User:Clinnyp/greece and rome

Influential societies Have you ever wondered why the University of the Western Cape (South Africa) logo has a Greek Parthenon on it? Or why most of our important buildings have been built as a Greek or Roman replica. They (Romans as well as the Greeks) have even influenced our law system. How has such civilisations been able to influence our lives so greatly, after almost two thousand years after their existence? Usually when one thinks of Greece, Rome automatically comes to mind, some of us might even think that these two civilisations were the same thing, but on further inspection one finds that this is not the case at all. Both of these legendary cities had different styles in which they governed. According to famous historian, J.P.V.D. Baldon (1970:5), the Roman Empire consisted of four periods of empires namely; the first empire, known as the republic, ranged from 241-27BC. After this period followed the second empire which was ruled by Augustus and his successors, it ranged from 27 BC until 193 AD after this came the decline started with the third empire which was ruled by Septimus Severus. Finally the fourth empire came into existence, which saw the invasion of the Barbarians, which devastated the Roman Empire, as well as the growth of Christianity. Greece however did not have empires, but much rather consisted of colonies in the east and west (Thallon, 1914:7). The reason for these colonies (in terms of the Greek civilisation) is simple, as historian Fernandez-Armesto puts it ‘industry was the only means in which to acquire wealth’ (Fernandez-Armesto, 2001:418) this means that Greece had to trade with other colonies in order to survive, Fernandez-Armesto also further explains that in Greece, in the tenth century BC, made finely decorated pots which they exported and also olives, which was a surplus farm product at the time. We can reasonably surmise that these products were exported in order to trade for food. The Romans on the other hand also made use of sea travel for the same reason, but with a different approach to the whole matter as Fernandez-Armesto states, ’once imposed, Roman power survived by winning or forcing the collaboration of local elites; magistrates of conquered communities, chieftains of tribes’ (Fernandez-Armesto, 2001: 439) which means that not all of Rome’s trade agreements were actually a reciprocal decision that was agreed upon from both sides, many of the times the trade with other colonies or tribes would be a forced matter in which Rome was the dictator. Greece and Rome influenced our global society today in many ways including the architecture of some buildings that we see around us, a big example of this is the white house which is situated as far away as the United States of America. Classical works, according to Fernandez-Armesto are those works that never loose their influence (Fernandez-Armesto, 2001: 442). He further explains that the civilisation of Greece in the fourth and fifth century BC deserves to be named classical works as people have gone  on imitating them ever since. The Greek and roman society looks the same on first inspection, or at least I thought so, but I found that the Romans were actually poachers of others ideas (Vermeule III, 1963: 217), according to historians George H Chase and Cornelius C. Vermeule III the strength of the Romans lied in their strong common sense and genius for organisation, furthermore, in the same book it is said that ‘most of the creations of the Roman age were the works of Greeks and other foreigners.’ (Vermeule III, 1963: 217). It can be said on bases of these quotes hat the Roman Empire was in quintessence a compilation of many different cultures, just more developed. But the Romans were not the only society that copies others ideas and tried to develop them, the Greeks were also guilty of this, according to Fernandez-Armesto, when Greeks received influences (examples of these are sculptures and buildings etc.) from different colonies, they did not just merely imitate them, but tried to enhance them and by so doing, make it their own. The achievements of Greece and Rome is a interminable list, Roman law is still used in our law in South African to this very day (Spiller, 1986:246) according to Spiller, who is a doctor in the profession of law; ‘Roman-Dutch law was brought into South Africa in 1652’ (Spiller, 1986:246). It can be seen as a form of a renaissance in terms of the law. Rome has also been seen as the birthplace of Christianity(Fernandez-Armesto, 2001: 444) and the Roman Catholic Church is still there today and has spread ever since, even into our own country Greece also made its own impact in other fields of society, if we take the theorem of Pythagoras into account, it is still used to this very day in every school curriculum around the world (Fernandez-Armesto, 2001: 422) it is probably one of the most meritorious achievements that the Greeks have ever come up with. Evidently, the greatest social achievement by both Greece and Rome was the ability to cross the ocean for trading, it was the lifeblood of their society and it was the way in which new ideas came to the fore and how they kept themselves going. The term ‘classic’ works as said by Fernandez-Armesto(which I have defined earlier in my essay) is exactly what is happening today people are so fascinated by the ancient Greek and Roman societies that the are trying to revive it. Greece and Rome, in my opinion can be likened unto our own society without all the technology that we depend on Greece and Rome were both great societies in which life was prosperous, Greece was an ally of Rome and the two colonies lived side by side in peace and harmony (Mosse, 1973: 147). Greece was the first society to exist, Rome appeared long after the existence of the Greek civilization, and frankly Greek declined completely before Rome (Mosse, 1973: 151). The decline of the Greek civilisation was a great one with many lessons for us to learn from, according to historian, J.P.V.D. Baldon, among these reasons for their decline was the attacks by the barbarians, which left Rome devastated and almost unable recover(Baldon, 1970: 256). The Greeks, according to historian Claude Mosse, on the other hand had the same fate as the Romans; as a result of the Chremondean war they also lost their independence as a civilisation (Mosse, 1973: 120). But there was one underlying factor that I have found, which older sources have ignored, this is, the environmental reasons for their decline which science writer, Ponting, makes clear in his newer book (2007) makes clear. According to Ponting ‘the first signs of larger scale destruction began in to appear about 650 BCE’ (Ponting, 2007: 75) this destruction happened in Greece and the main problem was overgrazing, by the time they realised this, it was unfortunately too late, 80 percent of the land was already unsuitable for cultivation. Ponting smartly says, referring to Greece, ‘What now remains, compared with what then existed is like a skeleton of a sick man. They have badly destroyed their crops and land, by intensive cultivating, and have left a place, which was once had very fertile land, like a dry desert. As a result of the decline of natural resources, it is assumed that the defence forces of the Greek colonies were weakened and could not put up with attacks by other civilisations, and this led to their demise. The same problems occurred in Rome, according to Ponting, around 300BC the land was still forested, but increasing demands for land and timber by the people forced deforestation to start increasing rapidly (Ponting, 2007: 76).the inevitable consequence of this was higher levels of soil erosion and it is presumed that this greatly impacted the Roman as it did with the Greeks. As we can see from Rome as well as Greece, the environment around is very important, without it we cannot exist. It is the fundamental principle which, even the greatest societies need to exist. No person can exist without proper food for their basic nutrition, let alone having an army. There is a lesson which can be learnt from the examples that Greece and Rome have left us; in order to survive, we have to look after what we have today so that tomorrow can be assured. It is clear why we in, today’s life still, try to be like the Greeks and Romans. They have set the example in many aspects of our lives in terms of law, art even some religions etc. They were successful societies for a long time. And if we are to sustain ourselves, we have to learn from their mistakes. Bibliography

1. speller, p (1986) a manual of ROMAN LAW South Africa: Butterworth publishers (Pty) Ltd 2. Mosre, C (1973) Athens in Decline London: Routliege & Kegan Paul Ltd 3. Chase, GH (1950) Greek, Etruscan and Roman Art USA: edt. Cornelius, C (1963) Capital City Press 4. Fernandez-Armesto, F (2001) civilisations London: Pan Books 5. Ponting, C (2007) A New Green History of the World: The Environment and the Collapse of Great Civilisations London: vintage 6.Thallon, IC (1914) Readings in Greek History, from Homer to the Battle of Chaeronea Ginn: Boston