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

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 02:20:46 03/09/02 Sat
Author: Brad Reed
Subject: Re: topic 3
In reply to: j curboy 's message, "topic 3" on 05:21:40 02/26/02 Tue

The Romans were the only civilization to reach the "ideal" length of time, 1000 years, this happened for many reasons. Some of the reasons are: the Romans were able to "control" what went on in the Senate by electing tribunes. This gave them limited power and it lasted a limited amount of time, until the first triumvirate. Once Caesar took over people were afraid that he would become a supreme ruler or Emperor, so the Senators assassinated him. The second Triumvirate happened and the same thing happened, with Octavian forcing Marc Antony to his death. This created the first Emperor: Caesar Agustus (Caesar the Majestic One, a.k.a. Octavian). The transformation from Republic to Empire was not such a bad thing because the people liked their Emperor along with the protection and services he created. After Agustus' death the Emperors' quality took a nosedive. Particularly, with Caligula, who was not sane and had one of the shortest rules in history. He lasted less than four years before his personal guards killed him. After Caligula's death the Roman citizens realized that if they had another Emperor this bad they would kill him. Another reason the Roman Empire lasted so long was because of their Army: " never loose to a Roman, for thou shalt loose thine head". Romans always served comeuppance to people that dared challenge the Empire. The downfall of Rome, I think, is directly related to the slave rebellion that was lead by Spartacus. I think this because seeing a line of slaves on the Appian Way, being crucified, would anger people and cause another rebellion. While the Roman Army was busy, the Huns came in right under the Romans' noses. They started to take over before moving in to take over the T'ang, but they failed, and had to move back toward Germany and Italy.
Another long lasting civilization was the Aztecs. They lasted over 500 years and had an average of 60,000 people a day in its capital city, Tenoctitlan. Th Aztecs lasted for a while (more than the 300 year average) because they never tried to start a war to gain land, just defend their land, and acquired more land through business deals. This does not mean that the people were peaceful. They gave regular human sacrifice to keep the good gods strong. The Aztecs also had marvelous architecture, most of which was destroyed long ago, when the Spanish rebuilt Tenoctitlan as Mexico City, in "Espana Nueva" or New Spain. If the Spanish Missionaries and Conquistadors had not come to Mexico, the Aztecs would still have their Empire destroyed, because modern society is not an accepting place and their ways would be considered cruel and savage. Therefore, the downfall of the Aztec Empire was inevitable. The scattered descendants are now a minority in the country they could have ruled.
Mr. Curboy, I am doing this so early in the morning because last night AOL kept disconnecting me and destroying my homework. Also it would not let me access the site
-Brad

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[> Re: topic 3 -- Jimmy McCumber, 07:27:00 03/09/02 Sat

-----All civilizations on the rise aim to stay on for a thousand years, maybe even longer. Yet so far, the only people able to stay in power for that long have been the Romans. What made them so successful? Why could no one defeat them for so long? And why hasn�t any other culture been able to copy the great empire which grew out of Romulus and Remus� swampy city, the size of my backyard? Rome used intelligence in spreading their rule, allowed foreign life to go on without great interruption, and had very well organized armies and governments.
-----All of Rome�s small early triumphs were well-thought out and executed. First, to ensure the ongoing life of Rome, the Romans abducted the Sabine woman and married them. They caught the Sabine men without their weapons, and when the angry men returned, the newlywed woman begged them not to start war and cause them to lose their fathers and husbands in one bloody battle. After breaking out of Etruscan rule, Rome slowly conquered the entire Italian peninsula, bit by bit. When several Greek city-states in southern Italy were infighting, Rome helped turn them against each other, let them do the fighting, then conquered the weakened cities.
-----While Rome gained control over a good part of Europe and Asia, life still went on as normal in areas far away from Rome. This was because Rome�s conquests were not always bloody. If the country submitted to Roman rule, it became more of a forced treaty. While areas such as Palestine and Egypt had to pay taxes and fight in the army, they were ordinarily allowed to keep their customs and the general public was not greatly affected. This made the people much less likely to revolt because they were not angry in the Romans� treatment of them.
-----Octavian became the first Roman emperor and named himself Augustus. He ruled for many years, one of the few emperors to be so fortunate. To ensure that the empire would remain stable under the tumultuous reign of future emperors, he set up a much better government for Rome that
would last longer than he. He regulated taxes. He chose officials not by birth, but by their talents. This led to a much stronger and better organized government. The Roman army was also extremely well organized. It worked like a pyramid. A general could pass on orders to his tribunes, who would pass it on to members of their cohort, or group. Centurions would pass it one to their ten decurions, and the decurions would finally instruct their ten soldiers or
legionaries. This order allowed for much more organized fighting, and to better discipline. Few soldiers abandoned a Roman army camp. Their fellow soldiers wouldn�t let them. For it would be the other soldiers who would have to suffer the consequences of your misdeed. Therefore, the soldiers would police each other while the generals handled more important business, such as war.
-----Why did other cultures fail to accomplish what the Romans did? Let us take a look at the empire of Uzbekistan. Though never a world superpower, they lasted about three hundred years before being conquered. The area of Uzbekistan was taken first by the Persians, then by Alexander the Great, then by Genghis Khan. In the 16th century, it was finally taken over by the Uzbek people, who retained control until they were defeated by Russia in the late-1800s.
-----Uzbekistan just wasn�t ready to confront the superpower forming above them in Russia. They had never set out to conquer many other areas, and didn�t have the people or weapons of the Soviet Union. When faced with such a large empire trying to conquer them, they fought well, but
never had a chance. One by one their big cities were taken and the Uzbek people were submitted to Soviet rule for what would last a century.
-----One thing that Uzbekistan was and is good at is the ability to be opportunistic. Right after the Russian revolution, with the Soviet Union weakened, Uzbekistan attempted to break free. However, in 1917, they were crushed and remained part of the USSR. They were forced to keep waiting and looking for their next chance. That chance came in 1990. With the United States and the cold war again weakening the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan became the first central Asian country to break away from the USSR, starting the destruction of the Soviet Empire. Now nearly twelve
years into their new life as a nation, Uzbekistan has the full support and aid of their former oppressors in Russia. Who knows what excitement the next three hundred or maybe even thousand years hold for this nation, and others aiming for the top, or struggling to hold on. Will they learn from the Romans, or meet the same fate every ancient empire has met? We shall see.

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]
[ Edit | View ]