Ancient Rome DBQ Essay

“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” –Marcus Garvey. The U.S. is a combination of many cultures and influences over the centuries and because of this we are alike to many of them. We could name many of these influences: the Greeks, the Chinese Dynasties but the Romans were particularly like us. We might see them as barbaric is some ways but the reality is that the U.S. takes pages from many areas of the Romans, and comparisons could be drawn between both of us. Examples include government, our religions, and in some ways entertainment. The U.S. is much like the old Roman Empire was more than a millennium ago
A good government forms the basis of a good nation. The Republic is a Roman concept and the U.S. today is a Democratic Republic. Document 1 and 2 summarize all three branches of the Roman government and have a chart comparing both our types of governments,

respectively. According to Document 1, the Roman Republic was made out of the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. The U.S. uses these same three branches today, with very similar functions. This is further proved in Document 2 with the comparison chart. Executively the Romans elected two consuls who did the same as our president today. In the legislative branch the U.S and the Roman Republic both have senates which advise the executives and the Roman assemblies make laws like the House of Representatives. Praetors were the Supreme judges of the Romans and they oversaw civil and criminal cases.
Although our religions may not be very similar, there still are similarities to find between the two.

Document 5 is a tombstone with an engraving that’s about the afterlife, showing that the Romans believed in the afterlife. Many religions such as Christianity believe in an afterlife as well, except in Christianity its called heaven. Document 8 shows a chart showing and describing some Roman gods. The U.S. allows for the freedom of religion but none of the largest religions really can relate to the Polytheistic gods of the Romans. Nonetheless this contrast shows where our cultures start to shows a difference.
Types of entertainment is something we share with the Romans. Document 6 shows a fresco of young men playing with a ball. Today, we have many sports like basketball and soccer that we play just to pass time or competitively. Document 4 shows the Colosseum and its uses such as gladiator and animal fights. Although gladiator and animal fights are illegal today we go to massive stadiums for spectacles like concerts and soccer

games.
The Romans and the U.S. can be compared in many ways. The Government are extremely similar with most branches having almost the same uses. As for religion the Romans, like many others, believed in an afterlife, but sadly that’s where similarities end because their religion is unlike most mainstream religions. Like the fresco, our youth still plays sports and we still entertain ourselves at stadium spectacles, even if were not watching the same thing. Although we may draw lines to who we compare ourselves to, we can always be compared in some way