Western culture and civilization incorporates philosophic, artistic, and traditions that people embraced in their localities. The following are some of the events and that were witnessed in the Roman Republic during civilization.
- Brutus: was a cognomen of a prominent family member in the Roman Republic.
- The Trojan War: was a great war that involved the Greeks’ attempt to recover a wife of the king from the Trojans.
- Mycenae: is an archeological site based in Greece. It acted as one of the core centers that depict Greek civilization
- The Rape of Lucretia: is a play based on an ancient Roman story of corruption and tragedy. The story involves Lucretia a Roman general’s wife, who fell into the hands of prince Tarquinius.
- The Etruscans: are members of ancient tribes in Italy, who influenced Roman civilization.
Q1.The Western civilization has its origin from the Roman Empire. The need to control territories created conflict between powers. The cause of the Persian Wars was a struggle between two powers, which led to the Ionian Revolt between 510 and 494 BC (Mikalson 24). The Persians were not as tactical as the Greeks, hence, they suffered numerous defeats, which led to the end of the wars.
While the Persian Empire was under a king who came from the central position, the Empire was quite big to rule alone. The king was assisted by governors who were in charge of provinces. To avert rebellion, the king utilized a secret police system, which reported all information concerning the Empire. The Persian Imperial Army, or the Immortals was a
On the other hand, the Greek poleis were independent and were governed separately. Sparta was under two kings, who often disagreed on issues. While Athens was a democracy, Sparta was an oligarchy. The Athenian assembly met to discuss political, social, and military issues, at the agora. Hoplite warfare was a fighting style that was used by the early Roman army at the Italian Peninsula.
The Persians were not as tactical as the Greeks; hence, they suffered numerous defeats. Ultimately, the Persian Wars came to a halt, leading to Athens being declared the principal of the Delian League. The defeat of the Persians transformed the perception of Europe towards Asia.
Q2. In 133 BC, Rome became a democracy, but slave revolt and dissension among the military brought the political turmoil in the republic. The internal turmoil that led to economic stagnation brought the Roman Revolution,and eventually the downfall of the Republic.
The four events that led to the fall of Republic include:
- The rise of popular tribunes – between 133-121 BC, two brothers (Gracchus) tried to restore order by settling landless poor and granting allies citizenship, but were killed in mob violence.
- The emergence of private armies – when the oligarchy failed to solve the military problem, Roman generals (Marius and Sulla) established private armies that were loyal to them. After the death of Marius, Sullar succeeded in imposing political reform on Rome through dictatorship to restore the republic (Syme 47).
- The first triumvirate – Three men, namely, Pompey, Crassus, and Caeser collaborated to seize power. However, an intense rivalry emerged between them, leaving Caeser as the winner after the death of Crassus and Pompey in battle.
- Caeser’s dictatorship – after defeating all enemies, Caeser embarked on a ten-year dictatorship to restore the republic. However, he was murdered through a conspiracy of senators. The Roman Empire began under Caeser Octavianus.
Augustus Caeser became the first emperor in 27 BC to AD 14, when he died. His real name was Gaius Octavius, who was attributed to the Pax Romana (or the Roman Peace). Augustus respected the old aristocratic rulers’ families and utilized intermarriages to bring people into government.
Augustus Caeser was an excellent administrator, but Julius Caesar a superior general. Considering how the two leaders died, one can imply that Augustus Caeser left a good legacy. Augustus is hailed for being the true designer of Imperial Rome.
Works Cited
Mikalson, Jon D. Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars. University of North Carolina Press, 2003.
Syme, Ronald. The Roman Revolution. Oxford University Press, 2002.