Influence of the Western Roman Empire - Essay Example

?Influence of the Western Roman Empire Roman history and culture lasted over one millennium. Roman Empire was founded in 753 BCE and lasted until 476CE in the western side. However, the Roman Western Empire took a short period as compared to the Eastern Roman Empire that lasted for another one millennium. Indeed, Roman Civilization was the foundation of what was known as the Western Civilization. The Roman Empire legacy will forever remain. Roman Empire led to conservation of the Hellenistic world, Greek civilization. Moreover, Romans Empire rekindles our memory of classical and ancient civilization since time of Egyptians and Mesopotamians. Initially, Rome was a single city but later expanded to a great empire that controlled the Mediterranean coastal region. Roman period had two entities, the Republican Period and the Empire; each lasted for half a millennium. The empire was divided into Principate that lasted from 27 BCE to 180 CE and autocracy from 284 to 395CE (Damerow Web). The Roman Empire began with Augustus. Emperors were the ruler of the empire. Christianity rose during the autocracy period and replaced paganism. In addition, monotheistic belief replaced polytheist cult system. The rise of the medieval period was because of Roman influence. Furthermore, the foundation of Roman Civilization was on Roman values and existed even before the rise of Christianity. Romans people were successful in various fields such as art, government, military organization, and public. They borrowed ideas from Greeks and Hellenistic world. This paper seeks to focus on the influence of the Western Roman Empire within the period from 200 BCE to 476 C. Many aspects of society that exist today have been influenced by ancient Rome. They range from law, democratic government practices, influence in language, literature, art, infrastructure, and city planning. The Western Roman Empire had a tremendous influence in law, religion, architecture, and culture. This was largely important within the period from 200 BCE to 476 CE. This influence was usually perpetuated during the Romans territorial expansion. This influence especially was based on areas it controlled the western Mediterranean. They also established legal code that formed part of western legal code. Moreover, their institutions, technology, and infrastructure continue to influence their successors in this region. The legacy of Western Roman Empire influence on culture was great. The significance of this transformation cannot be ignored as it ushered in the medieval period of history. There was a complete change of culture from the way people married, raised their children, and died. Actually, it resulted in a trans-valuation of all values. The most important aspect of culture was the transmission off Greek (Hellenistic) culture to the west. The Roman's were at their peak of cultural influence between 200 BCE and 200 CE. Romans were known of copying cultures and adopting them as their own. They adopted Latin as their language and were majorly used in the western world during this period. As a result, Latin became the official language of the Western Roman Empire. Latin formed the basis for Romance language after Germanic invasions in 4th and 5th centuries. The Romance Languages composed of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and French. At the time of decline of Western Roman Empire, the Catholic Church (monks) continued to preserve and transmit Greek texts and ideas. Latin also remained the language for the Roman Catholic Church and the second half of 20th century. Moreover, this language developed between 200 BCE to 476 CE continued to be used by the educated later in the centuries such as educated people. At this period, several other language adopted Latin words. Most of the medical, legal, philosophical, and scientific terms are based on Latin language. Additionally, Roman law dominated western side. This was based on the twelve tablets through the Corpus Juris Civils and was famous in 200 BCE to 476 CE. The Roman Catholic Church Canon Law is based on Roman law. Most of the legal traditions of the continent of Europe relied on Roman law forms. Although English and American laws are not directly linked on Roman law, the Roman law influenced them indirectly. Romans in the west established the republic form of government with mixed constitution. Many of the Europe form of government are based on roman system of governance. In addition, the autocracy system of government adopted by Romans in the west form a basis of some government in Europe such as Britain. The autocracy in this period composed of Caesar, Augustus, Diocese, and Vicar (Damerow Web). Romans were also excellent engineers. In this period, they build several bridges and roads that were clear manifest of their civilization and advancements. The road and water systems were an improvement of the civilization that existed before. The Romans were also good in copying the Greek models. They conquered the Hellenistic that raised after the conquest of Persian Empire by Alexander the great. After the conquest, the Romans maintained the traditional of those people. This was good as it enabled them to maintain dominance in the western side of their empire. The Roman legacy can best be described by Greco-Roman civilization. During this time, Roman philosophy was influenced by Plato and Aristotle ideas. Both had looked at the city-states and political relation as the affairs of the city as highest calling from a human being (Damerow Web). The philosophies that dominated this period were Skepticism, Cynicism, Epicureanism, Stoicism, and Neo-Platonism. Religion probably one of the most important influences the Romans has on modern day society. Another noteworthy spot of Roman influence is in religion. The Roman Empire led to the spread of Christianity. Historically Rome from the time of the monarchy to the last period of empire is known of the role religion played in society. Moreover, religion was parts of all aspects of the Roman citizen. There were various ways of honoring god either in the family or at the festival. Roman religion had several phases, but the most important was the second and third phase (Oracle Web). In the second phase, Greek religion started to infiltrate roman religion. This led to change from the Archaic