Did you ever think that a simple board game like Risk could relate to something as supreme and substantial as the Roman Republic? The board game Risk is a strategic, turn-based game in which players try to expand their empire and dominate the world. Players hope to gain power by conquering territories and by strengthening their army. To gain land, participants of the game must roll dice and score higher than the defender of the territory. Many times, territory is fought over, but other times the land is too strong to be conquered. Strategies are used to help fortify, expand and protect empires. The Roman Republic (509 B.C. - 27 B.C) was extremely powerful due to a large, strong army with lots of territory. Rome started off as a small city state and expanded into an ascendant republic. Strategies of the Roman Republic included aggression, strong border territories, and alliances. When playing the game Risk, power, conquest and strategy play critical roles in success; likewise the Roman Republic used these concepts to fortify and expand their territory.
In winning the game Risk, power is a key factor. To gain power, players must have lots of land, wealth and forces. All players start out equal and over time, empires will start to rise or deplete. The empires that are rising will commonly fight for power. Eventually, one empire will overpower the others and use aggression to dominate. Players with powerful empires obtain many matching cards from conquest and typically dominate whole continents. Also, powerful
Hettwer 2 players will seem indomitable and can cause opponents to be fearful of any move. Taking many risks and using aggression is a strategy that frequently works in acquiring power. Additionally, using defense is critic...
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...onquer the world; similarly the Romans fought belligerently to conquer all the land they could. Strategies play a key factor in winning Risk and the Roman Republic used a myriad of tactics to gain power and land. To conclude, the Roman Republic thrived during its time, and its important to know what the Romans did during their republic because still to this day similarities are being made to it.
Works Cited
Fisher, Casey. “Explaining the Rise and Dominance of Rome.” worldology.com. Worldology LLC, n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2013.
Gill, N.S. “The Growth of Rome.” ancienthistory.about.com. About Inc., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2013.
Gill, N.S. “ Roman Treaties.” ancienthistory.about.com. About Inc., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2013.
Simkin, John. “ Military Tactics of the Roman Army.” spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk. Spartacus Educational, Sept. 1997- June 2013. Web. 9 Nov. 2013.
The Failure of the Roman Republic was inevitable as it was an unjust system of government and it was left vulnerable after the attempted changes instigated by the Gracchi as the Gracchi exposed the weaknesses in the political structure allowing future politicians to manipulate the system. The changes made by the Gracchi left the Republic in a state of pandemonium as it destroyed political stability as well as creating opportunities for future individuals to rise above and challenge the system.
From ages past, the actions of conquerors, kings and tyrants had brought the Roman Republic to a stance that opposed any idea of a singular leader, of a single man that held total power over the entirety of the state. Their rejection of the various ruthless Etruscan rulers that had previously dictated them brought the Republic to existence in 509 BC , and as a republic their prominence throughout the provinces of the world exponentially expanded. Throughout these years, the traditions of the Romans changed to varying degrees, most noticeably as a result of the cultural influence that its subject nations had upon the republic, as well as the ever-changing nature of Roman society in relation to then-current events. However, it was not until the rise of Augustus, the first of a long line of succeeding emperors, that many core aspects of the Republic were greatly changed. These were collectively known as the “Augustan Reforms”, and consisted of largely a variety of revisions to the social, religious, political, legal and administrative aspects of the republic’s infrastructure. Through Augustus, who revelled in the old traditional ways of the past, the immoral, unrestraint society that Rome was gradually falling to being was converted to a society where infidelities and corruption was harshly looked upon and judged. The Roman historian Suetonius states, “He corrected many ill practices, which, to the detriment of the public, had either survived the licentious habits of the late civil wars, or else originated in the long peace” . Through Augustus and his reforms, the Republic was transformed into an Empire, and through this transformation, Rome experienced one of its greatest and stabl...
The Roman Republic was a political system which was stamped and swayed, but it was not by parties and programmes which we are so familiar with which is a modern and parliamentary variety. And it was not swayed even by the powerful opposition between Senate and People, Optimates and Populares, nobiles and novi homines. The main locomotive force of politics was the strife for power, wealth and glory. (ref: Syme, Ronald 1960 The Roman Revolution, Oxford University Press) [1]
The Roman Republic had an upstanding infrastructure, a stable social system, and a balanced constitution that solidified Rome’s greatness. Regardless of its achievements, however, the Roman Republic owes much of its success to classical Greek cultures. These cultures, in conjunction with the fundamental values of Roman society, certified Rome as one of the most significant powers the world has ever seen.
Many factors contribute to the success of a society and determine the supremacy of the entire empire. The most evident of these factors is the common wealth of the population. This wealth is not merely calculated in monetary form but comprises the amount of resources and military power an empire possesses. The endless necessity in an increase of wealth in Rome could have led to the expansion. Since the land was not rich in resources and the soil was not the greatest for agriculture, expansion of the Roman border...
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.
