GREEK AND ROMAN CIVILIZATION

The Greek and Roman Civilizations are of the most acknowledged and greatest civilizations in human
history, having laid the foundation for modern civilizations. Their work can be seen in Philosophy,
Science and Technology, politics and governance, literature, sports and medicine. Let’s have an analytical
look at how both Greek and Roman Civilizations reflect in our current dispensation.

GREEK CIVILIZATION
Ancient Greek Civilization is one of the most brilliant civilizations in world history. These ancient
civilizations laid many of the foundation for the whole western civilization. These civilizations have
produced radical innovations in a wide range of fields as stated earlier and these subsequent paragraphs
seeks to address them;
GOVERNANCE AND POLITICS
Athens gave birth to the world’s first democracy in 508 B.C. Democracy can best be described as a
system of government in which the citizens elect representatives to advocate for them in the government.
Anyone who enjoys the benefits of democracy can attribute that to the Greeks. Plato, an ancient Greek
Philosopher wrote, “Politics” and encouraged citizens to question the established government. Democracy
is seen by many countries as the bests system to be practiced. If it had not been for the adoption of
democracy, Africa probably would have still been practicing Autocracy in politics and governance today.
As no state can fully be independent or be in isolation, there is a need for interstate corporation and
mutual support as well as peaceful coexistence.
Diplomacy is a beautiful tradition that evolved from the Greek, Roman, Italian and French systems. The
Greek gave a professional framework to diplomacy as far back as the second century B.C.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
First of all, there was a fitness cult in the ancient Greek world. This culture of ancient Greece has become
relevant to our society today. Phlebotomy, surgery, and medications to treat patients were first performed
by doctors trained in Hippocrates School of Medicine. Doctors of today still make use of these to cure
patients.
Moreover, Ancient Greece can be credited with many inventions and discoveries, although many of these
have been developed and adapted by subsequent generations. The ancient Greeks` findings in the areas of
astronomy, geography and mathematics made them pioneers in the field of science. The Greeks' interest
in the scientific specification of the physical world can be seen as far back as the sixth century BC, and
they often been hailed as the fathers of science, medicine, zoology and many other areas. Remarkable
leaders like Alexander the Great and Pericles, and their innovative and philosophical ideas have
motivated thousands of other intellectuals throughout history.
Below are some inventions and discoveries of the Ancient Greece that are still used today. First of all,
invention of water mills. Water mills were a revolutionary invention and have been used all. Ever since
it's invention, the water mill has seen a number of adaptations which have enabled people to use it to mill
different raw materials. These mills are used in many parts of the world and serve a similar function.
Most likely invented by the contemporary Greek engineer Philo of Byzantium. The alarm clock is also an
ancient Greek invention. One of the most common devices in use today is the alarm clock, which also
has its origins in ancient Greece. But there was no first alarm used by the ancient Greeks.
LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
The great early thinkers of Greece, called "Pre-Socratic", used the thought process that is now believed to
form the basis of modern science. For example, the theory that the world is composed of fine atoms that
move through gaps in space, collide randomly, and combine in various ways to form many substances in
nature. Despite all the resulting modifications to the original Greek atomic thought, this process of
reasoning in modern science is also important in all its fields. Also, the shift in cosmogony and
philosophical emphasis from cosmology to ethics was accomplished by the ancient Greek philosopher
Socrates.
The pursuit of superior moral standards, ethical principles and actions that characterize our modern
society is the result of Socrates` achievements. In his work, he (Socrates) tended to question the role of
morality in quality. The ethical principles and beliefs that our modern society promotes and upholds are
strongly the result of the work of Socrates from ancient Greece.

MATHEMATICS
Mathematics, in the modern world, has become a great and important field of study and a strong
requirement for development and if these theories are still relevant to be in modern mathematics
literature, then, we have to acknowledge and commend both men (Pythagoras and Euclid) both of ancient
Greek. In addition, one genre of literature that was used in ancient times and is still in use today is
comedy and tragedy. ancient literature is still in use today.

