Classical Greece and Rome

Classical Greece and Rome A Comparison

GREECE ROME

Geography Greece Rome • Established city-states along the eastern Mediterranean and into parts of southern Europe. • Empire extended from modern Greece to the border of India to the east. (see pg. 80-81) • Started in the Italian peninsula. • Roman state extended from modern day Spain to parts of the Middle East, including territory in northern Africa. (see pg. 82)

Religion Greco-Roman • Did not create a major religion. • Primitive in nature • Belief in the spirits of nature and a complex se of gods. • Greeks and Romans had different names for their pantheon, but shared similar gods. • Promoted political loyalty, but did not provide a basis for ethical thought. • Limitations of this religion; failed to satisfy ordinary people, increasing division among upper class and popular beliefs.

Ethical Systems • Greek and Roman moral philosophy • Aristotle and Cicero – moderation and balance of human behavior • Stoics – stressed inner moral independence, to be cultivated by strict discipline of the body and by personal bravery. • Notable thinkers • Socrates – encouraged people to question conventional wisdom • Plato – “absolutely True, Good, and Beautiful”

Achievements – Science & Math Greece Rome • Legacy of human reasoning Geometry • Basics theorems of Pythagoras Astronomy • Theory of the sun’s motion around a stationary earth • Preserved Hellenistic traditions in textbooks • Roman genius was more practical; • Great roads • Aqueducts • Arches

Achievments – Literature & Art Greece Rome • Greek drama – comedy and tragedy • Greater emphasis on tragedy • Poetry • Homer – Iliad and Odyssey • Ceramic work • Literary contributions were less impressive • Painting – realistic works in the homes of the wealthy

Achievements - Architecture Greece Rome • Monumental construction in square or rectangular in shape. • Columned porticoes, with three different tops; • Doric, Ionic and Corinthian • Invented “classical” architecture • Adopted Greek themes • Temples, marketplaces, and public baths • Stadiums – Coliseum • Domes

Greece Political • Polis – Greek word for city-state • Citizens actively participated in politics. ATHENS • Direct Democracy – not rule through elected representatives. • Women had no rights of political participation. • About half of all adult males were not citizens. SPARTA • Governed by a singular militaristic aristocracy

Rome • Rome tried to use various elements of Greek political systems • The Roman Republic had two legislative branches: • Senate – composed mainly of aristocrats • Consuls – shared primary executive power, EXCEPT in times of crisis the Senate could choose a dictator (Caesar). • Cicero – writer/political philosopher.

Economy • Most Greeks and Romans were self-sustained farmers • Because of the geography farming was difficult, producing grains, grapes and olives. • Commercial agriculture was one of the forces of establishing an empire • Trade was important in Mediterranean civilization • Merchants had a somewhat higher status in Rome, than in Greece • Slavery was a key component of the Mediterranean economy • Aristotle justified slavery as a necessity in a proper society

Social – Role of Women Greece Rome • Under the authority of the men • Rarely appeared in public • Served the community by bearing and raising children • Upper class women had great influence and power within families • However in law and culture, women were inferior • Infanticide – families burdened with too many children • The oppression of women was less severe in the Mediterranean than in China or India

Classical Greece and Rome