Greek Case Study

1. What was unique/different/strange about Greek culture as compared to other civilizations at the time?
The things that were unlike about the Greek culture compared to others could start with their idea that theft was ok if it was something they desired. When the Greeks took to the seas they almost became pirates when they wanted something and in their eyes it was ok to do this. The Greeks also lived without Kings and even divided their land into Polets (Cities), which today does not seem bizarre or different, but in those days that was very different for the cultures to live by. One very strange way the Greeks were different from other cultures were their relationships that involved men with men, actually it was teens with older men, some

Were the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars beneficial or detrimental to Greece overall? Why?
The Persian War (494-449 B.C.), was beneficial to Greece as the Persians decided to start the war and the Greeks, using their brains and taking the political approach and became a culture that could not be beaten. The Persians having double the fighting power was a battle that was easily won by the Athenians as they were able to push the Persians back from the beaches and into the sea. Along with abandoning the cities that they knew the Persians would strike also gave them the upper hand. This was beneficial to Greece to learn the things they did wrong
The Peloponnesian War was a detriment to Greece as the strategy that Athens used ended up backfiring and the plague ended up hitting the overpopulated city and killing Perikles and there was no successor with the same outlook of Perikles. Weakening the Athenians neither party could effectively fight in the war against each other. The walls that Athens had were strong and tall enough to keep the Spartans out. The Athenians had plenty of infantry on the water but not enough to defeat the Spartans on

The Romans were very smart about ways of unifying their empire. This is called Romanization. What are some of the most important ideas that the Romans used? Do we use any of these ideas in our society today?
Romanization started with allowing foreigners and the vanquished to become more like the Romans. They could keep their local government and their gods and religion but they had to accept Roman control of their affairs, taxes and provide military service. As these people intermarried with the Roman culture they were then allowed to hold office. They eventual gave up their languages and took on Latin and worshipped the Roman gods. Romans also decided that all people should be treated equally by the law. They broke down the barrier between classes as well.
We use many of these ideas today, government with term limitations along with being able to marry outside of your culture and worship the God of your choosing.
8. Rome was ambitious and expanded tremendously. Do you think this was ultimately beneficial or detrimental to the Roman Republic?