Article 6: What's so 'ancient' about Rome?

There are many things that modern civilization has gotten from the Ancient Romans including aqueducts, streets, a political and legal system, our calendar, and a census of the population for taxation. All of these are still used today in modern society.

An aqueduct is a conduit to carry water over a river or valley, or a source of water. These are still present today, except they have been changed to be more advanced. There were a total of eleven aqueducts in the city or around Rome. This city was way ahead of its time. These aqueducts catered to the public so extravagantly that some of the aqueducts led to public restrooms. The restrooms were not only a sign of the Romans’ advancement, but also a sign that they cared about hygiene. Emperor Vespasian charged fines for using the restrooms, showing how frequently they were used and that the whole city benefitted from them, not only in the form of convenience. Most civilization during the Roman time period did not having toilets, exemplifying the technologic advancement held by the Romans.

The famous line of “All roads lead to Rome” shows just how far the roads of Rome reached. Seven major roads led out of Rome to various areas. The road networks began when Appius Claudius passed it through the senate with much difficulty. At first, the roads were created an easier way to move the troops to a new territory. After awhile, it was simply for convenience. All of the streets represented the dominance of the Romans throughout Europe and to remind everyone of their power.
The political and legal systems of Rome worked so well that the United States adapted a government very similar to the one that they used. The process of determining innocence from guilt in the court of law has also been changed moderately from the time of the Romans. The Romans had the Twelve Tables which were twelve topics under which article were written about the topics regarding law. Instead of the Twelve Tables, the United States has The Constitution. Another similarity is the senate in Rome. The United States even has the same name. When the founders of America were deciding on what form of government to use, they saw that Rome was very successful using a Republic form.
The calendar was made by the Romans. Some of the months are named after emperors including Julius, July, and Augustus, August. The fact that we are still using the calendar that the ancient Romans made shows just how intelligent they were. They created a standard for time that has yet to show any flaws. This is a remarkable feat that is incredibly difficult to do.
Having a census may seem like a minor thing to do, but the Romans made a census to collect more taxes. While countries probably do not have a census for the same reason, it is still important to note that we are doing the same thing that the ancient Romans did. This shows that the Romans were doing something important enough that we are still doing it today.
All of the things mentioned above are things that Romans created or made major advancements in. Although there are many other things that the Romans made, most of these are things that have impacted the way we live today. Things that the Romans did thousands of years ago, affect the kind of lifestyle that people all over the world live.

Citations

"Roman Aqueducts." Truly Rome Apartments in Rome. Web. 06 Mar. 2010. .

"Romans Road." Truly Rome Apartments in Rome. Web. 05 Mar. 2010. .

Notes

The Romans saw women and children to be less important than men. The Twelve Tables state that "if a man and woman live together continuously for a year, they are considered to be married; the woman legally is treated as the man's daughter." This shows that the Romans did not think highly of woman and that they were inferior to men. They also said that "a dreadfully deformed child shall be killed." This tells us that they felt as if a child was not normal in any way, he should not live (The Twelve Tables.)

"THE TWELVE TABLES." California State University, Northridge. Web. 05 Mar. 2010. http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/12tables.html>.

Daily

Thucydides was the person who wrote the story of the Peloponnesian war. He was a scholar and wanted to get the story right. He had a great interest in understanding human nature. His History of the Peloponnesian War was divided into eight sections after his death. It contains the entire twenty-seven year long history of the wars between Athens and Sparta. Many of his writings are still studied at major colleges and universities.

Livy was a Roman historian and lived during Augustus' reign. He wrote a history of Rome from its beginning to his own time period. It was called "Chapters from the Foundation of the City." It is written in several different volumes. Book 21 of Livy's history of Rome is the story of Hannibal and the Second Punic War. This is one of his most famous works.

Herodotus was a Greek historian. He was the first person to go out and talk to people about history. Herodotus mainly talked about the Persian Wars. Without his account of the Greco-Persian wars, there would be only poorly documented information on them.

Notes 3/3/10

Hannibal's father fought the Romans in Spain. He made Hannibal take a pledge to always hate the Romans. Hannibal takes his army across the Pyreneese and the Alps into Italy. Fights to Rome and ends up to the South of Rome. There is a battle where Rome sends it's best army to fight Hannibal at Cannae. Romans greatly outnumbered the Carthaginians. 60,000 Romans die in this battle. It is the greatest military defeat of Rome and one of the greatest in the history of the world. It gets 50 miles from Rome, but doesn't have enough supplies to go to Rome. He never sieged Rome. If he did, the course of history would've changed.

At the battle of Zama, Hannibal attacks first and brings his war elephants. The Romans came up with a plan to stop the elephants. They blew horns, scaring the elephants. They got turned around which led to the defeat of Hannibal. Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus defeated Hannibal at Zama. Scipio used Hannibal's tactics against him.

Scipio Aemilianus and his soldiers go to Carthage and siege it. Cato the elder sacked and burned Carthage. This was the end of Carthage.

Daily

There are multiple things that are apparent in our modern legal and political systems that were created by the ancient Romans. One of these things is the power of the people. The ancient Romans would vote for their senators. Americans do the same thing in modern times in voting for government officials and other non-governmental positions. Another example of this is the power of someone in the government to veto a bill or reform. This was created by the Plebs who were on the brink of revolting against the Patricians. The president now has this power, but the veto may be over ruled by a two-thirds majority.

Daily: Hannibal

Hannibal was a military commander and tactician for Carthage and his often said to be one of history's greatest military commanders. He lived in a time in which the Mediterranean area was having great turmoil. One of his greatest achievements was leading an army with elephants over the Alpes, after which he conquered most of Italy. He ran for suffette of Rome. Hannibal imposed reforms over Rome, many of which were unpopular. He decided to go into exile. He came out of exile to help other leaders defeat Rome in war. I think that his reputation as a monster through Roman eyes is deserved because he helped many different leaders defeat Rome in battle. If was a Roman, I would be equally as mad at him.

Notes 3/1/10

• Trojans were the ancestors of the romans
• Aeneas brings his people on a trip from Troy to Africa and then to Rome
• Dido and Aeneas fall in love but the gods tell him that he has to leave and go to Italy. Dido commits suicide for her loss
• The Latins live in Latium
• Latins and Trojans have a war in which the Trojans win
• Trojans set up a town called Alba Longa which is their capital
• Southern Italy was mainly Greek
• She-wolf is to Rome as Eagle is to America
• Romulus and Remus have a war and Romulus wins. He names capital Rome
• The city is built on seven hills
• Etruscan is north of Rome
• Kings rule Rome for several generations
• In the 6th century, Tarquin the Sixth rapes a wife of a Roman nobleman. This sets off a revolt against a Rome. Led by Lucius Junius Brutus, a very shy man.
• When Lucretia kills herself, he steps up and leads the Roman. He sets of the Roman Republic.
• The Tribune of the Plebes. this is the seat that Patricians give the Plebeians to prevent a civil war. This seat has to power to veto.
• After Romans conquer city, they set up person to collect taxes and left alone.
• Epirus- pyrrhus is king
• Pyrrhus defeats Romans in almost every single battle, but couldn't win the war.
• This tremendously boosts Rome's morale.
• Three Punic wars between Rome and Carthage
• 264 BCE, Roman allies complain of Carthage trying to take power from them. Rome goes to help and ends up being in a war with Carthage. This leads to the second Carthage war