SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY

Ancient Civilizations
MODULE 1-Lesson 1.C
 ROMAN
CIVILIZATION

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COLA JANE I.
 Roman Civilization
The successor to the Greek
civilization in the Mediterranean
basin and the Near East was Rome,
an Italian city-state that grew to
be an empire and the dominant
power in East and West alike.
Although Rome is considered the
successor to Hellenistic Greece,
they actually overlapped in time,
and Rome itself is in many ways a
Hellenistic entity.
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 Roman Civilization
Rome is situated about halfway down the
western coast of the Italian Peninsula,
where one of the country’s few sizable
rivers, the Tiber, flows through fertile
plains before emptying into the sea.

***The Italian Peninsula was invaded innumerable

times throughout history. The native Italic peoples
of the north and center were taken over by the more
civilized Etruscans in the tenth to eighth centuries
B.C.E. Rome was probably founded by the
unification of several villages under a single
government in the eighth century, as Roman legend
states.

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 Roman Civilization
⬗ Among the many legacies of Roman dominance are the widespread use of
the Romance languages (Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and
Romanian) derived from Latin, the modern Western alphabet and
calendar, and the emergence of Christianity as a major world religion.
⬗ After 450 years as a republic, Rome became an empire in the wake of
Julius Caesar’s rise and fall in the first century B.C.
⬗ The long and triumphant reign of its first emperor, Augustus, began a
golden age of peace and prosperity; by contrast, the Roman Empire’s
decline and fall by the fifth century A.D. was one of the most dramatic
implosions in the history of human civilization.

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 Roman Civilization
ROMAN INFANTRYMAN.
This picture shows a bronze figure of a Roman
legionary in full dress at the time of the empire in
the second century C.E. The soldier’s vest is
constructed of overlapping metal bands that,
although heavy and awkward, effectively protected
him from enemy thrusts. The Trustees of The British Museum/Art Resource,
NY

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 Roman Civilization
A ROMAN EMPEROR.
The Roman preference for realism in their
pictorial arts is shown by this bust of a man
assumed to be the Emperor Macrin. Although
their techniques were generally dependent on
classical Greek models, the Romans soon
progressed beyond the desire to merely imitate.
Bust of Marcus Claudius Tacitus (c.200–276) or Marcus Opelius Macrinus (164-218) (marble),
Roman, (3rd century AD) / Louvre, Paris, France / Bridgeman Images

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 Roman Civilization
ROMAN FAMILY.
The ancient Romans, as a whole, passed
laws that supported conservative social
values. One of these was the importance of
the family and honoring the family
ancestors. Despite sumptuary laws that
denied rights to women and children, most
families were closely knit, and the love that
existed in the family and between husbands
and wives seem to differ little from modern
families. This fact is well attested by the
funerary reliefs, like this one, and grave
inscriptions that still can be seen in the
tombs, graveyards, and catacombs around
and beneath the ancient city.
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 Roman Civilization
The Spread of
Christianity,
300–800 C.E.
After the emperor
Theodosius made
Christianity the official
imperial religion,
Christianity spread
dramatically throughout
the Roman Empire.

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 Roman Civilization
ROMAN AQUEDUCT IN
SPAIN.
This modern photo shows the
enduring nature of Roman civic
architecture all around the
Mediterranean basin. This
aqueduct could still be used by
the citizens of Segovia, Spain, to
bring fresh water to them. Similar
structures survive in southern
France and in Turkey.

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 Roman Civilization
Many ancient Roman structures like the Pantheon, the
Colosseum, and the Roman Forum are still standing
today thanks to the development of Roman cement and
concrete.

The Romans were also known to contribute to public

discourse using official texts detailing military, legal,
and civil issues.
Known as Acta Diurna, or “daily acts,” these early
newspapers were written on metal or stone and then
posted in heavily trafficked areas like the Roman
Forum.
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 Roman Civilization Roman engineers improved on
arches by flattening their shape
to create what is known as a
segmental arch and repeating
them at various intervals to build
stronger supports that could span
large gaps when used in bridges
and aqueducts. Along with
columns, domes and vaulted
ceilings, the arch became one
of the defining characteristics
of the Roman architectural
style.
To ensure effective administration of their sprawling domain, the Romans
built the most sophisticated system of roads the ancient world had ever
seen. These Roman roads—many of which are still in use today—were
constructed with a combination of dirt, gravel, and bricks made from
granite or hardened volcanic lava.

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 Roman Civilization

The Romans invented many surgical tools and pioneered the use of the cesarean section,
but their most valuable contributions to medicine came on the battlefield. Under the
leadership of Augustus, they established a military medical corps that was one of the first
dedicated field surgery units.
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 Impacts of the Roman Civilization
⬗ The Roman greatness was marked by their willingness to receive other
people's ideas for their own purposes.
⬗ Their architecture, technology, city planning, art, and military planning all
resulted from other people’s influences.
⬗ The Romans brought Greek ideas, modified them, and transmitted them
throughout the western world. In fact without Roman conquest, Greek
ideas would not have reached the west.

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 END of Lesson 1.C
Ancient Civilizations

Sources:
Adler, P. J., & Pouwels, R. L. (2017). World Civilizations (8th ed.). Cengage Learning US.
https://www.history.com/news/10-innovations-that-built-ancient-rome COLA JANE I. BAGUIO