Differences and Similarities between ancient Greek and Roman Civilizations
By Arley Uldrich
Pre-AP World History 4th
Peirce
The Greeks and the Romans, two completely different civilizations and yet so similar. They both had their different customs and traditions and may have been years apart, but they are the same, or as the same two different people can be. Both had the ability for greatness, and both were able to create a far reaching empire full of many different types of people. Entertainment wise the Greeks and the Romans were well occupied. Rome had Chariot races and Gladiator fights while Greece had the Olympic Games and the Greek dramas. Gladiator fights were very popular. In fact even though most gladiators were
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Both the Greek and the Roman civilization were polytheistic. Greeks were a very religious people. In Greece each city-state had a patron god or goddess that protected their city. Greeks believed that their Gods appeared in human form but had superhuman strength and ageless beauty. Many of the Gods are depicted on various painted scenes on vases, and stone, terracotta and bronze sculptures by themselves or in mythological scenes interacting with humans and lesser Gods (Realign and Death). Rome’s Gods and Goddesses were from a blend of a variety of cultures including Greece. They too believed the gods were actively involved in their everyday life, so much so that they held sacred meals for their Gods during religious festivals in which the invitations were sent in the God’s name and a place was set for them at the table. The oldest male in the family preformed religious rituals for the whole household to the family God, while the state employed priests and Priestesses to worship at the temple. Though they could not predict the future the priests were the one who could read signs to see if the Gods were happy or angry with the people. In the first century a new religion was born in the Rome that spread all throughout the empire and corners of the world, Christianity (Life in …show more content…
In the Greece city-state of Athens women were very restricted. A women had very little property right even less than in other city-states. However women were able to make dedications and loans some in fairly large sums too. Also priesthood was a public activity open to all women (ancient Greece Civilization). In Rome women were in charge of the household and called masterfamilias. They were expected to behave modestly, gracefully and with dignity. Women were married in their early teen years. The Roman state gave rewards to women who had successfully given birth. After having three children a women was considered legally independent. In the case of a divorce the women got their dowry back in full and returned to her father’s household unless she was independent before marriage. If unmarried a women could own a business, and could own inherit and dispose of property. However women were not considered equal to men in front of the law (Life in
It is evident that the Romans emulated much or all of Greek culture into their lives, even down to their philosophies and complete blatancy of using the same gods and goddesses. However, there was an apparent shift of Greco-Roman polytheism to medieval monotheism, which is where persons in this period started to pivot their attention primarily on just God, disregarding old traditions of other gods. They went from issuing deities to make sense of their ancient world, and using rational thought (never was this used before) to probe for questions, to a reliance on just one god for all explanations (the medieval period). However, as time progressed, during the time of the Renaissance, people were using some of the same techniques as Greco-Roman
A woman was not seen as being equal to a man. This is clear in the laws dealing with marriage. Women were contractually obligated to remain with their husbands only, while their husbands were permitted to have a mistress or second wife. If a woman was caught with another man, she would be drowned (“The Code of Hammurabi”). Another thing that shows that women were not equal to men is the fact that they could be sold into slavery by their husbands at any time. Women did, however, have some rights such as the right to own property and the right to inherit and pass down that property. They also played very important roles in society. Some of these roles included shop owners, bakers, or scribes (Judge and Langdon,
First came the advanced weapons, the Greeks didn't have very many weapons but the ones that they did have were very powerful. Take their spears for example, they were very sturdy and sharp. And because they knew how to use them they succeeded in many of their battles. The Romans on the other hand had quite a variety of weapons. They had short swords, spears, giant darts, bows and flawless armor. This made them quite the force to be reckoned with, and anyone that stood in their way was crushed. The Greeks were very famous for their navy while the Romans didn't really have one. Most of the ancient navy's were made up of giant ships that would ram and then sink each other. But the Romans preferred hand to hand combat so they used swords more than they did spears. The Greeks had more of a frontal attack with large shields that protected them while they stabbed. Greek Armor was very weak, so they wore very little if they wore any at all. But Roman Armor had to be impeccable at all times according to Philopoemen. “Bright armour inspired dismay in the enemy” pg.6.
