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Comparison-Roman: Greeks

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Category | Greeks | Romans | Government | In ancient times, Greece was an independent, self governing city-state. Greece also invented democracy. The Greek government was divided into monarchies, oligarchies, tyrannies and democracies and in the Mycenean period (between 2000 and 1200 BC) all Greek city-states were ruled by kings (Carr, 2011) | In the earlier days Rome was governed by kings, but ancient Rome was schooled to form their own government and rule themselves ((Hons), 2011) | Geography Terrain | The Greeks had a mountainous terrain and rugged coastline; offering great protection from foreign invasions but hindering them from communication and trade (Buzzle.com, 2000-2010, 2011). The geography of ancient Greece was divided into 3 regions; the coast, the lowlands, and the mountains allowing for less than 20 percent of the land to be farmed (Rymer, 2010) | Rome was inland and also had hills and mountains running through it but they were not nearly as rugged to navigate through as the hills and mountains of Greece. Also the rivers that ran through the peninsula were shallow and easy to cross (Ashe, unknown). | Economy | Because of the mountainous and hilly land Greece placed much emphasis on importing goods (Walter Scheidel, 2007). | Ancient Roman currency and economy was an agrarian and slave based economy. Agriculture and the barter system controlled Roman economies (United Nations of Roma Victrix, 2011) | Trade Practices | Surrounded by water the seas always played an integral part in Greek trade practices. The Greeks controlled much of the Aegean Sea opening up trade connections to valuable raw materials like gold (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011) | All regions of the Roman empire were largely economically interdependent, specializing in the production of grain, wine and olive oil. The largest industry in ancient Rome was mining (United Nations of Roma Victrix, 2011) | Art | Ancient Greek art is most noted in the forms of sculpture and architecture, as well as in coin design, pottery and gem engraving (World News, 2007). | Romans had many art forms, murals, architecture and statues, influenced by countries they ruled over, mixing styles of these countries cultures and sculpting their masters and leaders (Pankti, 2009) The art of the Roman Empire was largely derived from Greek models | Architecture | Greeks built their temples of marble and granite and were built to be fancy to please the Gods (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011). | The Romans built more practical buildings for entertainment such as the Coliseum. Romans perfected the use of concrete. Romans built a broad system of roads as their empire grew (Pankti, 2009). | Philosophy | The Greeks were well-known for philosophers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle who debated idealistic issues like truth, virtue and beauty (Carrier, 2000). | Roman philosophers basically formed their philosophic ideals off of the Greeks (Carr, Roman Philosophy, 2011). They debated how to achieve their goals. | Religion | The Greeks had a well-developed mythology. They believed their gods ruled from Mount Olympus. Their gods were arbitrary and displayed human emotions and weaknesses (. | Roman religion was centered around gods and their explanation of events. They believed that the Gods controlled their lives and spent a lot of their time worshipping them ((Hons), Ancient Rome and Religion, 2011) |

Reference List
(Hons), C. T. (2011). Ancient Rome and Religion. Retrieved October 7, 2011, from History Learning Site: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/ancient_rome_and_religion.htm
(Hons), C. T. (2011). How was Rome Governed. Retrieved October 7, 2011, from History Learning Site: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/how_was_rome_governed.htm
Ashe, M. (unknown). Ancient Rome. Retrieved October 6, 2011, from Global History II Regents Review: http://www.icsd.k12.ny.us/legacy/highschool/socstud/global2_review/ancient_rome.htm
Buzzle.com. (2000-2010, 2011). Ancient Greece Geography. Retrieved October 5, 2011, from Buzzle.com: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/ancient-greece-geography.html
Carr, D. K. (2011, June 27). Ancient Greek Government. Retrieved October 5, 2011, from Kidipede: http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/government/
Carr, D. K. (2011). Roman Philosophy. Retrieved October 7, 2011, from History For Kids: http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/romans/philosophy/
Carrier, R. (2000). The Origins of Greek Philosophy (2000). Retrieved October 7, 2011, from Infidels: http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/richard_carrier/history/1.html
Pankti. (2009). The Art of Ancient Rome. Retrieved October 7, 2011, from Brisas Museum of Art History: http://www.kyrene.org/schools/brisas/sunda/arthistory/rome.htm
Rymer, E. (2010). Greek Climate and Physical Geography. Retrieved October 5, 2011, from History Link 102: http://historylink102.com/greece3/climate-geography.htm
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (2011). Ancient Greek Colonization and Trade and their Influence on Greek Art. Retrieved October 7, 2011, from Metropolitan Museum of Art: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/angk/hd_angk.htm
United Nations of Roma Victrix. (2011). Ancient Roman Economy. Retrieved October 7, 2011, from UNRV.com: http://www.unrv.com/economy.php
Walter Scheidel, I. M. (2007). The Cambridge economic history of the Greco-Roman world. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
World News. (2007). Art in ancient Greece. Retrieved October 7, 2011, from World News: http://upge.wn.com/?t=ancientgreece/index11.txt

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