Article 5- What is so Ancient About Ancient Rome?

When you think of Rome, what comes to mind? Many people would say Caesar, conquest, first republic. The truth is that ancient Rome and the modern world can be connected to each other in ways many people don’t even think to view Rome as. Rome was the gateway to civilized society and explored the earliest forms for democracy and a code of law, which they called the “Twelve Tables”. Ancient Rome wasn’t just one of the most powerful empires the world had ever seen, but Rome left an imprint on the world and set standards for future countries everywhere with its ideals, government, and way of life.
Romans lived a life of virtue and committed themselves to serving Rome. The set of Roman ideals to live by was called stoicism. This is very similar to the modern day idea for love of you country and the ideals that you follow to be a good citizen called patriotism. The ancient Roman historian describes the Roman Empire as “It goes back beyond 700 years and, after starting from small and humble beginnings, has grown to such dimensions that it begins to be overburdened by its greatness” (Works by Livy, volume 1.) The Roman Empire grew from a small village to a vast empire encompassing almost the entire Mediterranean. The Roman world and the modern world are not as different as people would assume (Wikipedia.).
Rome had one of the most effective ways to run a government. Rome had a senate which consisted mostly of the wealthy, land-owning men of Rome called patricians, and one commoner, or plebian. The senate was run very much the today’s own version of the senate. The senate of the Roman Republic would create the laws to be passed, and then the one man who represented the plebeians in their post, called “the tribune to the plebs”, had the power to veto the laws passed. This plebian had one of the most important powers in the senate and had the power of the modern day President of the United States. This ability to veto not only prevented a war from breaking out between the plebeians and patricians, but it also was one of the most effective governments in the ancient world and is still in use today.(Wikipedia.)
The Romans also had the first form of a code of law called, “The Twelve Tables”. These laws had the code for the Roman way of life. The different tables had a specific part of society that it would pertain to, they are as follows: Table I- Trails, Table II- Trails continued, Table III- Debt, Table IV- Rights of fathers over the family, Table V- Legal guardianship and inheritance laws, Table VI- Acquisition and possession, Table VII- Land rights, Table VIII- Laws of injury, Table IX- Public law, Table X- Sacred law, Table XI- Supplement I, and Table XII- Supplement II. The laws set up by the Roman Republic have the same structure, but the punishments of the Romans and the modern world are very different (csun.edu).
Rome was the country that set the precedent for nations to come with its revolutionary ideas on the way society should be with one of the first functioning and successful republics, colonies, and laws. Rome changed the world and carried some of the vital ideas thought of by the them all the way to the modern world and how a nation such as the United States has adapted to the Roman ideals of our own form of stoicism, our government, and the same kinds of basic laws that were followed in ancient Rome.


Works Cited
"The History of Rome, Vol. I." University of Virginia Library. Web. 06 Mar. 2010. .
"Roman Empire -." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 06 Mar. 2010. .
"THE TWELVE TABLES." California State University, Northridge. Web. 05 Mar. 2010. .