Survey of Ancient Greece and Rome

Survey of Ancient Greece and Rome
Geographical Factors
Islands and the Development of Greece Empire
Ancient Greece comprised of Hundreds of small Islands that stretched across the Mediterranean, Aegean and Ionian seas. The inland climate in Greece was semi-arid and made many people settle in the coastal regions where the climate was mild. Due to the fact that inland Greece was difficult for human settlement, people settled in the surrounding coasts leading to the emergence of small cities. Coastal settlement influenced jobs in Greece and attracted many people to settle in the coastal Greece (Coulston, 2012). Many years specialized in fishing, sailing, and trading. As these activities grew, they paved for opportunities for colonization. The society became more contemporary and also the cities began transforming into independent states. The cities also began being governments for local villages and towns and this made the cities to become political centers. They, after that, established a unilateral Greece empire in the 500s BCE and exercised their authority both in the inland and the coastal regions (Edwards, 2016).
Mountains and the Development of Roman Empire
The Alps and Apennines Mountains helped in offering protection of the Roman Empire invasion. The mountains divided the Italian peninsula into two and allowed the Romans to drive their forces for a mass attack in case their security was threatened. Armies that attempted to attack Rome faced the risk of retaliatory attacks from the other side of the mountain.

The Alps are located on the northern side of Rome’s border which is the modern day Italy (Coulston, 2012). The mountains shield off the peninsula from the other parts of Europe during the winter season, and this acted as a natural block that protected Rome from foreign invasion. The attackers would take the time to move through the narrow passes, and this was an opportunity for Romans to respond. The mountain terrain contributed much to the emergence of the Roman Empire as rival sides always experienced defeat because of the geographical factor (Edwards, 2016). Generally, this geographical factor enabled the ancient rulers to conquer more territories and establish the Roman Empire.
Characteristics of Ancient Greece Culture
Philosophy
Ancient Greece focused on the role of reasoning in inquiry, and it has great impacts on the modern philosophy. The philosophical mindset of its culture was also backed up by the fact that literature was embraced in the culture. The philosophical reasoning in the Greece culture also facilitated the development of ancient science and the modern science and technology. This resulted in the widespread making of Greece artifacts that had an influence on the cultures of many countries in sculpture and architecture. It is also evident that the ancient country’s culture was characterized by education which found its basis in the most famous Greece philosophers like Aristotle (Coulston, 2012).
Democracy
Greece is described as the cradle of democracy. In the Western Civilization, Athens, the capital of Greece, owns the first civil law code. The Greece highest leadership comprised of the archon who may be compared to the modern prime minister. The archon was elected every year and possessed some judicial powers. Democracy in Athens was developed due to the continuous reorganization of people. The name democracy is a Greek word that means to mean people’s power. It involved people taking part in the country’s leadership and individuals had equal opportunities of taking part in the governorship of the country. This characteristic enables the people of Greece to broaden their minds and advance intellectually, as well as, culturally (Coulston, 2012).
Characteristics of Ancient Rome Culture
Art and Sculpture
The art and sculpture of ancient Rome were done to draw human emotion. The Romans invented the Keystone which they used in the making and construction of various items such as bridges and aqueducts that were used to draw water into town. The ducts helped the Romans to create baths in the cities where people could gather for recollection and cleaning activities. The artistic and architectural knowledge of the Romans also helped them to build arenas and coliseums for various events including sporting activities. The cultural Rome was full of many other architectural inventions that also contributed to the modern technology especially in the field of agriculture (Edwards, 2016).
Written Law Code
Rome has a complex written law code that was considered an important instrument of the country’s culture. Although the written law codes can date back to Mesopotamia, the difference is that the Roman law code was very much complicated. The administration was governed by the law code and was also efficient in accordance with ancient standards (Edwards, 2016). This ability made it fall amongst the several large empires in the ancient.
Alexander the Great and the Greece Empire
Alexander the Great contributed so much to the spread of the Greece culture all over Central Asia and the Middle East. He played a very big role in encouraging trade between cultures which had initially not interacted and this encouraged exchange of ideas between Greece and northern India. It is through the reign of Alexander the great that the policy of Hellenization was very much spread all through Greece leading to the foundation of seventy more cities in the territory. Alexander gained more empires through military victory, and trade ideas were spread over various territories surrounding Greece because he made communication even easier.
Augustus and the Roman Empire
Augustus was the first emperor of Rome. He was honored because of his greatest achievements that enabled Rome to prosper. It is through his leadership that ancient Rome got a new constitution and constructed new infrastructure and expanded into new territories. He continued to preserve ancient culture in Rome and also promoted prehistoric civilization and primeval traditions (Balot, 2012). It is through his leadership that Rome got recognition to many parts of the world as a prehistoric and traditional site.
Methods used by Rome and Greece to expand its Territory and Power
The lifestyle, politics, and culture of the Roman Empire were spread to many other parts of the world such as England, Greece, Spain, Netherlands and North Africa. The Romans introduced a centralized leadership stem, currency system, roads and even cities across Europe. Greece expanded through colonization by founding new states along the Mediterranean. In order to achieve their colonization mission, Greece used trade contacts to get and easy reach of areas that it wanted to colonize (Coulston, 2012). New Cities were established in the colonies, and this triggered further expansion of the empire.
How Political Structures of Greece and Rome Changed over Time
The ancient Rome and Greece had properly organized political procedures that greatly impacted the way in which the subsequent governments were structured. From tyranny to monarchy and democracy, the systems of government developed into party systems that are the systems of the modern governorship (Edwards, 2016). The changes that occurred in the political structures were motivated by certain interests that were perceived as paramount and important to the progress of the empires. As such the changes in political structures occurred in response to world issues or threats that appeared to affect the leadership of the empires (Balot, 2012). Before they translated into the modern systems of the governorship, these systems were very dynamic depending on the leader in power.
References
Balot, R. K. (2012). A companion to Greek and Roman political thought. John Wiley & Sons.
Coulston, J. (2012). Greece and Rome (and their enemies) at war. Philip Sabin, Hans Van Wees,
Michael Whitby (Edd.), The Cambridge History Of Greek And Roman Warfare (2 Vols., Cambridge University Press 2007). Vol. 1, Greece, the Hellenistic world and the rise of Rome: pp. xvii+ 663, 10 maps, 62 figs; vol. 2, Rome from the Late Republic to the Late Empire: pp. xiv+ 608, 7 maps, 55 figs. ISBN 978-0-521-78273-9; 978-0-521-78274-6.£ 243/$440. Journal of Roman Archaeology, 25, 729-747.
Edwards, H. (2016). Art, Identity, and the Home in the Roman World.