Re: topic 3 -- Early World History, Level I

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Date Posted: 14:06:27 03/07/02 Thu
Author: jamie falzone
Subject: Re: topic 3
In reply to: j curboy 's message, "topic 3" on 05:21:40 02/26/02 Tue

>Every civilization to come down the pike has visions
>of lasting for a thousand years. This is especially
>true of the Romans. Investigate why the romans were
>so successful for so long and what finally caused
>their downfall. Compare this to any more modern
>culture to see if there are any reasons why the more
>modern civilizations are not able to LAST. Use
>specifics when making your arguement.

Rome was obviously a very powerful empire at its height in power. However, as most of the other empires we will learn about, it had its problems and ultimately fell.
The Romans were so successful for so long because they were able to conquer their enemies and create a peaceful, stable society. The Etruscans became the leaders of Rome and made it the richest and most prominent city-state. I think that some good elements in the success of Rome were the customs, skills, and cultural aspects of life that the people developed. The Romans developed the idea of governmental practices, helping to set order and rule in the community. Rome fought many battles and won. Part of what made Rome successful in the military aspects was that the Romans would get revenge on anyone and everyone so they would easily rid of enemies.
The economy began to fail as well as the relations citizens had with one another and the governmental bodies. Because of the different social statuses, the people argued over power, causing civil war. This tore up parts of Rome and was a factor in bringing the society down the drain. The Romans are known for loving life and living it to its fullest and I think that while they were relaxing and enjoying life, their society fell apart infront of their eyes. Rome did have leaders that did their duties well however, not all of the emperors were wonderful and this brought the society down even further. I think that it is important for the leaders of societies to be strong and sure and some of the Roman emperors were not this way and so people rebelled against the government and other governmental issues arose. Ultimately, Rome fell and other cultures and societies took over control.
In 581, China reunited under the Sui dynasty. The government became more powerful and the Great Wall was rebuilt thus helping rebuild the spirits of the Chinese peoples. As the T'ang dunasty gained power, the armies in China began to protect from nomadic people and China was safe from invaders. The emperor was the person in charge in the Chinese society and the people were divided into parts with different color apparel, each group loyal to the king. Some peasants, however, rebelled because of land shares and the rulers did their best to keep the bureaucrats from being too powerful. The population grew and China was becoming very powerful. Rulers understood and accepted the peolple's religious choices and treated different religions equally. However, the T'ang dynasty began to fall as attacks were being focused on China. The government declined, dynasties struggled, and the T'ang dynasty fell in 906.
All cultures and societies have a beginning and an end and many different elements influence how these happen. Mostly, the problems that brought both Rome and China down were economic problems, emperors/rulers were too powerful or caused people to rebel, and fighting was happening both inside and outside of the cities. When one society falls, another is at its height, every society has its ups and downs.

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[> Re: topic 3 -- Marie Grunbeck, 15:17:32 03/07/02 Thu

I believe that there are many aspects of the Roman Empire that contribute to the reasons why they lasted so long. Some of these reasons include the way they setup their government, how they conquered other people, and the levels of social status in their society. The Roman government began with the Etruscan rule, however the Romans soon got sick of the Etruscans ruling them, so they got rid of them. Once the Etruscans were gone, the Romans formed two social classes, the Plebians and Patricians. I believe that the formation of these two groups helped make Rome stronger. This is because with the Patricians taking over the government, the rest of the Romans had someone to guide them to living civilized lives in an organized society. Even though this unbalanced power between the Patricians and Plebians later led to civil wars, it helped Rome at first by getting its government functioning well. Another thing that helped Rome become an imperial power is the way that they conquered other civilizations. Rome's army was very strong and was led by people who knew what they were doing. This enabled Rome to seize and take over almost the entire Mediterranean region, which is a major factor, is their empire's success. One more aspect of the Roman Empire that enabled them to be successful is the way that they dealt with problems in society. Although their leaders may seem very cruel because of some of the things they did to those who disobeyed laws, this idea of harsh punishment is essential for a civilization to survive. These are just some of the main things that helped the Romans develop from a small city-state into an imperial power. Although the Roman's success lasted for about a thousand years, it eventually began to downfall. The start of their downfall began with the introduction of slaves into their society. After the Third Punic War, the Romans enslaved many Carthaginians as slaves in Rome. With the new cheap labor, large estates started producing great amounts of the crops that used to be produced only by small farmers. This caused the farmers to "go out of business" and they were forced to move into cities. However, they could not find work in the cities either because slaves were also hired to work in businesses and factories. This left the dismayed farmers poor and not having anything to do with their lives, which eventually caused a great outbreak of boredom in the Roman society. The fact that the majority of Romans did not have anything do to all day long, led to a great changes in their lives. The �traditional values of discipline, self-sacrifice, and devotion to the republic were lost�, and this began to lead Rome into its decline. As the Roman civilization began to spiral down to its end, many people tried to help bring it back. However these attempts all eventually failed and only helped to further weaken the Roman Empire. Finally, in the 400's A.D., the Germans took advantage of the falling Empire and succeeded in taking over Rome's civilization to finally end its existence.
I believe that more modern cultures are not able to last as long as the Romans because no one has the patience or will to do so anymore. After watching how much time and effort the Romans put into keeping its civilization from falling, other cultures did not think it was worth the effort to keep their own civilizations alive for such a long time. As time has gone on, people no longer use as much intelligence with political matters and are afraid to take as many harsh measures as the Romans did, in fear of rebellion. However it is easy for one to see that in the case of the Romans, harsh measures were the way to go. Although Rome eventually fell, it is the only civilization ever to last a thousand years, so matter what the reasons are for its decline, the reasons for its survival are much more important.

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