The Romans - Part 2

In D. Brendan Nagle's book, The Ancient World: A Social and Cultural History, he talks a great deal about the building of the Roman empire. This section needs much emphasis because of the years and talent that went in to building what would soon be the largest empire the world has ever seen; and not just in terms of size, but influence as well. As I have mentioned before, look around all of Europe and you can see lasting Roman influence. Then, take a trip across the Atlantic and land on the coast of Virginia. Without having to travel too far you will come across large plantations that have the influence of Roman architecture. Travel a little way north on the Potomac River and you will eventually come to one of the most powerful countries in the world's capital. Here with architects such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, you cannot pass a single federal building without seeing the Roman influence. Drive east up Constitution Avenue and you will see one of the largest buildings in the Washington, DC, the nation's Capitol Building. Housed in here is the Senate and House of Representatives. It wold be hard to disprove any direct influence of the Romans on the United State's government structure, especially when referring to the Senate. If you still doubt direct Roman influence, I have posted a picture of the Pantheon, located in Rome and built in the year 126 AD, and next to it posted a picture of Thomas Jefferson's monument, located in Washington, DC and built in the year 1937.

Back to the Roman empire.... Rome had a very challenging time getting started, mostly because of their location. Being located in central Italia and right on the Tiber river, can prove to be difficult when you are surrounded by many other peoples and cultures. It was the hard task of taking control of the Tiber river that Rome was able to not only survive, but thrive as a newly formed civilization. Also, with the help of local Latin cities, Rome was able to form close bonds with these neighboring cities and form inter-cultural relations. However, these bonds, however tight they were at the time, proved to not be of much help when Rome was sacked by the Celts at the Battle of Allia in 390 BC. After this devastating loss, Rome decided to recontruct their army. Orginially it was modeled after the Greek army, but Roman officials thought it better to model their army after their own civilization. According to Nagle, the Romans began to model their army similar to that of their culture, a Patrician-Plebeian style. Having these two classes work together proved to be very useful and successful in later years to come. With this new start of a new army Rome would soon become the empire and civilization it is remembered for today.