Triad to Captioline Triad influenced by Greek (Oracle Web). The number of Romans deities increased significantly. They had gods representing every aspect of the society. The third phase lasted until 476 CE. The traditional form of roman religion started to reduce. There were new religious beliefs invading the Western Roman Empire. This religion promised peace after death to the majority poor in Roman Empire. The most significant of all religion was Christianity that had origin in Judea (Oracle Web). Though Jesus was crucified after a short stay on earth, he developed a cult due to various miracles and promise when addressing people. This led to spread of Christianity in Roman Empire, and this was the beginning of fall of Roman Empire. The Roman Empire facilitated the spread of Christianity, as there were favorable roads and inns that had been constructed in the empire. Although Christians were persecuted in the empire, there was little toleration. The persecution during the reign of Emperor Nero were meant to discourage rise of Christianity, but led to Christianity prosperity. The conversion Roman emperor Constantine the great led to a significant increase in Christianity in the empire. As Christianity spread in the empire Christian communities, groups developed. Bishop was the head of such groups in the diocese. There were also subordinates to the bishop. This type of structure is still in existence today. Although Roman Empire failed after adoption of Christianity, the belief system inspired by Jesus still exists today. Church still adapts to the roman form of government based on the idea of unity. The ideals adopted by the roman guaranteed the survival of Christianity for ages to becoming the strongest religion in the world (Oracle Web). The other important influence of the Western Roman Empire was on law. This was facilitated by the adoption of Latin as the language used in the western empire. The basis of the Roman law was the Twelve Tables that were refined during the period from 200 BCE to 476 CE to a finer Roman law in the western empire. Roman law had several divisions. There was state law in which the state was involved in issues such as treason and taxation. Secondly, there was the private law that dealt with issues relating between people like contracts. This was the basis in what in the West is known as Civil Law. Moreover, Roman law has influenced the development and structure of the international law. There were indictments and jury trials, as they exist today. The thought of innocent until proven guilty originated from Roman Empire (Damerow Web). This is the idea used in many court system of Europe today and even in America. The written constitution adopted by various countries that were once part of the western empire originated from the Roman idea. The roman process of making laws had a profound influence on the modern political systems. During the period of republican Rome, the process of making law was a bicameral activity. Legislation was through comitia or aggregation of the citizens (Damerow Web). This was later to be approved by the representatives or the senate that constituted the upper class. The people of Rome and senate usually issued declaration. Most of the countries in the west use Republican Rome as a structure of their government. Such government also mandates that the same law must go through another legislative body. This pattern continues to be practiced in many democratic institutions in the region. The terminologies used in common laws of some countries have their basis on Roman law. Such terminologies include words such as stare decisis, culpa in contrahendo and many more (Damerow Web). All these are Latin terms used in common law especially in Britain. Roman law lasted in Europe for thousands of years and was influential in this period. Politics is arguably the most important component of Western Roman Empire. Through politics, the Roman Empire managed to grow from a simple entity to the largest empire during the period occupying nearly all parts of the west side. Political ideas were expanded using army. The whole of Mediterranean world was controlled at a sword point. The politics of the Roman Empire reached its high point in history during the time of Marcus Aurelius in 161 CE (Damerow Web). The empire was vast enough and extended to millions of kilometers. All the rival groups in this region were crashed such as the Greeks and the Egyptians. Only the Germanic tribes that was spared in this territorial expansion. However, over the next 300 hundred years saw a political shift. This was evident during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. He divided the empire into east and west. The western side was poor, small, and comprised of farmland that made up of west Europe and North Africa. The western empire had no political advantage. Lastly, political dimensions took a different twist after the rise of civil strife. The barbarian’s from north Europe instigated this conflict. There was constant conflict between the Barbarians and the Romans. This led to final defeat of Romans in 378 CE (Damerow Web). Although the empire failed politically, it left a rich legacy that was a cornerstone for Western civilization. Moreover, the style used in establishing political dominance still was used in the subsequent century. This was seen in later centuries during scramble and partition of territories by countries of Europe in the world. In conclusion, it is undeniable that the Roman Empire was great and had a tremendous influence in the world. Although the Western Roman Empire had a humble beginning, it transformed many countries of the west in myriad ways. In addition, it is now clear that many of the inventions that we enjoy today had their roots in the Romans ways of life. Romans were very powerful and prominent during the time of their control, and their values have lasted for long. They helped in shaping the way people live, family’s lives, military, and various activities enjoyed today. They contributed enormously to the society in many ways that laid a foundation of the western civilization. Romans also contributed to both architecture and engineering, and this are manifested in the roads. Works Cited Damerow, Harold. “Western Civilization.” Ucc.edu. Web, 02 June 2012. Oracle. “Roman Religion.” Thinkquest.org.edu. Web, 02 June 2012. Read More