The Contribution of Roman Civilization to World Civilization I (Research Paper Sample)

The Contribution of Roman Civilization to World Civilization I
Name
Institution
Introduction
Roman civilization represents the social, political, religious and economic organization of the Roman Empire, whose rule spanned from the founding of Rome by Romulus in 27 BC, until its fall after the death of Constantine in 1453 AD. At its height, the Roman Empire was the most powerful and extensive political and social system in the world. The empire’s expansion into other regions of the world had a big impact in the political, social, religious and economic civilization of the world. This essay discusses the contribution of Roman civilization to world civilization one. It argues that the Roman civilization played a major role in the civilization of the western world in all spheres of life, including religion, politics, commerce, and social life. These influences are evident today in people’s relationship with society, the state, and social institutions.
World Civilization One
World civilization I represent the organization of societies and cultures from the ancient period, through the medieval period until early modern civilization. The timeline of world civilization I covers the period from around 10, 000 BC (the period of first human settlement and agricultural activities) to around CA 1500.
Influence of the Roman Empire on World Civilization I
The expansion of the Roman Empire throughout the western world was significant in exporting the Roman culture and civilization across Europe and other parts of the world. The rule of the Romans left a lasting legacy with respect to the religious beliefs, cultural values, and technological innovations they spread to the kingdoms that were brought under Roman rule. Long after the fall of the Roman Empire, these values continued to shape the world in the areas of education, governance, religion, and social organization. For instance, the Romans popularized their architectural skills in the construction or roads and buildings. The Roman legal system influenced the practice of law and understanding of justice. The Romans also contributed to warfare, language, medicine and political organization of governments.
Language
As the Roman Empire expanded throughout Europe, the Romans introduced their language in the newly conquered territories. Latin, being the language used by the Roman army, found its way to every region that the Romans took over through military conquest (Gibbon, 2000). Similarly, Latin was the language of governance, used by governors and other government workers throughout the empire’s provinces. Modern languages including French, Italian, English and Portuguese borrowed heavily from Latin. Perhaps the greatest influence of the Latin language was the idea of using one language for official purposes. In a multicultural society comprising of people speaking different tongues, the Romans popularized Latin for purposes of making governance easier. Subsequent civilizations, including modern societies, imitated the Romans’ use of an official language. As result, national languages like English, French, and German are used inn government offices. This tradition has its roots in the official use of the Latin language during the Roman Empire.
The Latin language also contributed to the creation of an elite group in society since it was used by the noble class. Given that Latin was accessible to learned persons, it was also considered a language of status. As a result, selective use of the language had the effect of stratifying society by elevating those who spoke Latin to a higher class than those who did not.
Religion
If there is one aspect of social life that the Roman civilization is singularly responsible for shaping, it is religion (Rupke, 2011, p. 133). As the state’s official church in the Roman Empire, Christianity spread far and wide in the wake of Roman conquests throughout Europe. Every roman territory was declared a Christian state, which allowed the Romans to export their religious beliefs to many parts of the world. Constantine’s conversion to Christianity, and his subsequent banning of paganism and converting of pagan temples into places of Christian worship, is arguably the most significant influence of the Roman civilization in people’s religious lives. Roman civilization influenced people’s religious beliefs and practices, which are still evident today. For instance, the role of the priest as the mediator for the forgiveness of sins is still popular within the Roman Catholic Church. Overall, however, the Roman civilization played a role in not only popularizing Christianity at the expense of paganism, but equally important, in establishing close ties between the state and the church. Although these ties are not strong in today’s secular governments, the Romans set a precedent whereby the church has a big influence in people’s social life, making it necessary for the state to pass laws that respect people’s religious lives. For instance, people are exempted from work to attend church in certain days, while secular constitutions recognize people’s religious rights.
The role of religion in world civilization one was significant in pacifying the people and making them willing subjects under the rule of state authorities (Rupke, 2011). The close ties between the church and the state, especially during the rule of Emperor Constantine, ensured that religious teachings were used to inspire respect from the people for state laws. For instance, religious teachings about humility and the virtue of poverty played a big role in suppressing any feelings of rebellion or hatred that the working class/salves might have had against the ruling class. Christianity taught the poor to be content with their humble situations, thus making it easier for the ruling class to maintain power. In this regard, the Roman civilization, through its support of Christianity, made it possible for the establishment of secular governments during the ancient and medieval times. Thus, it could have been difficulty for the governments of the day to lord it over suffering serfs and slaves were it not for the pacifying effects of church teachings for humility. In addition, Christian teachings about the responsibilities of citizens to their government helped to stabilize the state through revenue generation. For example, the teaching to give unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar gives a religious and moral justifying for paying taxes. This obligation of subjects to the state was important in the creation of stable and effective governments in the ancient and medieval times.
Legal Justice
The legal system is another area of civilization that the Romans had an influence on. Although the Roman law is not used today as it was used during the Roman Empire, many jurisdictions borrowed heavily from the way the Romans settled disputes. This was largely because the Romans exported their judicial system to the territories they conquered. Consequently, there were courts for settling civil disputes during the medieval period, such as the king’s courts (Kingsbury & Straumann 2010). Even today, the justice system of many jurisdictions is modeled in the Roman structure, with parties to a case including the defendant, the plaintiff, and the trial judge.
The idea of setting precedence, whereby a jurisdiction’s legal traditions are given weight, has its roots in the Roman legal system. This is because the Roman Empire had not established structures for applying its law uniformly throughout the empire, especially in cases involving non-Roman citizens in conquered territories. In such circumstances, the law of the land was applied, with reference to the people’s customs. This approach established the Roman policy of mos regionis, which referred to the recognition of the law or legal traditions of the land.
Innovation, Urbanization, Development of Infrastructure
The Romans played a big role in opening up much of the Western world by developing transport infrastructures and creating urban centers. In their conquests, they established cities throughout Europe, most of which are still existing today. In the United Kingdom, for instance, it was the Romans who built the great city of Londinium, which is today known as London. Similarly, they established the city of Colonia Agrippina in Germany, which today exists as Cologne (Gibbon, 2000). Through the establishment of such centers, the Romans contributed to the urbanization of Europe. The construction of roads was also significant in connecting these cities, which helped in expanding commercial activities. In this regard, the development of transport infrastructure by the Romans can be attributed to the economic development of Europe during the period. This is because it facilitated the movement of goods to the market as well as people to urban centers. Thus, Europe would not be the same as it exists today were it not for the influence of the Roman civilization, which laid the foundation for the future development of its cities.
The Roman civilization also paved the way for the technological revolution of the period. The Romans invented weapons such as the steel amour, irrigation techniques, and military organization. The invention of weapons contributed to their success in warfare, which resulted in the political reorganization of the territories they conquered. For instance, their takeover of existing monarchs and kingdoms paved the way for the establishment of democratic governments. Although the Romans established their empire through military conquest, the expansiveness of the empire meant that they had to establish power structures for effective governance. For example, the central government appointed governors to rule in the provinces, although they were answerable to the Roman seat. This delegation o...