ROMAN CIVILIZATION
The ancient Romans built one the greatest Empire in the world`s history. It was among the largest
Empire in the ancient world. The Roman Empire begun as an italic settlement traditionally dated to 753
B.C, beside the river Tiber in the Italian Peninsula with an estimated population of about 50-90 million,
roughly 20% of the world`s population at the time. Their main aim was to expand the empire, which they
achieved through certain strategies which reflect in our modern world. This piece aims at the traces of
their achievements in various sectors like governance and politics, language and literature, science and
technology.
GOVERNANCE AND POLITICS
The Romans employed the Oligarchy, theocracy, Autocracy and the Absolute Monarchical system in
ensuring successful rule. Iran as another justification of the traces of the Roman adopts both an Oligarchy
and Theocratic system of government which has all its origination from the Roman Empire. Countries
like Australia, USA, Uruguay, and Chile has a senate which is used to actively govern. These
characteristics of the Roman Empire is very evident in the today`s senate system.

The use of governmental reforms can be dated back as far as the 2nd century BCE when the Gracchus
brothers of the ancient Rome tried governmental reforms. Their ways of seeking reforms and the kind of
reforms they sought are used in our present-day government. The present-day opposition party use the
strategies and ideas of the Gracchus brothers like addressing the problem of sub-standardized condition of
the needy. The ancient Rome also has its traces found in our present-day judicial system. Certain
standard terminologies used in court now are borrowed from the ancient Roman Empire.
LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
In Ancient Rome Latin was their main language. Through the Roman conquest, they were able to spread
the Latin language from continent to continent. Emphatically speaking, they have somehow been able to
achieve that and therefore grown into our modern-day language and literature. The influence of the
Roman civilization is seen in the aspect of language again.

These everyday words are not only English but Spanish, French and other world known languages.
English words such as villa, altitude, antique, magnificent, Nora either has its root or directly taken from
the Latin Language. There is clear evidence that some territories were directly invaded by the Ancient
Romans which led to the spread of the Roman language. However, there is evidence that territories were
not invaded by Romans but we can still see some influence of the language (Latin) on their modern life.

This evidence can be recognized in our various institutions and organizations such as schools have
motors generated from the Latin words, the Columbia University and Presec Legon both share a Latin
motor that says “In Lumine Tuo Videbimes Lumen” which means, “In Thy Light Shall We See Light”.
The use of these Latin words as their motto justifies the claim of Roman influence in the present-day
living. Ancient Romans did not only influence us in our writing of motto and language structures but also
the use of powerful ancient quotes. “Cave Canem” which means “beware of dogs” is another phrase
borrowed from ancient Roman times.

Other permanent quote includes “Errere Humanum Est” which means “to err is human” written by the
Roman philosopher Lucius Annaeus and “Veni Vidi Viei” which means “I came I saw I conquered” also
said by General Gaius Julius Caesar. Gaius Valerius Catullus as evidence was a Latin of the late Roman
Republic who wrote chiefly in neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical
heroes. In our present scientific day, we use the Latin language to represent a lot.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
The Roman arch was the foundation of Rome`s architectural mastery and massive expanse of building
projects across the ancient world. The arch is the ancestor of modern architecture. One example of the
famous roman that are used by the modern-day architectures is the arch of Constantine. These
Engineering ideas were from the ancient Rome engineering method.
 The romans were known as very good engineers, they used concrete along with wood, stones and
marbles to construct civil engineering project for their cities and transportation device for sea and land
travel. The idea of a modern-day central heating or radiant heating was borrowed from a technological
system used in ancient Rome which was known as Hypocausts system. Romans were not just about
spears ad daggers, they also developed precisely medical instruments that influenced modern day surgical
tools. The technology of apartment is not a modern-day invention.
Its origination can be traced to ancient Rome. The invention of the technology of codification (books) is
also from ancient Rome. Roman numerals originated in Ancient Rome, but survived for some uses after
the end of the Roman Empire. Still, roman numerals are still seen today, most often on clock faces or
representing years on architecture.