The Roman Empire began as a small colony, in the city of Rome, and eventually, became one of the largest empires that the world has ever known before its ultimate demise. Because of the vast size of their territory, and the number of cultures they consumed throughout their existence, the Romans were heavily influenced by the Greeks and other Hellenistic civilizations. Two different groups of professors argue this point. Professors Matthews, Platt, and Noble argue this influence is reflected by Roman music, philosophy, literature, architecture, art, culture/government, and technology and science; and Professor Weber argues this is reflected in the areas of government/law, the influence and effects of conquests, culture, religion, architecture and art, and philosophy. Both parties make compelling arguments as to why the Romans were heirs to Greek and Hellenistic civilization however, it will be demonstrated that Matthews et al. provide a more thorough argument than Weber.
The era of the Pax Romana – though still a period of time filled with civil war and conquests in an attempt to expand the empire – was an overall period of stability for Roman society. During this time the Roman people knew their Emperor was an unwavering political powerhouse with an ability to run the Empire efficiently. In addition to having an efficient political leader, Rome had a strong military force stable enough to protect them from outside forces. The security of the Pax Romana period allowed Romans to focus on politics, culture, and technology providing them the opportunity to progress and flourish as a society.
The Roman republic at first tried to protect itself from foreign enemies, not by being defensive, but by going on the offensive and destroying those that had any possibility of threatening the young republic. Once this started it was hard to stop the citizen army’s consisted of hop-lite phalanxs from continuing on with what they were good at; War. With each successful campaign came the spoils of victory, conquered land, expansion, new ideas, art, technology, religion, and so forth. All of these spoils added great wealth and power to the republic, most likely encouraging it in to becoming a empire.
One of the greatest strengths of the Roman Empire was the strong foundation on which it was built. When the empire was founded in 27 BC, the systems which had been created by the Republic were already in place. Rome as a Republic had
In all of history, Rome was arguably one of the most powerful empires to ever exist. At its peak, the Roman Empire, which existed for nearly one thousand five hundred years, spanned across three continents and nearly six million five hundred thousand square miles of land. Rome’s official language—Latin—served as the origin for the five current Romance languages today, displaying its massive influence across the entire world. In fact, Rome’s system of a republic served as the origin for many democracies and governments in existence today. In order to expand this far, however, Rome adapted to become the most powerful empire in regards to military strength and magnificent landmass. In order to arise as a major world power, Rome had to make its
In order for a tribe to rise up to an empire, like Persia, not only are great leaders essential but loyal followers are also needed provide a stable civilization. Great leadership for Persia started when the Median Empire, under King Astyages, had control over the Persians when Cyrus the Great; an Achaemenid ascended the Persian throne in 559 B.C.E. Cyrus led the Persians in a revolt against the Medes to be overthrown. Neighboring nations approved of the Median state being taken over, but when Persia began to expand, they soon realized that the Persians were a greater enemy. The rise of the Persians was only the beginning of the forceful changes in power in ancient times. Cyrus expanded the Empire to include Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, Iranian plateau, the Middle East, even stretching to the outskirts of the Egyptian Empire. During these imperialistic expansion years, Persia went from a primitive tribe to a society with diverse culture...
...picture, that on the verge of its collapse the Roman Republic, was a society composed of internal flaws. The Republic namely submitted to its own internal divisions, on multiple levels, from the divisions inherent to any society based on a slave economy, to divisions within the proto-democracy of the Senate itself. Inequalities between the haves and the have nots, as well as inequalities and struggles for power and control on the very highest level of Roman society created a general instability of the Republic, thus making its collapse not a miraculous or shocking event, but almost something to the effect of the removal of an illusion. With the collapse of the Republic, the internal tensions and conflict that constituted Roman life on multiple levels merely finalized themselves, taking a new political form that followed the same path as previous the political form.
The Romans have had almost every type of government there is. They've had a kingdom, a republic, a dictatorship, and an empire. Their democracy would be the basis for most modern democracies. The people have always been involved with and loved their government, no matter what kind it was. They loved being involved in the government, and making decisions concerning everyone. In general, the Romans were very power-hungry. This might be explained by the myth that they are descended from Romulus, who's father was Mars, the god of war. Their government loving tendencies have caused many, many civil wars. After type of government, the change has been made with a civil war. There have also been many civil wars between rulers. But it all boils
The Roman Republic was founded in 509 BC after the ruling Tarquins abused their extensive power as monarchs and were overthrown. The goal of the Roman Republic was to have a strong government, governed equally by the patricians and the plebians, and to avoid another Roman Monarchy. For years Rome was guided by great men, such as Cincinnatus and Scipio Africanus, who led the Republic through hard times, conquering such enemies as the Etruscans and the Carthaginians. Large-scale war united Roman society in its common goals. However, after Scipio’s victory at Zama in 202 BC, a new Roman world began to take shape. Roman soldiers returned home from their victory to find that they could not pay for their farms, becoming “squatters” on their own lands after having to sell them to richer men. The Senate became corrupted, and despite the Gracchi brothers’ best efforts, the rich patricians soon monopolized nearly all aspects of the Republic, from trading and “farming” to governing the people. After marching on Rome, Sulla became dictator in 82 BC. After Sulla, the First Triumvirate: Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar, owned virtually all power in Rome, yet each had his own desire to defeat the other two and become Emperor. When Crassus died in battle, Caesar had his chance. He defeated Pompey and marched on Rome, victorious. After declaring himself Dictator for Life, Caesar was assassinated, and another Civ...