Many civilizations have similar qualities as other civilizations, but they also have their differences. Some of these differences include: Religion, Geography, and Government. These three things were a big part of any civilization. Two civilizations had many different things and many similar things. These civilizations are The Maya and The Romans. The Romans had a very unique and interesting culture, The Maya were also very interesting and different. Even though they were unique in their own way, they also had many similar qualities.
Most women in ancient Rome were viewed as possessions of the men who they lived with. Basically they were handed from their father to their new husband at the time of their marriage and submitted any property they owned, or dowry they were given, to their husband. There were however two types of marriage in ancient Rome, Manus and sine Manus. Under the first type, Manus, the woman and all of her property and possessions were placed under the control of her husband and he could do with them how he pleased. Under the second type, sine Manus, the woman remained under the control of her oldest male relative, usually her father or brother. This type of marriage gave women a lot more freedom because they could carry out their own cash businesses, own their own property, and accept inheritance money (Gill, 5).
Roman vs. Greek Civilization Although both Roman and Greek civilizations shared similarities in the areas of art and literature, their differences were many and prominent. Their contrasting aspects rest mainly upon political systems and engineering progress, but there are also several small discrepancies that distinguish between these two societies. This essay will examine these differences and explain why, ultimately, Rome was the more advanced civilization of the two. Greece, originally ruled by an oligarchy ("rule of the few"), operated under the premise that those selected to rule were selected based not upon birth but instead upon wealth.
The Greek and Roman civilizations differed from each other in ways, but were more alike than many other cultures. Persia for example, was much different from Greece specifically. Persia was an agricultural based empire with strict capitals throughout, whereas, Greece
Ancient Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, and Greece were all historical civilizations that made history the way it is today. The three civilizations differed in many different ways, but they were also quite similar in other aspects. The focus of survival, beliefs, daily life, and many other focuses connect the three civilizations.
They had similar beliefs, but also immeasurable differences. It was composed of many meaningful gods and goddesses that all played a part in the everyday life of the average Roman and Greek person of that time.
Abounding similarities exist between the Mesopotamian and Greek societies. As history progresses many cultural advances occur, but societies also adopt some of the same characteristics as preceding societies, you will notice this between the Mesopotamian and Greek civilizations. After learning about the Greek civilizations I immediately began generating connections to Mesopotamian societies. I noticed similarities in all aspects of society, whether it was religion, military, architecture or any other cultural idiosyncrasies.
The role of women in ancient Rome is not easily categorized; in some ways they were treated better than women in ancient Greece, but in other matters they were only allowed a very modest degree of rights and privileges. One thing that does seem clear is that as the city-state of Rome evolved from its early days into a more complex society; women were not always limited to secondary roles. In some areas of Roman society, women were allowed more freedoms than in many other ancient civilizations.
Throughout the history of Rome, from the monarchy to the late empire, religion had played a great role in it's society and was involved in almost every aspect of the life of the Roman citizen. It was common for each house to have it's own patron god/gods and ,on special occasions, the head of the house would make a sacrifice to the personal gods of the family. Also, great festivals were usually held in honor of certain gods and would include spectacles like chariot races and Gladiatorial fights.
Families were the basis of Roman society while the dominant males-paterfamilias, “held absolute authority over his children” (Spielvogel 129) and others in his household . Roman citizens were classified with three names to differentiate them from other families, but women were usually only known by one. “Females shall remain in guardianship even when they have attained their majority”, (Spielvogel 119) upper-class women were never granted true freedom, but they started making breakthroughs and found ways around the “guardianship” of the males in their households.
Greek and Roman sculptures act as milestones throughout the development of art. Both types of sculptures played significant roles socially and politically during their corresponding periods. Although the Greek artists had limited materials, they still created gorgeous sculptures; similarly, the Roman sculptors adapted the techniques from the Greeks in order to create magnificent works for their own purposes.
Roman artwork is extremely intricate and diverse, however, a lot of what is referred to as Roman art can better be described by the cultures it conquered. The ancient Greeks were the most influential of these cultures, from their temples and sculptures, to their reliefs and paintings. Greece was the first culture to create major programs for sculpture, painting, and architecture. Many of the first Roman artists were of Greek descent as their artwork reflects the Classical and Hellenistic periods of ancient Greece. A lot of what is considered to be Roman artwork is criticized as being mere copies of Greek artwork since they modeled their forms and styles after the Greeks, but other cultures influenced the Romans as well, mainly the Etruscans,