Rome’s vast empire lasted for an amazing one thousand-year reign. Half of it referred to as the republic, and the other as the empire. However, after its fall in 5oo-a. d. Rome has still remained in existence through its strong culture, architecture, literature, and even religion (Spielvogel 175). Even after its disappearance as a nation Rome left behind a legacy that will never be forgotten. Its ideals and traditions have been immolated, and adopted for over two thousand years.
Whether, it is through its language of Latin, its influence of religion, or its amazing architectural ability Rome has influenced almost every culture following its demise. The heritage of Rome has been passed down through three different channels; one is through the eastern Roman Empire; through the Roman Catholic Church, and consciously by any and every one who has been in touch with Roman Culture (Hadas 157). The first to try to reconstruct Rome was the emperor Constantine. In his capital of Constantinople, Constantine wanted to reconstruct the city to be an exact replication of Rome.
In doing so he reconstructed some of the buildings as almost exact duplicates of the originals of early Roman architecture. Or Constantine’s drive to reenact Rome’s republic, and turn it back to a government ran by the senators for the people. In fact he was quite successful until it was finally demolished. However, Constantine did further the beliefs of Roman Catholic Christianity, which with its advancement of the army, Rome’s religion reached many new lands. Secondly, Rome’s legacy was spread by the advancement of the church.
As the Catholic Church continued to flourish into the middle ages the church capital remained in Rome (Hadas 159). This allowed the spreading of Roman culture to continue. Not only did the church keep the capital in Rome, but also it continued to teach the Roman language of Latin, and kept the writings of Roman literature on record for many years. This aided to the study and adoption of Roman culture throughout the parallels of time. The third and most important way that Roman culture and ideals were spread throughout western civilization is through mere contact.
Whether this is through physical influence, or the study of Roman relics, Rome’s ideas spread like wild fire. An important figure who is responsible for this spread is the great leader Charlemange. He was the first to physically reunite a large majority of Roman land and re-institute Roman ways. His goal was to once again have Rome rule. Even after his death, his followers devoted their rule to keeping this dream of Rome alive, and successfully did so until 1806 (160). Not only was Rome highly influential back in its prime, but many of its ideals are still remaining strong in some form or another.
A perfect example of this is the United States. Even in the “Pledge of Allegiance” there are traces of Rome. For part of it states that; ” By the republic for which it stands” this says that this country is ran under a republic. Just as Rome in its first five hundred year reign. We have adopted the same thought that through our senators, who are elected by the people, a better country can be developed. This is an almost exact adoption of the Roman states system that implies a highly centralized government can run an entire nation effectively.
In addition, to the Roman government, the modern world has been influenced by Roman architecture as well. In every country and every state these days you will find roads or some type of paved road system. This derived from early Roman architectures. The Romans were the first to set up a highly advanced concrete road system that would aide in traveling. Although not as sophisticated as today’s roads, the concrete used was not much different from what is used today. In fact the Roman constructed roads are still intact today. Along with road construction the modern world has also developed stadium building.
The Romans were great builders and made some amazing stadiums (i. . coliseum, and the circus maximus) which could be compare with the sports arenas of today. In appearance our stadiums of today are not exactly the same, but one can see the similarities in them. Take the coliseum, this stadium is huge, and was built for one purpose; and that was to hold as many Romans as possible. Today’s stadiums are the same way. They are huge, marvelously constructed buildings that are meant to hold thousands of people. Also, the coliseum and circus maximus were built for the people to watch games or “sporting events”, just like today.
Whether it is a football game at the Silverdome, or a group gladiators fighting to the death in the coliseum, it is all meant to house entertainment. Roman architects would also build grand public buildings, which were the center of Roman social life. These popular places were the “public baths” or malls, as they would be called today. These buildings had every anything from libraries to shops. They were huge covering about thirty-three acres of land, and were always crawling with Romans, both rich and poor (Hadas 87). These are very similar to the Malls of today.
Both are places where people enjoy spending a large amount of time at, and at he same time can be entertained. Grant it, the malls of today do not contain public bathing areas, as did the Roman malls (except for certain places in California, but they have been closed down for at least 15 years). However, the same basic principal remains. Romans also engineered a style of living that is still widely used in every culture today. Rome, overcrowded as it was, developed homes that would best accommodate the large amounts of poor individuals occupying the streets.
These people would live together in tightly packed apartments that were approximately seven stories high. Now these were not the best living quarters, due to no running water, or window with panes, but it was a home (Bernard 70). A similar concept exists in our towns and cities today. Many people are placed into apartment communities so that space can be conserved. Many times the people that tend to live in these complexes are those who do not have a lot of money. This not to say that all people living in apartments are poor, like in Roman times, but a large majority are less fortunate than those who live in houses.
Plus, the apartments of today are not as rough as the Romans had either. However, the concept of city live in modern society is very much influenced by that of Rome. Even the simplest of Rome’s culture has survived into modern life, and that is its language. Latin even though deemed a dead language is still widely used in the classification of plant and animals. The scientific world readily utilizes the Latin forms in classifying organisms. Even though the language is dead, Rome’s presence still finds a way to remain an influence in how people think.
Latin today is not widely spoken expect in organism classification, it would not be here if it had not been widely pushed by Roman scholars and their followers. Not only did its language survive but also many traditions in culture survived. A perfect example is Roman mealtime. Romans never ate a solid breakfast; the main meals were prepared for mid-day or lunch. This was where the feast began. Before and after the “cena” was just a time to finish the leftovers (Hadas 86). This is quite similar to many countries in South America.
As part of its rich Spanish heritage many people in South America ritually have the largest meal of the day at lunchtime. Here the family gathers and prepares large feasts for everyone to enjoy. Where as breakfast and dinner consist of some bread or the remaining food from the feast. This could be in part of Rome’s early conquest of Spain. Influence of Rome back then has survived through the Spanish conquistadors landing and taking over much of South America. Whether it is war, the church, or influential contact Rome has made a huge impact on western civilization.
From its strong followers trying to recreate the Republic, to lasting impressions imposed on its conquered lands, Rome has sent its culture and heritage throughout the entire globe. Even though Rome its self only lasted one thousand years its presence is still felt today. Rome in the eyes of the world never actually died, but was born over and over, and still remains standing to this day in one form or another. The mighty Roman Empire is and forever will be the rock of hope, advancement, and pure culture that holds this world together.
