The Roman Empire

Even if people do not know of the detail of the Roman Empire, they have certainly heard of it, that is how huge that era was, historically. It shaped many things.

What do you know of the Romans, how they lived, their successes and failures, their gods, etc..?

I can remember a very boring history teacher, too many years ago, mumbling about Romans. Like I say, he was boring, the subject is not, since they were such a powerful force.

Some say Roman empire went away. I think it just got much smaller for a while.

All empires fall in the end.

It is almost an inevitable consequence, imo.

We have seen it so many times in history, the Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the British Empire.

The Fuhrer's Reich failed in the end, and the neo con vision of a world were America is not so much a nation, but a franchise, will also fail, in the end.

Yet, one thing these empires all have in common.

For all that they were incredibly brutal at times, they ironically left many positive treasures among their culture - knowledge!

My vision of Romans would be as pomopous and arrogant, and they could afford to be, such was the vastness of their empire, and their army, which was famed.

I imagine their leaders to be gluttoness and greedy, not to unlike those we have today, as it goes.

Perhaps only costumes have changed.

I know that they used to have something called a VOMITORIUM, which, as the name suggests, was a special area for Roman guests to be sick at parties, having consumed too much wine and food.

In terms of religion, of course, the Romans had not just one god, they had several, indeed, they had a god for just about everything. We know, of course, of those that are most associated.

Oh.

And hello Eric.

Yeah Well Fine Then wrote:Perhaps only costumes have changed.

Yes that is what is what I was thinking. As usual you nailed it.

One has to wonder when these people will figure out that empire just does not work. History has proven time and time again this does not work.

Except for one thing that does work. Profit.

At the expense of the growth of the human race.

Many countries have done this over our recorded history . I can't put all the blame on the countries that did this. I do put the blame on the very small percentage of the human race that manipulated the leaders of those countries.

There was a story on Yahoo about who is the richest in the world. Those who would believe that lie are fools.

There are family lines that are so much richer than what that article stated that it is not even funny.

They try to hide. Crawl under rocks like the filth they are.

Theophilus wrote:

Yeah Well Fine Then wrote:Perhaps only costumes have changed.

Yes that is what is what I was thinking. As usual you nailed it.

One has to wonder when these people will figure out that empire just does not work. History has proven time and time again this does not work.

Except for one thing that does work. Profit.

At the expense of the growth of the human race.

Many countries have done this over our recorded history . I can't put all the blame on the countries that did this. I do put the blame on the very small percentage of the human race that manipulated the leaders of those countries.

There was a story on Yahoo about who is the richest in the world. Those who would believe that lie are fools.

There are family lines that are so much richer than what that article stated that it is not even funny.

They try to hide. Crawl under rocks like the filth they are.

No, well they do work.

Sort of.

At the time.

Fascism elevated Hitler from a man who gave talks in local bars, to the leader of one of the most powerful nations on Earth (at that time).

It also elevated several of his closest generals and allies.

Same is true of the British Empire.

Okay, gone now, however, at the time, I bet there were plenty who benefitted from it.

Privately, those behind this perpetual chase for ever lasting, world domination, probably realise that their idealogy will have it's time, perhaps actually be dominant for a time, then fall.

However, if the life can treat them well, and feed their ego at the same time, then hey, as far as that mindset is concerned that sure beats being a mediocre artist trying to sell your works in Austria.

The on going drive for world power is not what amazes me.

It is the way that people get entrenched behind a certain idealogy.

I see it happen all the time, esp when I have the misfortune to speak with rabid, right wingers in the US.

It amazes me that they cannot see that they are actually being cynically exploited.

All this patriotism that has suddenly grown in the US, during the Bush era, is tainted, imo.

If you now say you are a patriotic American, then a lot of people will now take that to assume that you have five kids, believe in the lord jaysus christ, and are nervous of those 'brownies and Muslims'....

I am sure you take my point.

Anyway, Romans...



Introduction

View of the Roman Forum, which was extensively built up by Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire.
Roman orator Cicero
Julius Caesar “I came. I saw. I conquered.” Those words are attributed to Julius Caesar, but they easily could have been the motto of Roman generals for centuries. During a more than six-hundred-year period, Rome conquered and ruled the entire Mediterranean world, essentially turning the Mediterranean Sea into a Roman lake. As rulers, the Romans brought their political institutions, their laws, their culture, their roads, their currency, and their language to the people they governed, thus making an indelible mark on the whole of Western culture and society. Rome inspired loyalty by granting citizenship—a valuable commodity—to the conquered, and Roman citizens responded by serving their government with a courage and discipline that was not always deserved by some Roman emperors infamous for their excesses of greed, lust, and cruelty.





Essential Facts

At its height, the Roman Empire covered over two million square miles stretching from the Rhine River to Egypt and from Britain to Asia Minor.
The Roman Republic was governed by Elected Consuls, the Senate, and the Plebian Council, which was a popular assembly. The Senate consisted of the wealthier Romans, while the Plebian Council represented the working classes. Most modern Western governments are more reflective of the Roman Republic and its dual legislative bodies than the earlier Greek democracies.
The Roman Republic really fell when Julius Caesar defeated his rival Pompey. Caesar was appointed dictator for life, but that life was short. He was assassinated in 44 BC, and his nephew Augustus became the first Roman emperor. The assassination was immortalized by Shakespeare in his play Julius Caesar.
Caligula, an early Roman emperor, was known for his excessive cruelty and eccentric actions. Once, when angry with the Senate, he appointed his favorite horse as a Senator and tried to get it elected as Consul.
The spread of Christianity was greatly helped by the infrastructure of Roman roads and the use of a universal language—Latin, of course.


http://www.enotes.com/topics/roman-empire

I am sure will understand this next post.

