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

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Date Posted: 07:27:00 03/09/02 Sat
Author: Jimmy McCumber
Subject: Re: topic 3
In reply to: j curboy 's message, "topic 3" on 05:21:40 02/26/02 Tue

-----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.

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[> Re: topic 3 -- Chris Zegel, 08:10:32 03/09/02 Sat

The Romans were the strongest civilization in the world for a few reasons. For one, they had an incredibly strong and organized army. With an army that was as effective as it was large, the Romans were able to conquer numerous lands, thus adding to their empire one people at a time. After a while, the enemies of Rome would grow more hatred for the civilization, but while Rome was so strong, these other peoples could not act on their desires to conquer the great empire. In addition to a strong military force, Rome had an extremely efficient government. Through forming the Triumvirate, the Romans were able to spread power evenly, avoiding a tyrannical rule. However, the government of the Romans was ultimately corrupted, and contributed greatly to the downfall of the empire. The corruption began with the formation of the Triumvirate, where power was basically distributed to opposite forces, with the much weaker tie breaking vote in the middle of the two. This eventually led to dissention among the leaders, and so an Emperor was finally declared as the sole ruler of Rome. Having a leader with absolute power works well if the leader is just and kind, but the Romans possessed rulers with cruel and bizarre streaks. There were enormous amounts of underhand schemes plotted to tip the balance of power in favor of a favorite son or nephew, and this led to paranoia and distrust among the Roman nobles. Incest seemed to be a lingering problem, and the family tree of the Ceasers seems to be a little bit off, probably contributing to the insanity of some of Rome's rulers. Finally, the office of the Emperor collapsed completely, and chaos ensued.

While the Romans managed to actually stick around for one thousand years, civilizations in the Middle Ages weren't as lucky. Perhaps one of the major differences in Rome and more recent societies was its unity. Rome was one empire, and under that empire it thrived and prospered. The different peoples in the Middle Ages were unrelated, with individual people, leaders, and customs. The Romans managed to unite under one power to achieve a greater good, while during the Middle Ages every individual kingdom was competing individually with the others for power. This way of going about things seems to have hindered the complete evolution of a civilization.

Note: My first attempt at posting, at like 2 AM last night, didn't succeed. I'm lucky that I had my writing saved!

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