Ancient Roman Civilization and Progress in Various Fields Most Complete
Ancient Roman Civilization and Progress in Various Fields - Ancient Roman Civilization developed in Italy now with Rome as its capital. This area is located on the Apennines Peninsula, its soil is fertile thanks to the volcanoes Visuvius, Stromboli and Etna.
The major rivers are the Tiber and the Po River which fertilize the soil. According to Ancient Roman myth, the city of Rome was founded by Remus and Romulus in the 8th century BC on the banks of the Tiber River.
The Romans already had architectural skills in making aqueducts (hanging aqueducts) and the Amphitheater stadium (sports venue) and the Colosseum for gladiators (humans pitted against animals). Emperor Justinian built a beautiful building, namely the Aya Sophia Church in Byzantium (Turkey) made of marble, but after Turkey fell into the hands of the Ottomans, the building was made the Aya Sophia Mosque.
Roman territory is bounded on the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea, on the east by the Ionian Sea and the Adriatic Sea, on the north by Switzerland and Austria, and on the south by the Islands of Sicily and the Mediterranean Sea. The Romans lived by cultivating crops producing wheat, corn, grapes, olives, vegetables, and diligently raising sheep. The Romans worshiped many gods.
The names of the gods are almost the same as the Greek gods, for example, the god Zeus (replaced by Jupiter), the god Vesta, the god Genius, the god Yuno (Hera), and the god Aprodhite (replaced by Venus).
Roman government system as follows.
a. The head of government is held by two consuls who are elected for a two-year term.
b. The Senate, has the right to advise the consul.
c. House of Representatives (Comitia Curiata).
d. Pontifex Maximus, the office of a kind of religious head.
e. Plebis Tribune, a kind of district council.
Roman government originally took the form of a kingdom (750 – 510 BC). During the time of the Roman Empire, there was always commotion between the people and the rulers. During the reign of king Tarquinus, as a dictator he was rebelled by Yunius Brutus, so that Rome turned into a republic (510 –27 BC). During the republic, the Roman territory was expanded from Spain to Palestine – Germany – Egypt. For this reason, the Romans named "the Mediterranean is our sea" (More Nostrum).
Roman society was divided into two groups.
a. The patricians (noble class), held power in Rome as full citizens.
b. The plebeca group (lower people), this group may set up plebeian tribunes, one of the consuls comes from plebeca. To regulate the life of the state, the first written law was drafted, namely Lejes Duodecim Tabularum which consisted of 12 copper plates.
Roman society was always hit by a civil war between the senate and the proletariat, the war was eventually won by the proletariat. During the republican period, Rome was ruled by three figures called the Triumvirate (60–44 BC), consisting of Pompeyus, Crassus and Julius Caesar.
The civil war is still going on. In 55 BC, Crassus died causing a dispute between Pompey and Julius Caesar. The dispute was won by Julius Caesar. His motto: Vini, Vidi, Vici (I came, I saw, I won). However, the Triumvirate I failed due to the assassination of Julius Caesar by the Senates Cassius and Brutus (44 BC). At that time, its king Tarquinus.
The people then formed Triumvirate II, its members: Antony, Octavianus, and Lipidus. However, the Triumvirate II was also beset by strife, Lipidus was killed and his two friends divided power. Octavian ruled west of Spain to Greece, while Antony ruled east of Asia Minor to Egypt. Antony then married Cleopatra, a princess of Egypt.
The feeling of mutual suspicion became even more evident when Octavian attacked Antony. For fear of being arrested, Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide and power eventually fell into the hands of Octavian and Rome became an empire (27 BC). The Roman Empire was ruled by Octavian who had the title Augustus, meaning noble. The steps taken are;
a. regular paid employees,
b. the people received tax relief,
c. placing troops on the border, and
d. pirate cleared.
Roman territories at that time included Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Turkey, North Africa, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, Holland, England, Germany, and the Balkans. A major event during the heyday of Octavian was the birth of Christianity in Palestine brought by Isa al-Masih who was born in Bethlehem.
Rome entered a dark age during the reign of Emperor Nero. He was the emperor who ruled the cruelest, even killing his mother, wife, and teacher for the satisfaction of his ideals. He also killed Jews in East Rome by being burned alive in mass graves (40,000 people). The place was then called the Catacombe.
After Emperor Constantine moved the capital from Rome to Istanbul (Byzantium), Christianity began to develop in Rome. During the time of Emperor Theodoseus, Christianity was made the state religion. He divided Rome into two, West Rome centered on Rome and East Rome centered on Byzantium. However, the West Roman Empire finally collapsed (476 AD) because it was attacked by Odoaker and the Eastern Roman Empire collapsed in 1453 AD because it was attacked by the Ottoman Turks.
Rome's downfall was actually caused by:
a. the Roman emperor was unable to set a good example of leadership,
b. the weakness of the Roman defense because it relied on hired soldiers (homoromanicus),
c. the breakup of the Western and Eastern Roman empires.
Nevertheless, Rome also made many contributions to modern civilization, namely as follows.
a. State and military organizations that are quite disciplined serve as an example.
b. There is an understanding of Imperium Romanum (Roman rule) which is an example.
c. Educational factors are held from elementary to secondary education in Latin and Greek.
d. There is progress in the field of building, namely
1) Limes, a series of fort buildings;
2) Colosseum and Amphitheater;
3) Pantheon, home of the gods;
4) viaduct, a bridge under which there is a highway;
5) aquaduct, irrigation channel;
6) Aya Sophia Church;
7) Cloaca maxima, namely urban water disposal.
e. Advances in knowledge, among others,
1) Galen, a physician who studied blood circulation;
2) Polibios, an expert on state administration who produced the Cyclus Polibios, which states that the form of a state will influence others.
f. Progress in literature, that is
1) the famous writer is Vergilius who wrote Aeneis,
2) Ovidus wrote Metamorphose, and
3) Julius Caesar wrote De Bello Gallico which is a guide to learning Latin.
g. The Romans were experts in administration, as evidenced by:
1) having a constitutional and legal system,
2) having a military and disciplinary organizational system, and
3) central power in the hands of the emperor.
h. Legal progress, among other things, the emergence of legal expert Justinian with the Codex Justinianus called Corpus Yuris. Other jurists were Pompinianus and Theodoseus.
Important to know;
Roman War against Carthage (Phunnesian War)
The war against Carthage was caused by Rome's rivalry for power with Carthage in North Africa and over the wheat-rich region of Sicily. The Romans were led by Scippuo Africanus and the Carthaginians were led by Hannibal. This war was won by the Romans so that the Mediterranean Sea belonged to the Romans.
Roman victory resulted in:
a. Rome's territory extended to the Mediterranean Sea;
b. many wealthy Roman officials, especially the optima who sat in the senate;
c. many governors in the regions abuse their power to extort the people;
d. the construction of a place for people's meetings (Forum Romanum), the Colosseum (a place where humans fight animals), and an Amphitheater (a place for plays);
e. the city of Rome became magnificent from the spoils and attracted many people to move there so that the city of Rome was full of poor people;
f. the struggle for power between the optima (rich) and the poor (proletariat).
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