Ancient Greece and Rome DBQ The cultures of Ancient Greece and Rome have influenced the world’s modern day culture quite lavishly. The question that I was asked to answer is, how precisely the Ancient Greece and Rome had influences our au courant culture. I established that they did indeed, help form what is today’s Government, Architecture or Engineering, and Literature or Art among so many other different things.
The Ancient Greek and Roman governments were pretty much the very first example of a Democratic government leading our government to become what it is now in the United States. Document A, which was part of a speech given by the Roman general Scipio in which he spoke about the system of the Roman government, he talked about how the constitution that Romans had was not created by an individuals. It also talks about the nobles who acted as representatives of the people and how their choices were not made without the consent of the citizens. This is like our modern government because our constitution was made by a group officials and not just one person, so there were many views, just like the Romans had. Our governments are also run by the representatives who listen to and support the ideas that the citizens have. Today we also have some of the same rights and opinions that the governments had then. Document B, which is a quote from an ancient Greek statesman, Pericles, tells what place the people had to him in the Greek Government when he said, “We do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own business; we say that he has no business here at all.” What he is trying to say is that it is the job of the citizens to be involved in the government, or they don’t have the right to complain about what the government does. Today, everybody is expected to take part in the politics of our government, even if it is doing something that is as simple as taking the time to vote in the elections that we have, and if they don’t, it is their own fault, and they should not complain. Document E, is part of “Twelve Tables”, which is the first system in Roman law; it tells just how every person should have their own opinion, that when a party reaches a mutual decision it shares it, and a higher power, in this case, the judge will enforce a law. Our current government allows every citizen to have their own opinion, it is a right, and also, as citizens, people have the right to a trial by jury or judge. Ancient Greece and Rome have established many complex designs for building as well as new ways for building and creating structures. Document C, is an image of the Pantheon, it is a Roman temple built in 126 AD. It displays the rather common columns that we today see in many government buildings, the Greek are architecturally known for these columns. Now Document D, it is an image of Monticello, the home of the American politician and philosopher, Thomas Jefferson. This image displays how many of the United States government buildings have adapted the Ancient Greek Architecture, mainly the columns they were skilled at creating. Document F, which is a image of part of a Roman aqueduct located at Pont-du-Gard in France. The aqueduct was created in about 19 BC. This image displays how the Romans managed to use arches in their skilled Architecture and Engineering and how they had made it so the water had to travel into the slant of a structure. This design has be adapted and developed to fit into our current time frame and the ways of life that we now have. Greek and Roman Literature or Art is indeed, a very great influence upon our modern-day times now. Document G, shows a picture of the early Roman alphabet. It is the same alphabet that is still currently being used throughout the world, the letter just appear to be much more neat and clear today as it has been adapted. Document H, shows an image of an Ancient Greek vase showing a race at the Early Olympic Games. Even that has influence in our modern culture because it brings about the ancient description of ancient Olympic Games on that vase, it also brings about sport and art to the current culture. Finally, if you analyze the large amounts of different things shown around you, for example, the government or alphabet, you will be able to see that either the Ancient Greek, Roman, or both cultures have more than likely strongly guided the current culture that we have today.
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