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Recommended: Defining civilization
Urbanization is defined as the “act of making urban in nature or character (Urbanization). An understanding of urbanization is central to understanding the components behind the Roman rule of Italy, and the process of bringing together different cultures. The operations, particularly of the elite, of the Roman society are essential in the understanding of urbanization as well. Cities then were not what they are today, in regards to economic assemblies. The Roman cities were as much an arena for social and political interaction, as they were for economic exchange. By studying urban development in the Roman society, we are able to get an inside perspective of the powerful insight that have changed the ideals of the Roman cities.
Early authors often measured cities to be centers of learning and culture, and a qualification for a civilized society. It was these ancient authors who believed that territories were an important and essential part of a city, which acted as a center for people. Strabo, in his first century AD writings about the Allobroges, noted that the ‘absence of a city’ included savagery, war, and unsettled times, where as a ‘city’ made for peace and civilization (Huskinson). The opposition of savagery in Roman civilization devalued the social and political development of these ‘savage’ societies; the elite of the Roman society would associate civilizations within a city as superior to the ‘barbarian’ way of life in the villages. The elite way of thinking depicted a cultural separation between the rustic living by the ‘barbarians’ and the urbanitas, or sophisticated values of those in the city.
In ancient times the term ‘city,’ also known as urbs or civitas in Latin and polis or asty in Greek, carried a variety of ass...
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...r nuclear one. This change is usually credited to a population decline in the era, but sometimes that wasn’t the case. The replacement of the settlement pattern, with a smaller and more compact populated city, is seen as more of a cultural change to reflect the Romanization rather than a population decline.
Works Cited
Huskinson, Janet. "Urbanism and Urbanization in the Roman World." Experiencing Rome: Culture, Identity and Power in the Roman Empire. London: Routledge in Association with Open UP, 2000. 213-44. Print.
Lomas, K. "The Idea of a City: Elite Ideology and the Evolution of Urban Form in Italy, 200 BC - AD 100." Roman Urbanism: beyond the Consumer City. By Helen Parkins. London: Routledge, 1997. 21-41. Print.
"Urbanization." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 19 Nov. 2011.
Gates, Charles. Ancient Cities: The Archaeology of Urban Life in the Ancient Near East and Egypt, Greece, and Rome. London: Routledge, 2003. Print.
5. Lesley Adkins, Roy A Adkins, Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome, Oxford University Press, 1998. (pg. 304)
T.J. Cornell, The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000-264 BC), London and New York: Routledge, 1995
Livius, Titus. "The History of Rome, Vol. III." Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library. 8 11, 2005. http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/Liv3His.html (accessed 3 1, 2010).
The city, writes St. Augustine, “builds up a pilgrim community of every language .... [with] particular concern about differences of customs, laws, [and] institutions” in which “there is among the citizens a sort of coherence of human wills.”3 Put simply: the city is a sort of platform upon which “a group of people joined together by their love of the same object” work towards a common goal.4 What differentiates Augustine’s examination from other literary or theological treatments of the city is his attempt to carve out a vision of how the city operates—both the internal qualities and external ...
3)Gwynn, David M. The Roman Republic: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2012. Print.
Following the end of the Great Latin War (340-338 BCE), Latium came under the control of Rome. Unlike Greece’s approach to the subjugated, described by Steven Kries as one that “…sought to demolish the social institutions of conquered lands and to replace them with Greek institutions,” (2009, para. 15), Rome took a different approach, one that allowed the people Rome conquered to keep their culture and language. Cities and towns were allowed to keep their administrative structures. This allowed the populace to maintain some sense of self-leadership and their history. This is the subtle start of Roman Imperialism, a policy of assimilation into the Roman “Cosmopolis” (2009).
Rome, even at its beginnings, proved to be a force to be reckoned with. It’s rapid growth and accumulation of power and repeated victories over powerful neighbors set Rome in a position of great authority and influence. As the leader of early Rome, Romulus’ effective command of his men and governance of his people provided the foundation for the building of a great city. Livy emphasizes Romulus’ possible divine origins and strong ties to deities as a validation and reinforcement of his ability to rule. A nation’s sole defense cannot be just bricks and mortar, it requires an army and a will and Romulus was able to successfully take action against the aggressors when action was needed.
Favro, Diane G.. The urban image of Augustan Rome. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. (266)
Platner, Samuel Ball, and Thomas Ashby. A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. London: Oxford University Press, 1929
...territories the Romans tried to mimic and improve to make their own way of life.
... Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997. Hopkins, Keith. A. A. Death and Renewal: Sociological Studies in Roman History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983 Johnston, Harold Whetstone. The Private Life of the Romans.
"Rome, History of Ancient Rome From Its Founding To Collapse." World History International: World History Essays From Prehistory To The Present. Web. 16 Dec. 2009. .
The purpose of this essay is to intricately elaborate on the culture of the Romans, along with its similarities and discrepancies, or uniqueness, in relation to Ancient Greek culture. This is achieved by providing background to both Roman and Greek culture, analyzing how Rome technically purloined Greek culture, describing how unique Roman culture is, and explaining its long lasting impact on today's society.
R. Bruce Hitcher. (2008). Globalization Avant La Lettre: Globalization and the History of the Roman Empire. New Global Studies: Vol. 2: Iss. 2, Article 2.