Spengler 1

Hallie Spengler

Mrs. Bates

English 111

17 December 2017

The Culture of the Romans v. Greeks

Culture is something that travels around the world and changes over time. But Commented [1]: correct spacing for MLA format

where did it come from? Different parts of the world have different customs and beliefs. While

some people share many of these customs, they vary depending on the landscape, weather,

agriculture, and type of people that live there. The ancient greeks and romans are examples of

people who share many different aspects of life, but they also show differences too. The greeks

tend to be more advanced and less barbaric than the romans. The romans and greeks share Commented [2]: pronouns not capitalized

aspects like government, education, and daily life. These simple things made the culture what it

is today.

The United States of America has a type of government called representative democracy

which originated in ancient Greece. “The advancements in law and government in ancient

Greece lead the way to modern-day Westerns laws and concepts of democracy” (Sienkewicz-2,

395). In the Archaic Age (c. 800-500 B.C.E), democracy began to develop (Sienkewicz-2, 396).

The ancient Greeks were not always apart of a democracy though, it took them time to develop Commented [3]: pronouns capitalized here

to this stage of government. In a democracy, the government is ruled by the people. Those who

create laws on the other hand, are called themosthetes in ancient Greece (Sienkewicz-2, 396).

Themosthetes are our version of the legislative branch and the judicial branch put together. The
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role of the themosthetes is to establish the law and punish those who break it (Sienkewicz-2,

396). They ruled the lands and listened to the people. When the famous themosthetes died,

Draco, Solon ruled (Sienkewicz-2, 396). Solon established seisachtheia, also known as “Shaking

off the burdens”, he canceled debts and granted citizenship to non-Athenians (Sienkewicz-2,

396). Solon was more of what we call an executive leader where he is in charge of more of the

overhead duties of the country, not so much the law binding duties. Democracy ran from this age

into the rest of Ancient Greece’s history. The romans on the other hand have had many types of

government. They began with a Monarchy (753 to 509 B.C.), then to a Republic, finalizing in an

Empire (Matz, 59). While the Greeks typically stuck with what they had, the Romans played

around with their choices. The Romans created what we call now “checks and balances”. The

executive leader of the romans was called the consul, which was elected in pairs annually (Matz,

59). The consuls would check on each other, creating the checks and balances. When the

civilization became an Empire, they remained a Republic in name, yet had one man rule

unelected (Matz, 59). The Roman Empire had many emperors, from the more common names

like Julius Caesar and Tiberius, to the less common, earlier rule of Augustus (Matz, 59). Julius

Caesar being the most famous in the Roman history. The romans had a very organized

government later on. “Each position in government had its own election age” (Karakocali, 68).

The romans had senates and they were very powerful (Matz, 60). They were taken serious and

therefore ruled efficiently. The romans also had executive bodies called magistrates who ruled in

the Republic period of Rome’s history (Karakocali, 68). Their role was in administration,

politics, military, and as judges in court (Karakocali, 68-69). The romans had so many different

governing bodies and roles, yet so many of them did multiple jobs. In today’s society, only one

task would be done per person. The government of both civilizations were very different in many
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ways, from type of government to the ruling leaders. Yet they both have paved the way to

different aspects of American government today.

Education is what drives many man and woman today, but did it drive the civilizations

back in ancient times? Greeks learned things like reading, writing, and arithmetic in school

(Babcock). There were two types of people in Ancient Greece, the Spartans and the Athenians.

The Spartans were more rebellious and troublesome while the Athenians were more literate and

obedient. The Spartans crafted men from birth to become warriors for their army (Sienkewicz-2,

344). They had to serve for ten years, then continue into the reserves for life while having a

normal life. (Sienkewicz-2, 344). The Athenians provided education for military, philosophy,

and literature (Sienkewicz-2, 344). This occured before the formation of democracy. Once

democracy was created, the Athenians provided public schools for those who could not afford to

send their children to private tutors (Sienkewicz-2, 344-345). The Romans proved to be less

literate. They had to hire Greeks to tutor their kids. Roman civilization did not offer public

schools, only the wealthier of families could provide education to their children (Matz, 1-2).

Because the romans did not have public schools, their private sessions were either in the tutor’s

home, in the streets, or in public areas (Matz, 2). The romans and greeks had very similar

teachings when it comes to education, the techniques just differ. The teachings were primarily

the same because the greeks were the ones teaching the romans.

When it comes to daily life and customs of both the greeks and the romans, they both had

very different things in mind. “The daily life in ancient Greece revolved around village life, with

its farming and herding activities and its emphasis on the importance of family and tradition”

(Sienkewicz-1, 297). The greeks ate foods like olives, wheats, meats, fish, and grapes

(Sienkewicz-1, 297). They used the grapes to make wine which was the drink of choice in
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ancient greek history. The meats, usually lamb, was cooked over spits (Babcock). The ancient

romans on the other hand, ate foods like grains and vegetables, bread and porridge while meats

were usually too expensive for roman households (Matz, 23). As for another aspect of daily life

and customs, sports are introduced. The olympics started in Greece around 776 B.C.E., a time

known as the Greek Dark Ages (Sienkewicz-2, 593). The Olympics is a tradition that is still

around to this day in age. Details may have changed, but the entire idea of them still remains.

The olympics are still a very highly viewed celebration that occurs every several years like they

did in ancient years. Types of events that occured in the olympics back then were sports like

footraces, wrestling, javelin throw, horse races, discus throw, and boxing (Sienkewicz-2, 596). In

ancient Rome, chariot races and gladiator fights occured in stadiums like the Coliseum. These

have been occurring since about A.D. 146 with almost 250,000 people watching the events

(Matz, 97). The citizens watching often placed bets on some of the 12 chariot racers (Matz, 97).

Sports and foods for both cultures were very popular and have traveled a long voyage to our

current time, where many of these aspects still remain.

The greeks and romans shared many attributes, yet many proved to be very different.

Greeks have made better opportunities for Americans than did the Romans. The Greeks tended

to be smarter, wealthier, and more advanced. Their government stemmed in two very different

directions and the roman’s customs did not last as long as did the Greek’s customs. For example,

olympics are still around today while chariot races are not. The romans had to be taught by the

greeks, yet still many romans could not afford to be educated. Greeks tended to have more

power, control, and advancement when it comes to technology. The Romans were stuck in time

compared to the Greeks. But they are both part of our world’s history and will always be

remembered for their differences.

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Works Cited

Babcock, Eleni, and Hallie Spengler. “Greeks v. Romans.” Virginia Beach, Virginia, 14 Dec.

2017.
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KARAKOCALI, Ahmet. "Magistrate: The Most Important Political Body of Roman Republic."

Ankara Bar Review, vol. 6, no. 2, July 2013, pp. 65-82. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.vccs.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=950

28568&site=ehost-live.

Matz, David. Daily Life of the Ancient Romans. Hackett Pub., 2008.

Sienkewicz, Thomas J., editor. Ancient Greece. Vol. 1, Salem Press, Inc. , 2007.

Sienkewicz, Thomas J., editor. Ancient Greece. Vol. 2, Salem Press, Inc. , 2007.