The roman war machine draws definitive lines between what is human and what is natural through their military camp. Polybius describes the roman military system as diametrically organized to that of the Greek. Whereas the Greeks “adapt the camp to the natural advantages of the ground”, the Romans impose themselves upon their surroundings. Every camp is uniform in order to expedite communication and organization. From the location of the consul’s flag, an entire camp, without instruction, can materialize with the homogeneity equivalent of the factory mass production of the Industrial Revolution. The Romans quite physically impose order onto a land that is foreign to them. Thus, the Romans turn a land or world that is chaotic into a comprehensible world order. Nature is no longer an inhospitable alien environment for the Romans have mapped the familiar with their military camp. Both Lucretius and Augustus’, like the Roman military pervert the natural with literary and physical maps. Lucretius digs trenches into the earth, perverting nature with words, to protect man from the nebulous land of The Shades. Likewise, Augustus projects himself, like the military camp, onto his surroundings, in the form of the Ara Pacis. In his essay “religion as a Cultural System”, Clifford Geertz affords the vocabulary intrinsic to what is imposed upon nature as moods and motives; moods “vary only as to intensity” and refer “to the conditions from which they are conceived to spring” whereas motives “have a directional cast” and refer “to the ends toward which they are conceived to conduce”. In other words, moods are temporary and inherent of the past and motives are lasting and inherent of the future. In their unique methods, literary or physical, Lucre...
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...ly human with perverse juxtapositions that inoculate Romans with Augustus as the cure to such qualms. The accuracy of such new religions paralleling the state of nature is of no real importance; According to Geertz, “What any particular religion affirms about the fundamental nature of reality may be obscure, shallow or, all too often, perverse, but it must, if it is not to consist of the mere collection of received practices and conventional sentiments we usually refer to as moralism, affirm something”. The Romans, no matter the mendacity of such arguments, accepted each religion hoping for a doctrine that dictated moods of happiness and motives leading to honor. Lucretius and Augustus take the human and natural, creating Epicureanism and the Golden Age, naturally human constructs to, like the military camp, make what is foreign and fearful digestible for the man.
Roman emperor Julian the Apostate and Christian leader Antony both exhibited many qualities of character during their existence. Both of them led very distinctive lives although shared several ethical values. Book 25 of “The Later Roman Empire” and the book “Early Christian Lives” show concrete evidence of this. In the following essay, I will argue how both leaders’ lives were devoted to their religious beliefs and their mutual cardinal virtues.
The culture of Ancient Rome had a distinct way to entertain its citizens. Besides spending times at the baths, Romans found pleasure and delight in the games held at the local coliseum. These games were among the bloodiest displays of public amusement in the history of man. Professional wrestling and boxing today, do not come close to the disgusting horrors that the people of Rome took so much pleasure in observing. Although the games were very bloody and extremely brutal, often killing many men and animals, the Romans enjoyed the scenery of life and death being very near. Watching men fight and eventually die a dreadful death, is what fascinated the Roman population in great degree as the games were one of their favorite ways to spend their leisure time. The ancient Romans had a very bloodthirsty taste for entertainment exhibited in the form of gladitorial combat.
Leadership power in ancient Roman society was maintained through a careful arrangement of social boundaries. These protective boundaries were symbolized by an explicit separation of the clean and unclean or the “us” and “them”. This ideology was initiated at the individual level by establishing the human body as a confined system that required certain standards in order to remain “clean” and acceptable. Rules or “margins” regarding eating, drinking, and socializing between classes were strictly followed because one’s home and table were the groundwork for empowering ancient Rome (68). When margins are no longer clear, the fibers that collate a national culture begin to tear at the seams. On the macrocosmic level, ancient Roman society employed a patronal system, which was upheld by a sense of moral duty that extended through the hierarchical ranks down to the most destitute (97). This system demanded adherence to social norms and severely punished individuals who did not preserve these boundaries. For example, the leper was often characterized as one of the most unclean and despised figures of society. Crossan suggests that the leper is not a danger as a result of his medical condition, but rather because of the “symbolic contamination” that threatened to compromise the identity of society (79). The leper was perceived as unclean because his disease rendered him different than “normal” people. On the other hand, Jesus advocated open commensality, which is the acceptance of all people equally. Jesus refused to treat the leper as an ostracized member of society and welcomed him into the Kingdom of God. This act of bringing the marginalized back into the community infuriated Rome, but spread Jesus’ reputation as a “healer”.
Question : Who were the spectators at Roman games? Discuss the relationship between them and the performers they watched.
