Was Roman Military Successful

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Titus Berndt The military history of the ancient world is dominated by Greece and Rome, and for understandable reasons. These nations’ development and rise to power was primarily the result of their use and perception of the military. Both had longstanding traditions of heroic warfare, and both had overcome seemingly impossible odds in their infancy, but had grown to control empires spanning most of the world they knew. Military successes made the nations wealthy and powerful, and strife from within served only to enable more powerful military minds to unite their people to achieve even greater military successes. Greece and Rome were not simply advanced with their militaries, though. These nations were only able to exist in their geopolitical environments because they saw the military through the …show more content…

For the Romans, though, the purpose of ancestors was not to set an example to be followed, but a standard to be exceeded and a legacy to supersede. Roman men were expected to exhibit characteristics of gravitas, that is authority, disciplina, that is military discipline, and most importantly in the Republic virtus: manly courage in battle. These virtues developed understandably in Rome, as it struggled to exert itself amongst many Italian tribes. Early roman history was filled with the wars of Roman kings fighting to expand the power of Rome, but the kings were overthrown in the 5th century BC, and power was delegated to the aristocracy for two hundred years until the common people of Rome forced the creation of new offices for better treatment. This struggle of the orders was a direct result of the ongoing wars that Rome was engaged in over the two century period. However, by the end of the 3rd century BC, Rome had gained control over most of Italy through its constant competition with its

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