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What major impact did greece and rome have on western civilization
What major impact did greece and rome have on western civilization
The influence of ancient Greece and Rome on western civilization
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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GREEK AND ROMAN WAREFARE
The main difference between Greek and Roman warfare was the formations that they fought in. The Grecian armies all used the phalanx as a fighting formation while the Romans used the maniple. The phalanx was one mass formation that consisted of infantry eight deep. The maniple formation was actually a group of formations in a checkerboard pattern. Each maniple consisted of about 120 men and when employed in Italy, the Romans used thirty maniples. The maniple proved to be a better formation, because the phalanx left no room for maneuvering after engagement.
The Greeks basic soldier was a foot soldier that was trained for close combat. The basic combat soldier in Rome was a horse rider and an expert bowman. This was also due in part to the increase in technology as well. The Grecian hoplite would also carry a spear that compared to the Roman pilum as a predecessor. The pilum was much longer and could be thrown a lot further.
Another difference in warfare was the way that the different regions treated their opponents after a victory. The Greeks would enslave and control a defeated people while the Romans would not treat a defeated nation as slaves, but would “invite” them to ally and basically become part of Rome. This was the case of the Sicilians after they were defeated during the first Punic War.
The Roman Empire split into two different empires, the eastern or Byzantium and the western. The two empires mirrored each other politically, but not religiously. The Greeks never allowed themselves to split territory into two different powers, although some Greek city-states had dual kings, but never on a national level.
The political system of both Roman empires was based on virtue and the republic was founded with the Senate as the center. The magistrates were elected annually and also had control of the armies. The key to Roman superiority was the patriotism and training and drills.
Imagine two countries, so different from each other, that conflicts were inevitable. Athens and Sparta were not countries, however, they were city-states of Greece with many contrasting values. Athens was the city of the arts, reading, and writing. Meanwhile, military was the only thing the on the Spartans’ minds. Athens and Sparta differ in many ways due to their governments, economies, and cultures.
These reforms changed Roman life as well as the face of the Roman army, moving it away from its classical infantry-based structure to a more cavalry-based system. The army was reorganized into lightly armed troops called "limitanei" who defended the border, and large mobile armies composed of troops called "comitatenses". Border troops were given land to live on around forts they protected. This structure led to farming becoming the job of the border troops so that they could feed as well as protect those on the frontier. Over time, this in turn led to out of date weaponry and neglect in training.
Without the right ecosystem for horses, the ancient Greeks were forced to trade for horses, which were highly expensive. The ancient Greeks were then forced to come up with a way to counter the Persians’ use of cavalry, which they solved with the creation of the phalanx. A phalanx was a group of soldiers armed with 7- to 8-foot-long spears, short swords, and round shields that were able to interlock with other shields. The soldiers wore a helmet, breastplate, and usually greaves. A phalanx is made up of lines of men extending their spears towards the enemy's direction. If a soldier is killed, the soldier from behind is to take his place, and this continues until all of the soldiers are killed. Machiavelli wrote, “The injuries which the first rank suffered, depleted the last, and the first rank always remained complete; and thus the Phalanxes, because of their arrangement, were able rather to become depleted than broken, since the large (size of its) body made it more immobile.” Machiavelli greatly admired the phalanx and considered it to be a useful formation if used correctly. Eventually Phillip the II of Macedonia improved the phalanx by doubling the spear length and reducing the shield size, which greatly increased a phalanx’s mobility. The Greeks would line up their phalanxes, and when the Persian
The empire of Rome started about 509 B.C. and ended in about c. 500 A.D. The Republican government in Rome lasted from 509-287 B.C. The government was bicameral which means there’s two houses or assemblies. In Rome’s case these two houses were the Senate and the Tribal Assembly. Also the government contained two consuls which would basically be two presidents today. The government also composed of the centuriate and tribal assemblies, who were groups of Roman citizens who elected the leaders. Republican society in Rome was composed of patricians and plebeians. During the time of the Roman Republic the Romans were steady adding new territories to its empire. In 265 BC Italy was conquered and smartly added many of their defeated states as allies.
Roman armies were trained vigorously and shown no slack. Soldiers were taught ferocious fighting styles, and training was rough, as were the reprimands for failure in battle. The Roman army wanted to keep the best soldiers out of the new recruits and get rid of the ones that wouldn’t last, so they would put the recruits in the front lines of battles to narrow down the numbers, while keeping the ones that survive. The idea was that if they lost a veteran soldier on the front lines, it would be a great loss, but if it were a recruit, the loss wouldn’t be a big problem. If the recruits survived, they would be experienced and a great addition to the army. They also did this to keep recruits from fleeing the battle if they started to lose, because they would have to run through the rest of the army, most likely leading to their death.
