Rome and the Roman Empire

Rome and the Roman Empire

As the story goes, Rome was founded by a pair of feuding brothers who were allegedly raised by wolves. Romulus and Remus. From that point on, the Roman Empire would play a pivotal role in the development of both Eastern and Western society alike. Its influence can still be noticed. The Empire bought us such inventions as aqueducts, elevators, and innovations like urban planning. This essay will discuss the evolution of the Roman Empire and its impact on the Western World.

As the story goes, Rome was founded in 753 B.C by two brothers by the names of Romulus and Remus. The two feuded over leadership and the end result was Romulus killing Remus and becoming emperor on his own. The city was only a small settlement at this time with almost no women. Romulus decided to invite their neighbours, the Sabines to a harvest festival. After they all had arrived, the Romans abducted 600 of their women at sword point. In this way, the growth of Rome was insured.

The Romans learnt many of their artistic and technological from a group of people known as the Etruscans who lived in the hills of Tuscany. The Etruscans were notably accomplished artists and inventors. They taught the Roman people how to work metal and many other materials. The gladiatorial games, in fact, came from an old “Etruscan rite. The very first roman Emperors were Etruscans. The first of these was a man known as Serbius Tullius. He was the very first emperor to conduct what would become a yearly tradition. A census. Unfortunately, he was murdered and deposed by another Etruscan by the name of Tarquin, who was hated by the Roman people. Following the murder of a popular Roman woman by the name of Lucrectia by Tarquin, the people had him deposed and vowed never to live under the rule of one man again. This would hold true for an extremely long time.

The Roman people decided that yearly elections would be held to determine which pair of people would rule Rome as Consul’s. Yearly elections were held to make sure that no two people would remain in power for an extended period of time. This led to the establishing of the senate and the motto SPQR. The Senate and the People of Rome. This is one of the many ways that Rome had a lasting impact on western civilization. Both the United States and Canada have a senate modeled after the Romans. In this way, Ro...

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...ort years, it had wiped out 1 quarter of the population. A staggering number considering that in the year 100 50 million people were living in the empire. The onset of the plague only worsened the news that barbarians were once again beginning to invade Rome. The Legions were horribly out of practice and were not able to provide adequate defense. As a result, Rome was launched into a downward spiral of turmoil from which it would never recover. Gradually, the empire diminished until what was left was barely a glimpse of what the past had held for the once great city which rose into an empire that encompassed nearly all of Europe, most of Asia, and some Africa.

Rome left a lasting impact on the Western world, however. The Roman government was the basis for the political system in Canada and the United States. They provided us with marvels in engineering. Things like the aqueduct system, the elevator, and many others. Hitler was greatly influenced by the Roman Empire, and Napoleon even claimed to be a descendant of the emperors. For these reasons and many more, it remains clear that even though the Roman Empire is long since gone, it has left an indelible mark in history.