The Greeks and The Romans civilizations Research Paper

The Greeks and The Romans civilizations - Research Paper Example Having its origin in the Etruscan ethnicity, socio-cultural traits of the city-state of Rome had been greatly influenced by the north. Also, in the south, it was exposed to the influence of Greece. The Greek influence had already spread along the Mediterranean Sea centuries before the Romans established their city-state. Due to the geographical nature, Greek cities were highly isolated from each other. As a result, Greek influence surrounding the Mediterranean Basin was merely the extension of their isolated city states. Indeed, the geographical features also contributed to the â€Å"fierce exclusiveness of the Greek city-states from one another, stemming from their geographical isolation† (Comparisons, pars. 2). Moreover the Greek Polis maintained a strict prohibition on the extension of citizenship, since the citizenship of any of the city-states was determined by the socio-cultural uniqueness of the people of a particular land. Patterns of Greek and Roman History Whereas th e Greek polis began around 750 BCE, the Rome as the Republic started around 400 BCE. The Greek civilization reached its peak point around the 15th century, when the Roman Empire was at its twilight. Meanwhile, the Romans were expanding both westward and eastward under the leadership of Alexander the Great in the late 300s BCE. After Philip II, Alexander’s father conquered Macedonia, Greek philosopher Aristotle was appointed the tutor of Alexander the Great. The influence of the Greek culture on Alexander was overwhelming; as a result, Hellenism as the conglomeration of the Roman and the Greek civilizations began to emerge. Unlike the Greeks, the Romans were more liberal to absorb the people under their control. Though the Roman civilization began to expand in response to their effort to mitigating the threats from neighboring countries, the foundation of the Roman Empire was further boosted up by the Romans’ inclination to grant citizenship to the people of the conquer ed states. On the contrary, the Romans brought â€Å"other communities on the Italian peninsula under their control, first by conquest, and then by extending Roman citizenship to elements of the conquered peoples† (Comparisons pars. 3). This success on the Roman part to pull the conquered people into a Roman identity helped the Roman to survive even during the fierce Punic war. But in comparison with the Romans, the Greeks failed to lately build their empire due to their reluctance to give the conquered people an imperial identity. Though they endeavored to establish their own empire by dominating the Delian League, it was marred during the Peloponnesian Wars. By the time of the Punic War, the Roman had been able to unite all the city-states on the Italian Peninsula under the Roman identity. It is commented on this success as following: There are, therefore, two key components in the success of the Romans in building an empire. One surely was their military prowess, and the o ther was their organizational/political/legal skill in extending their governance over the conquered peoples into the empire. (Comparisons pars. 3) Greek and Roman Political Institutions Both the Greek and the Roman civilizations included a variety of political institutions, systems and forms. Though these two civilizations