The military history of the ancient world is dominated by Greece and Rome, and for understandable reasons. These nations’ development and rise to power was primarily the result of their use and perception of the military. Both had longstanding traditions of heroic warfare, and both had overcome seemingly impossible odds in their infancy, but had grown to control empires spanning most of the world they knew. Military successes made the nations wealthy and powerful, and strife from within served only to enable more powerful military minds to unite their people to achieve even greater military successes. Greece and Rome were not simply advanced with their militaries, though. These nations were only able to exist in their geopolitical environments because they saw the military through the
The governments of ancient Greece and Rome had many similarities and differences, creating two unique cultures. There were several things that set them apart, and it changed the way each civilization grew and developed. For example, Greece’s social classes were divided into slaves, women and citizens, while Rome had slaves, plebeians and patricians. In ancient Rome, plebeians were the commoners in Rome, such as farmers, and patricians were aristocrats or noblemen. Furthermore, women were treated as citizens in Rome, but more like property in Greece (“Ancient Greece vs. Ancient Rome,” para. 5). In Athens, women were controlled by the men in their lives by having their father control them before marriage, and their husbands after. Another difference between the two countries was how their governments originally began. Greece was originally made up of several city-states, each being an independant nation. Rome, on the other hand, was originally a monarchy. Over time, it eventually became a Republic, in which power is held by the people and their elected representatives. The similarities between the government of Greece and Rome included their beliefs in several gods. Athens was known for worshiping the goddess Athena, their city-god. Rome worshiped several other gods as well, including Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Another similarity was their fierce militaries. Greece was known for having lots of internal warfare, but they succeeded in preventing any military invasions, especially from Persia. Rome is known for having as the most powerful and successful military in the Western region. Their size, strength, and organization helped them to achieve many accomplishments in the expansion of their empire.
When comparing the Roman Republic with the Roman Empire, there are many differences and similarities between the two and their time periods. The biggest difference between the Roman Republic and Roman empire, was that the Roman Republic was a "democratic" form of government, which is where the people decided how to run things, and the Roman Empire was an "autocracy" type of government where the Emperor decided on things. The Roman Republic. When comparing the similarities of the Roman Empire and the Roman Republic, they both owned the Italy peninsula, they both worshipped Roman gods, both had a senate, they exported wine and marble, spoke the Latin language, and they were both destroyed by civil war. The Roman Republic called senates patricians
Both had strong tactics and soldiers. However, Roman troops and tactics were far superior to the Greeks.
The Greek and Roman governments were more different than alike. To start Greece was a democracy while Rome was a republic. Government positions were different. Unlike Greece, Rome had two main leaders of government called the consuls and praetors to make
Rome’s government was unfamiliar at that time in history, having a unified empire through one government. They used aristocratic, democratic, and monarchical elements to make their Empire thrive. Each one of these elements were in place to keep the others in balance. The Roman constitution was based upon checks and
The Greek empire was able to expand because very strong militarily, which was directly related to their excellent new technology, innovative fighting styles, the best cavalry in the ancient world, and the best navy in the ancient world. The Greeks used their innovative fighting style against all enemies with great success. They would fight in a formation called the phalanx, in which the men would form in rows, with the front row creating a wall with their shields, and all of the rows behind would put their shields over the top
Political differences and similarities for the Roman Empire and Middle Ages were due to the type of government and strength of the military. From 600 B.C. to 600 C.E., the Roman Empire had an imperial government with many city-states. They had a military that included citizens of Rome, most were mainly farmers. The Middle Ages were ruled by kings and they had knights for protection. This form of government was known as feudalism. Due to many invasions like the Huns and the Franks, both the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages had to have a strong form of military.
Many of Rome's successes were due to its highly trained and disciplined army. Rome's army became the best in the known world. The Roman army was organized into divisions of soldiers according to their social class. The ranks of the army could be divided into five classes. The first class were those who were the most well-off, they were equipped with the best weapons, helmets, round shields, greaves and breastplates, all of bronze, while also carrying a spear and sword. Those who were of the less fortunate, carried less weapons, and had less power, the fifth class carrying no armor at all and were armed simply with slings. Veteran Roman soldiers were professional and highly paid. When conquering hostile regions they were able to plunder and steal in order to increase their personal wealth. During this time the Roman army was able to improve its equipment substantially. Early helmets were bronze and failed to protect soldiers adequately against the long swords of their enemies. Flavius Camillus was credited in supplying the Roman army with iron helmets with a smoothed texture to fend off the swords. Camillus also introduced the rectangular shield called the scutum. Centuries later equipment and uniforms changed to include large feathers on top of their helmets in order to intimidate their enemies. Larger wooden swords were made and iron points were added. (Cavazzi...
Although, the Ancient Greeks had their share of influence on the world, so did the Roman Empire. There innovation of the Ancient Athens democracy into the Roman Republic laid the foundation for the modern democracy of the United States. Roman Empire's government is similar to United States of America today, Roman Empire: “had Checks and balances, written laws that code exist, The roman Empire even had a veto for the ones in power at the time” said by Marianne Vacio. Which is the same Exaly of what United States has. The only big difference that the Roman Empire had between us is that they had an