What is the nature of your educational system in the UK?

How did the UK wind up the oppressive police state it has now?

Your polices, and the acceptance of said policies really does affect us across the pond.

Not blaming it on anyone. Though I guess we were counting on ya'all from the UK to take a stand.

I know you do. I know you stand for what is right.

Explain please how the UK turned into a police state.

Ok, I just wanted to add a bit on Rome. When I was watching the History channel I found out that homosexuality was a BIG BIG thing for the Romans. They often cheated on their wives with other men, and women also cheated a lot. The term "marriage" was used very loosely among their civilization.

BUT - if being gay wasn't such a horrible abomination back then and was so openly accepted (well, kinda), you have to really wonder if we haven't digressed some. I think we have.

Theophilus wrote:I am sure will understand this next post.

What is the nature of your educational system in the UK?

How did the UK wind up the oppressive police state it has now?

Your polices, and the acceptance of said policies really does affect us across the pond.

Not blaming it on anyone. Though I guess we were counting on ya'all from the UK to take a stand.

I know you do. I know you stand for what is right.

Explain please how the UK turned into a police state.

Police state (sic) is almost a meaningless term these days, imo.

Of course, most of us would take it to mean a nation who deploy their police to force some draconian methods and laws.

But there is a measurable increase in loss of privacy, for the average UK citizen.

How did we get to be there?

Simple.

First you find a bogeyman, this can be anyone, as long as the masses are thick enough to fall for it.

It could be the impression that every teenager is a potential killer, for example, as some tabloids would have us think.

Then hype that up for a few years.

Then watch as the masses actually DEMAND tougher laws (which actually mean they are asking for an erosion of their freedom also, but no matter).

Give it all a stir.

Let it brew.

Hey presto, you have a nation on it's way to Big Brother...

lisan24 wrote:Ok, I just wanted to add a bit on Rome. When I was watching the History channel I found out that homosexuality was a BIG BIG thing for the Romans. They often cheated on their wives with other men, and women also cheated a lot. The term "marriage" was used very loosely among their civilization.

BUT - if being gay wasn't such a horrible abomination back then and was so openly accepted (well, kinda), you have to really wonder if we haven't digressed some. I think we have.

I think the Romans were well known for indulging in every hedonistic act possible, including the things you rightly mention.

Yes, part of the process (of an empire) like life... Is it's demise... An Empire... Has to fall... Oh and for the record there may indeed of been some homosexuals... But, The greeks invented it! It is indeed a very interesting topic, sad to hear you had a teacher who was boring... Then again in his defense I found all teachers and all subjects at school boring...... So maybe he was an alright fellow.

I think it was a very interesting empire, espcially if you compare it to some that were before it say example the Mongols lol... I was speaking of homosexuality as an invention lol... If I carry on that way from the Roman Empire we had many inventions so to be thankful for, some maybe not to be thankful for....

We have -PAVED- Roads!(roads basic crappy ones were started in Greece... them damn greeks again...) SEWERAGE SYSTEMS!! But indoor individual plumbing and heating gets put down to the romans too.. But them Greeks AGAIN were the first to do thatReal, real politics... I mean stab you in the freaking back two faced traitorus politics! (Punch: "thats the way we do it!") Another big one for me... Art... The roman empire was an awesome era for art!

Can also thank the romans for Concrete! Battle tactics...(mucho impressive) There unique armour and metal works, barrel vaults... Oh and DOMES... Of course... Domes.

They were very hungry for the peoples approval... And of course they are famous for merging christianity and paganism togther to make the very profitable business known as Catholicism...

And they brought us my favourite language... Latin.

You fav language is Latin?

Why so -

I think I am right in saying that as time went on, Latin was seen as almost the language of the 'gentry', and, as a result, the common people evolved a language, that we today would call Italian.

Or something along those lines...

As a man who works in a theatre, I fear I must point this out.

A vomitorium (plural: vomitoria) is a passage situated below or behind a tier of seats in an amphitheatre, through which crowds can "spew out" at the end of a performance.

All classic languages are based on latin (French, Italian, English, Spanish), that's why so many words can be traced back to their latin roots. Also why they all have the same omount of vowel sounds, but as soon as you move into Flemish or Dutch, you find new ones. Even stranger the further away you get, Cyrillic states, then the Middle East, then the Far East, you can see how they interchange.

As to the Romans, Khan and Alexander were better. The Romans had too much infighting. Although, check out this to see a list.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_technology#List_of_Roman_inventions_and_Roman-developed_technologies

They were also a great nation of thinkers, alot was discovered and posited during their time on the top. Check out the teachings of Pliny, Abacus, Pythagorous, etc.

Sir Bonvolio wrote:As a man who works in a theatre, I fear I must point this out.

A vomitorium (plural: vomitoria) is a passage situated below or behind a tier of seats in an amphitheatre, through which crowds can "spew out" at the end of a performance.

I stand corrected.


http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2421/were-there-really-vomitoriums-in-ancient-rome

Damn straight you do.

That's good though. Had it not been for that, I would have gone around misinformed forever about that.

Not any more.

It'll take more than that to stop you being misinformed...

I know.

But it's a start.

Hey, a bit off topic here, but I was watching this really interesting documentary about William Wallace, a couple of weeks ago.

Of course, he was brought to the big screen, aka Braveheart, and his life was made out to be romantic, a little like Robin Hood. Yet this documentary went behind that, to reveal that the real William Wallace, he was often a brutal man, a man who engaged in murder and rape, when the chance offered itself.

Not surprised...

Try to take a land owners land away from them, look what happens...