Roman Influence On Modern Civilization

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Modern civilization owes a great debt to the classical cultures. The classical civilizations include Ancient Greece and Rome, however Rome, due to its revolutionary figures and greater influence during its time period, has become a key factor to modern society. The formation of many modern ideas and concepts spawned from the classical cultures, including but not limited to: modern language, in the form of the romance languages; architecture, including those left behind and those inspired today; the government structure of the republic and organizational features of government that are crucial to America; phrases and ideologies that have lasted even until modern times; and education, in the sense of the study and devotion to not only a language …show more content…

The major languages of the family include French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian, all national languages. Catalan also has taken on a political and cultural significance; among the Romance languages that now have less political or literary significance or both are the Occitan and Rhaetian dialects, Sardinian, and Dalmatian (extinct), among others” (Britannica.com). This quote from the Encyclopedia Britannica explains briefly what the pronounced Romance languages (because of their ties to the language of the Roman people) are. Those languages have also inspired their own dialects of the original Latin. Even English, a language which is mostly considered Germanic, has very similar structure and vocabulary to Latin, which did influence the creation of English. “Not only do Romance languages share a good proportion of basic vocabulary—still recognizably the same in spite of some phonological changes—and a number of similar grammatical forms, but they can be traced back, with but few breaks in continuity, to the language of the Roman Empire.” …show more content…

Romans were the master builders of the time, having constructed some of the most durable roads, bridges, and buildings of all time. The first truly paved roads were Roman, consisting of layers of gravel and small stones on top of a stone foundation topped with smooth stones for walking on, these roads also had a slightly outward tilt, so that water could run off of it, a method which is still employed today in modern roads. Another ingenious system created by the Romans was the aqueduct system. Instead of the laborious task of carrying water for the drinking, bathing, and bathroom needs of the city, the Romans developed aqueducts to carry the water to the city. Mostly underground, the aqueducts compare greatly to modern time sewer systems, as the water is brought in through pipes, filtered underground, and then shuttled to water towers all across the city to meet the people’s needs. The ingenious of the system comes with the power source, Gravity. Pipes from the aqueduct were inclined at a few feet per mile, so that a steady stream of water could be maintained without the need for manual labor or pumping. Also, similarly to today, water towers were used to partition and distribute water to each individual’s home or bath or even public water fountains

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