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Calvin Lu

Mrs. Lucarelli

Honors Comp Gov

24 February 2014

The Fragments of Roman Civilization Intertwined with the Modern World

Julius Caesar was assassinated 2058 years ago, the Parthenon was built 2461

years ago, and Marc Antony got with Cleopatra 2055 ago; it all happened in a time

that some cannot even comprehend how long ago was (Google). Yet, as

procrastinators check the calendar and stop for a last minute breakfast at

McDonalds among so many other facets of today, Roman civilization continues, and

will always, to lurk beneath the fabric of modern society. While there are tangible

objects such as architecture and art that Rome has influenced, there are also

abstract things such as ideas and form of government that have merely disguised

themselves in our time. Much like water permeates through the soil, fragments of

Roman Civilization have percolated through the ages into our society, crossing

hundreds of years in time, only to change forms into objects and ideas that we

recognize.

Tracing the history of the United States’ form of government is almost like

civilization-hopping; the concept of a House of Representatives and a Senate can be

traced to England, where there is a House of Commons and a House of Lords. The

executive branch along with the two houses can be traced even further back, finally

to Rome. Much like our form of government, Rome had an executive branch

composed of two consuls who each ruled for only one year each; each also

balancing the other out. While the concept of two consuls didn’t quite make it into

the United States, the idea that the powers of the government had to balance each

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other out did. In Rome, there also existed a Senate much like our Senate and a

Tribal Assembly, similar to our House of Representatives. Though there is

supposedly no greater legislature between the Senate and House of

Representatives, there is still the shadow of a greater prestige bestowed upon the

Senate because of the limited amount of seats. This is reminiscent of the distinction

between the Senate and Tribal Assembly, the Senate being for the richer class or

the patricians and the Tribal Assembly representing the plebeians (Notebook).

There are other, more, specific similarities such as the parallels between the

function of the Roman Senate and modern Senate. The Roman Senate, “controlled

public finances and foreign affairs, assigned military commands and provinces, and

debated and passed decrees that would be submitted to the assemblies for final

ratification,” functions that our modern Senate perform as well (McManus). More

important than any sole contribution is the concept that, “competence was

rewarded and incompetence punished” (Trueman). The basis of many judicial laws

today can also be found in The Five Principles of Law created by the Romans. They

stated that, “all people are equal under the law, a person is innocent until proven

guilty, guilt must be clearly established, decisions must be based on fairness, and

the accused have the right to face the accusers in public” (Roman Collage). While

the United States is proud of the form of government associated with the nation’s

freedoms and democracy, the nation has Rome to owe for its foundations.

Aside from government, some of the most prominent features of Roman

Civilizations that have influenced modern society are from the arts such as

architecture and art itself. The influence of Rome on modern architecture can be

seen its simplest form in Corinthian architecture, characterized by a very elaborate

capitol and decorated with acanthus leaves, one of the most common plant forms

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used in decoration. The Corinthian style of architecture can be seen in many

buildings such as the Michigan Capitol Building and the New York University Hall of

Fame. The structure of stadiums can also be traced back to the amphitheaters of

Roman Civilizations where almost anyone could watch as brilliantly brutal fights

sanguined the pit of the arena (Wesley). Yet another aspect of Roman architecture

visible today are arches. While Roman arches have had a profound impact on our

society, the Romans did not invent the arch; arches had been used for ages before

the Romans. Perhaps more important is the innovation that the Romans created,

concrete and its usage in architecture and specifically, arches. While arches that

predating Roman ones were only able to support small structures, “the ancient

Romans created an arch that could support huge amounts of weight” (The Influence

of the Roman Arch). Aside from the usage of arches in the infamous McDonalds

logo, they are featured in famous buildings such as the Union Station in Washington

D.C. Concrete has had an even broader impact, used as a versatile buildings

material in everything from buildings to sidewalks to dams. Away from architecture,

there are still too many contributions to be named that have found their place in our

time. For example, the Romans built one of the first functional trans-national

system of roads, spanning throughout the whole entire Roman Empire, the

interstate highways a mirror of the ancient Roman infrastructure. The complex

sewage systems in place now in modern cities have their ancestry in the sewage of

Rome, “The Roman Empire is in many ways the highest point of sewage

management (and other public works) in the ancient world” (McDonald). While the

Roman’s government almost defines our government, Roman architecture and art

defines our cities and infrastructure (Notebook).

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While many Roman influences can be categorized into “architecture” or

“government” there are those that are equally influential but not belonging to any

specific category such as the Gregorian calendar among many achievements. One

of the many reforms that Julius Caesar put into place, the changes he made to the

calendar are still almost identical to those today. He divided the calendar into, “a

regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months with a leap day added to the month

of February every four years” (The Julian Calendar). Julius Caesar also lives on in the

form of the month July. Shortly before he was assassinated, the Senate changed the

month of Quintilis to July in his honor (Julius Caesar). The Secret Service also has its

roots in Roman society in the form of the Praetorian Guard, elite soldiers that

served to protect the Emperor of the Roman Empire (Roman Collage). The Roman

army has also influenced almost all the modern armies in both its organizational

structure and the fact that it was the world’s first professional army. The Romans

were one of the first to create armies that were not only full time, but well-

organized and built with both rigidity and flexibility. Finally, one of the arguably

most important effects that Roman Civilization has had on the modern world is the

Latin language. Latin is not only still used in many governments and the Roman

Catholic Church, it was the “basis of the modern-day Romance languages - Italian,

French, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian” (How Have the Ancient Romans

Influenced Modern-day Languages? – Curiosity). Words and phrases such as habeas

corpus, verbatim, and vice versa have also made their appearance in the English language and

language of the law. The Romans have not only influenced the ways in which people are governed and

cities built, but have also influenced the way we express ourselves through language.

While at first, it may have been difficult to identify parts of modern society that have been

influenced by Roman civilization, through closer examination (and a lot of research), it is possible to look

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past the anterior of objects and ideas into their true origins. Much like people have their ancestry,

everything in the world today can be traced back to something older from the past, be it from Roman

civilization to the Mongolians. More importantly, by understanding the many faces that fragments of

Roman society have adopted in our lives, we, in turn, understand more about ourselves and our future.

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Works Cited

McManus, B. F. "Roman Government." Roman Government. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb.

2014.

Trueman, C.. N.p.. Web. 22 Feb 2014.

<http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/how_was_rome_governed.htm>.

Wesley, Anna. Greek Architecture Influences America’s Architecture. CEP 817. N.p.,

n.d. Web. 22 Feb.

2014.

The Influence of the Roman Arch. Working paper. Houghton Mifflin Company, n.d.

Web. 22 Feb. 2014.

McDonald, Jan. "Sewer History: Photos and Graphics." Sewer History: Photos and

Graphics. N.p., 20 Jan.

2011. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.

"The Julian Calendar." The Julian Calendar. Time and Date AS, n.d. Web. 22 Feb.

2014.

"Julius Caesar." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Feb. 2014. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.

"Organization of the Roman Imperial Legion." Roman Legion. UNRV History, n.d.

Web. 21 Feb. 2014.

"How Have the Ancient Romans Influenced Modern-day Languages? - Curiosity."

Curiosity. Discovery, n.d.

Web. 23 Feb. 2014.

Psuedo-citations:

Notebook – notes taken in class

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Roman Collage – a collage I created in 8th grade about the impact of Roman society

on modern society. Citing this source means that I either have quoted the essay

that was assigned in tandem with the collage or that I have used knowledge that I

learned while creating the collage.

The dates in the first sentence of the introduction are from Google, please don’t

take points off.