Over the course of human history every society, even the most culturally isolated of civilizations, has developed some form of faith-system for interpreting and understanding the spiritual and material worlds. Thousands of such systems have existed over the centuries, and as tribes and cultures expanded, these faith-systems inevitably met each other face-to-face and clashed. Two thousand years ago there was a particularly important collision; one between the Roman stoic and the gentile Christian. At this time in Western civilization, Christianity was just planting its seeds and beginning to grow, whereas stoicism was already legitimate in its foundation and strong in its following (Stavrianos 100). One might wonder how Christianity ultimately replaced stoicism as the prominent and official religion in Rome. There are a few particular political and historical events that tell us exactly when and how it happened, but the curious man is more concerned with the psychology behind the transition. In other words, why would men tend to prefer one over the other?
Around the dawn of the first millennium, the Han and Roman attitudes toward technology were both self glorifying; however, the Han Empire in China placed more value upon technology and technological enhancements than did the Roman Empire, as evidenced by the constant concern on the part of the Han dynasty over the occasional indifference on the part of the Romans.
Rome was a major power because it always made certain its own military prowess was preeminent. There have been many ideas presented as to the fall of the Roman Empire. Many believe that Rome declined morally and the violence and decadence of the societal norms led to the demise. Gibbons has been credited with the theory of the influence and transference of Christianity over the Roman system of Gods and Goddesses that perpetrated the fall. Another theory lays the blame at the feet of the Emperor, that the happiness of the people and the functioning of the government was directly correlated with the personal merit and management skills of the reigning authority. This 10 page paper argues that the imperialistic tendencies of Rome over time and the pre-eminence of military expansionism in the latter stages, was the deciding feature of the "fall". Bibliography lists 7 sources.
The strength of the Roman military was the string that held the Roman Empire together for as long as it lasted. The military was made up of strictly disciplined men whom were ready and willing to serve their emperor.
8. Edmondson, J. C., and MyiLibrary. “Augustus”. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2009. eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 4 May 2014.
The Roman Empire is credited with many things due partially to their ability to share, spread, and adapt culture. Rome was successful because it both conquered and shared the fruits of conquest with the conquered. Religion was one part of the culture that demonstrated the tolerance of Romans. For example, at the time of Jesus’ birth, paganism could be divided into three spheres: the official state religion, the traditional cults of the hearth and countryside, and the new mystery religions from the East. Even though the official religion in the Roman Empire began as Pagan, it ended as Christianity when Emperor Theodosius declared it as the official religion in A.D. 380. The following examines two works of fiction that deal with religion during the Roman Empire.
The Roman military was great and powerful, but didn’t just end up that way over night. They worked hard and, as the Romans are known for their excellent engineering skills, tried to stay one step ahead of the enemy. One way they did this was siege weapons, which was how the seized castles and lands. Siege engines ingeniously used both potential energy, kinetic energy and rotational kinetic energy to throw things very far, fast, and even accurately. Besiegers could fire 100-200 pound stones up to 1,000 feet. The main siege weapons were catapults. The catapult was used to destroy buildings and walls inside and outside of the castle, and it could also destroy an enemies morale by throwing severed heads of comrades.
The ancient Romans were skilled engineers and have left lasting contributions in this field. The Romans built a great network of roads connecting cities throughout their empire. They also built aqueducts and bridges using arches for support. The Roman arch design was by far the most important innovation of their time. The arch, however, would have been useless without the discovery of concrete. The Romans had many other such discoveries that would make their engineering skills known throughout the world.
Rome, even at its beginnings, proved to be a force to be reckoned with. It’s rapid growth and accumulation of power and repeated victories over powerful neighbors set Rome in a position of great authority and influence. As the leader of early Rome, Romulus’ effective command of his men and governance of his people provided the foundation for the building of a great city. Livy emphasizes Romulus’ possible divine origins and strong ties to deities as a validation and reinforcement of his ability to rule. A nation’s sole defense cannot be just bricks and mortar, it requires an army and a will and Romulus was able to successfully take action against the aggressors when action was needed.
Christianity, originally, was thought of as an outsider religion, and wasn’t accepted by most Romans. The Romans could learn to live with other religions, but not when they were harmful to public order. At one point, Romans viewed it to be just that. Christians tended ...
What they found at Rome is chiefly only a pseudo mythology “(which in due course clothed their own nationalistic or their own family legends in a mythical dress borrowed from the Greek).” Also nor did the Roman religion have a creed; provided that a Roman performed the right religious action he was free to think he liked about god. Having no creed he usually deprecated emotion an out place in acts of worship. In spite of the antique feature not far from the surface it is difficult to reconstruct the history and the evolution of the Roman religion. The literary source antiquarians such as the 1st century BC Roman scholars Varro and Verrius Floccus and the poet who were also their contemporaries (under the late republic and Augustu) who had wrote 700 and 800 year after the beginning of