spread of Greek culture across the Mediterranean. A new blend of Greek, Persian, Egyptian, and Indian cultures emerged known as the Hellenistic Civilization.
Rome was based on the principle idea of one empire, because it was located on a single island in the center of the Mediterranean, it was easier to stay united as an empire. Rome is known for establishing the first republican government, where the power belonged in the hands of the people. This type of a new government prevented a one single leader from gaining too much power. The roman republic consisted of a senate, two consuls, and a dictator. The senate was the most powerful, composed of three-hundred patrician or upper-class members. Second in importance were the two consuls, they were nominated each year and served for only one term. In an event of a war, a dictator or absolute leader would serve for six months. Rome unlike Greece, wrote down their laws in the 12 Tables. These laws stated the basic principles of the government which included the rights woman had to run a business and own property. Rome also functioned from the system of Law Codes. The codes applied equally to all people and created stability and unity in the Roman Empire.
The basic military unit in Rome was called a legion, and the people conquered by it were given just treatment. Out of the many emperors and rulers of Rome, Octivian, or Augustus was the most influential one. He was the first citizen to have absolute power, becoming the new Emperor of Rome. He was a very successful leader, some of his accomplishments included creating a stable government and marking the foundation of the Pax Romana, he was also known for setting up public services and economic reforms. Now the only major issue Rome faced was who were to replace Augustus as emperor. The Julian Emperors or relatives of Julies Caesar came into power. They were not too good of leaders but still managed to stay peaceful and united. After the two-hundred great years of unity, Rome was beset by many problems such as political disloyalty, economic fall, and military decay. These problems marked the beginning of the Crisis of the third Century, an era which marked the fall of Rome.
Despite of the many political differences, Rome and Greece compared in their cultures and ways of living. Because of the Hellenistic Age a lot of Greek influences were spread across the Mediterranean, providing other empires such as Rome, with basic ideas. The early Greek civilizations included the Minoans, Mycenaeans, and Dorians. They were the first Greek speaking people. These sea traders learned a lot from Egyptian and Mesopotomian customs passing much of what they learned to the Greeks. In Greece religion was valued highly, just like in Rome. It helped give the people a better understanding of the mysteries of the physical world. In Greece each city-state had its own patron or god/goddess looking over them. The people would honor these patrons, by building temples and celebrating festivals. The gods resembled humans in many ways. In fact the only thing that was different about them was that they were immortal or never dying. In Rome the religion was also polytheistic. Most of Rome's gods were actually taken from Greece and just merged with the Roman ones. Since Rome tolerated many religions as long as the Roman gods were respected, a new monotheistic religion arose. This religion was called Christianity, and after a tough battle later became the official religion of Rome.
Art and Architecture were equally important in Rome and Greece. Both stressed realism, idealism and individual character. They utilized simple elegance and made art much grander. In Greece balance of order and beauty was very important.
Rome adopted a lot of Greece's ideas such as their alphabet, writing, engineering techniques and philosophy. Both Rome and Athens had strong ideas about education, and advancement in Math and Science. In Rome they applied their knowledge to build a successful transportation/road system, and many aqueducts or water carriers. Philosophers, or lovers of wisdom, began to challenge life events and use logic, math and science to explain them, rather than religion. In Greece philosophers had different views on the idea government. Plato distrusted Democracy, and thought of a republic as an idea state, and Aristotle favored rule by a single strong leader. Later Romans adopted the philosophy called stoicism.
The Roman and Greek empires successfully managed to stick around for a number of years because of their great influential impact on the world. If it weren't for these two civilizations we wouldn't have our government system, the language we speak, the art and architecture, philosophy and engineering techniques of today. Both Rome and Greece set a trend for future civilizations and government systems.
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