Contributions and Legacy
Romans have contributed many modern-day inventions to our daily lives. How did they create the contributions they have given us today? Well, early Romans adopted many different cultures, and blended them all together into one to make it their own unique contribution. They were influenced by the Greeks, actually, in more ways than one. Let’s dive into the divine contributions of the Roman civilization.
Art was a major priority for the early Roman civilization. They were very skilled in creating realistic statues, which they highly admired from the Greeks. The homes of wealthy Romans were built with murals and mosaics among the walls, like some houses today. They also painted frescoes, which was a beautiful type of mural. They are generally painted on moist plaster with water-based paints. They also liked to paint them outside, on the side of buildings. We still have similar practices on our buildings today, and it’s still very common. Americans imitate the Roman style of art to give their own artwork a feeling of dignity and nobility. Cameos were also popular, as they still are today.
Architecture was in it’s prime time with the early Romans. They learned how to use the arch, the vault, and the dome to support large building structures. The vault was a form of arch used to support the ceiling or roof of the building, and the dome was a vault in the shape of a hemisphere that rested on a circular wall. Today, we still have many buildings that use the same style of design. Romans were one of the first civilizations to discover the use of concrete. They used the concrete to create walkways, and many other things, like we still do today. Open-air structures were another big contribution to Roman society, just like they are to our society today.
The Romans changed engineering for the better just like they did to architecture. Romans were the greatest builders of roads, bridges, and aqueducts in the ancient world. Nearly 53,000 miles of road connected the civilization of Rome to the frontiers of the empire. They built their roads with a variety of layers of sand, gravel, and stone. For the next 2,000 years, roads were built exactly in this way. The Romans also built a series of aqueducts. These aqueducts brought water from up to 60 miles away. The routes brought the water directly to the wealthiest Roman homes, and the city’s public baths and fountains. We have many systems that move like this today. Our water system, for example, flows to each and every home and can be brought from longer distances.
A legacy of Rome that affects us every day is the Roman language. We still use the Latin alphabet to this day, which connects directly to Rome. The Latin alphabet is 23 letters long and the English uses 26 letters. Many European languages developed from Latin like Italian, Spanish, and French. Some English is influenced by the Latin language. English words have Latin prefixes. Also, we still use Roman numerals, today.
Stoicism was a philosophy that came from the Greeks, and upper-class Romans made it their own. Stoics believed that a divine intelligence ruled all of nature. To the stoics, the truly good thing in life was to have a good character. They had to have self control and courage.The most famous Roman Stoic was the emperor Marcus Aurelius, who wrote down his private thoughts in a book he called “To Himself.” Stoics were famous for bearing pain and suffering bravely and quietly. The Romans believed that there was a universal law of justice came from nature. This meant every person had rights. Also, the Roman counts tried making fair decisions, but didn’t treat the rich equal to the slaves. The courts made some bad decisions, but the idea of justice and natural right lived on.
Art was a major priority for the early Roman civilization. They were very skilled in creating realistic statues, which they highly admired from the Greeks. The homes of wealthy Romans were built with murals and mosaics among the walls, like some houses today. They also painted frescoes, which was a beautiful type of mural. They are generally painted on moist plaster with water-based paints. They also liked to paint them outside, on the side of buildings. We still have similar practices on our buildings today, and it’s still very common. Americans imitate the Roman style of art to give their own artwork a feeling of dignity and nobility. Cameos were also popular, as they still are today.
Architecture was in it’s prime time with the early Romans. They learned how to use the arch, the vault, and the dome to support large building structures. The vault was a form of arch used to support the ceiling or roof of the building, and the dome was a vault in the shape of a hemisphere that rested on a circular wall. Today, we still have many buildings that use the same style of design. Romans were one of the first civilizations to discover the use of concrete. They used the concrete to create walkways, and many other things, like we still do today. Open-air structures were another big contribution to Roman society, just like they are to our society today.
The Romans changed engineering for the better just like they did to architecture. Romans were the greatest builders of roads, bridges, and aqueducts in the ancient world. Nearly 53,000 miles of road connected the civilization of Rome to the frontiers of the empire. They built their roads with a variety of layers of sand, gravel, and stone. For the next 2,000 years, roads were built exactly in this way. The Romans also built a series of aqueducts. These aqueducts brought water from up to 60 miles away. The routes brought the water directly to the wealthiest Roman homes, and the city’s public baths and fountains. We have many systems that move like this today. Our water system, for example, flows to each and every home and can be brought from longer distances.
A legacy of Rome that affects us every day is the Roman language. We still use the Latin alphabet to this day, which connects directly to Rome. The Latin alphabet is 23 letters long and the English uses 26 letters. Many European languages developed from Latin like Italian, Spanish, and French. Some English is influenced by the Latin language. English words have Latin prefixes. Also, we still use Roman numerals, today.
Stoicism was a philosophy that came from the Greeks, and upper-class Romans made it their own. Stoics believed that a divine intelligence ruled all of nature. To the stoics, the truly good thing in life was to have a good character. They had to have self control and courage.The most famous Roman Stoic was the emperor Marcus Aurelius, who wrote down his private thoughts in a book he called “To Himself.” Stoics were famous for bearing pain and suffering bravely and quietly. The Romans believed that there was a universal law of justice came from nature. This meant every person had rights. Also, the Roman counts tried making fair decisions, but didn’t treat the rich equal to the slaves. The courts made some bad decisions, but the idea of justice and natural right lived on.