Rome's Lasting Influence

Rome's Lasting Influence

Rome and its vast literature and civilization formed the point of departure for scholarly investigation during the 19th century beginnings of anthropology, archaeology, and sociology. At the time, university admission required the knowledge of both Latin and Greek. This educational practice had begun during the Renaissance and was only dropped during the mid-1960s in Europe. For many, Greek and Roman civilizations were the first “alien” civilizations encountered (Whittaker, 2004).

The history of Rome and its empire covers over a thousand years. From obscure, mythical beginnings, Rome went on to rule the ancient world. Its political power and cultural influence reached beyond its well-defended borders and were supported by the way Roman society was organized and by its (initially) generous treatment of its allies. Between approximately 600 BCE and 200 BCE, a long-running struggle took place between the patricians and the plebs, and a republic of sorts emerged, which lasted in name until 44 BCE, when a battle for ultimate power arose among the patrician generals. Rome became an empire that relied on military strongmen to defend its interests and to pursue the expansion of its territory to support the center (Adkins, 2004).

Around 300 CE, the Roman emperor Diocletian divided his empire into four regions. The three western ones (the prefectures of Gaul, Italy, and Illyricum) roughly corresponded to what we know as the traditional boundaries of Europe. For the next 500 years, Roman political control over that territory continued to disintegrate, yet by 768 CE the Frankish Kingdom of Charlemagne corresponded to an amalgamation of the central or core area (Whittaker, 2004).

These historical facts sowed the seeds in Europeans' collective memory of a vast and integrated land area in Europe, united by the Latin language and the Christian religion. Four hundred years later, the Swabian king Frederick I (known as Barbarossa) began a loose confederation of small kingdoms that became known as the Holy Roman Empire (1176-1806). (Many later historical debunkers have pointed out that the confederation was neither holy nor Roman.) This slowly transformed into a loose network of territorial kingdoms, ecclesiastical lands, and Imperial free cities. The cities operated with official support and provided the economic dynamo for the medieval period (Adkins, 2004).

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Romanized Britons were dealt a severe defeat at Crayford in 457 by the Germanic Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. Yet, according to the historians Gildas and Geoffrey of ...