Why We're All Romans (eBook)

The Roman Contribution to the Western World

Carl J. Richard (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2010
320 Seiten
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (Verlag)
978-0-7425-6780-1 (ISBN)

Infos

This lively account of Roman administration, law, engineering, architecture, art, and literature traces 1,200 years of history from Rome's inception to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. This engaging yet deeply informed work not only examines Roman history and the multitude of Roman achievements in rich and colorful detail but also delineates their crucial and lasting impact on Western civilization.

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This engaging yet deeply informed work not only examines Roman history and the multitude of Roman achievements in rich and colorful detail but also delineates their crucial and lasting impact on Western civilization. Noted historian Carl J. Richard argues that although we Westerners are all Greeks in politics, science, philosophy, and literature and all Hebrews in morality and spirituality, it was the Romans who made us Greeks and Hebrews. As the author convincingly shows, from the Middle Ages on, most Westerners received Greek ideas from Roman sources. Similarly, when the Western world adopted the ethical monotheism of the Hebrews, it did so at the instigation of a Roman citizen named Paul, who took advantage of the peace, unity, stability, and roads of the empire to proselytize the previously pagan Gentiles, who quickly became a majority of the religions adherents. Although the Roman government of the first century crucified Christ and persecuted Christians, Romes fourth- and fifth-century leaders encouraged the spread of Christianity throughout the Western world. In addition to making original contributions to administration, law, engineering, and architecture, the Romans modified and often improved the ideas they assimilated. Without the Roman sense of social responsibility to temper the individualism of Hellenistic Greece, classical culture might have perished, and without the Roman masses to proselytize and the social and material conditions necessary to this evangelism, Christianity itself might not have survived.

Autor

Carl J. Richard is professor of history at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Inhalt

Chapter 1: Roman History in BriefChapter 2: Administration and LawChapter 3: Engineering and ArchitectureChapter 4: Epic and Lyric PoetryChapter 5: Speeches, Letters, and Agricultural ManualsChapter 6: PhilosophyChapter 7: Historical WritingChapter 8: Comedy and SatireChapter 9: Greek and Jewish Contributions in the Roman EraChapter 10: The Rise and Romanization of ChristianityEpilogueSuggestions for Further Reading

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 16.4.2010
• Sprache: englisch
• Maße: 150 x 150 mm
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Geschichte / Politik ► Vor- und Frühgeschichte / Antike
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Altertum / Antike
• ISBN-10: 0-7425-6780-X / 074256780X
• ISBN-13: 978-0-7425-6780-1 / 9780742567801