Essay on living in Rome

Rome has always been known as the beautiful city with Colosseum, sport arenas, basilicas,Roman baths and many more amazing sites and buildings. So many people picture Rome as an amazing place, what they don't realize is that it hasn't always been so beautiful. Roman buildings were built out of wood and stone, and the streets of Rome were disgusting dirty. Rome went through a time period where they had famines, flooding of rivers, fires, and this really put Rome in a bad place. Just like when someone says New York and people say I would love to live there, it's the same for Rome. People do not look at the details of Rome but instead only at the name, which in itself means so much.

Rome isn't all ugly, it does have amazing sites. It was preferable to live with in Rome rather than elsewhere because of its amazing sites and building though some were quite dumpy. It didn't really matter where you lived in Rome, whether it was nice or not it just was the thought of living there. A fitting place to start, for anyone at all interested in Roman history, would be in Rome. It may not be the prettiest place to visit, but there is a lot of history behind it. Just to be there and experience Rome, is a dream well known for. It's like brand name clothes, you got to have them, and when we hear of Rome we imagine how great it would be to live there. I think why it's a dream of many people is because it's a whole new culture and lifestyle.

Here in America we have everything handed to us but there people have to work to get somewhere. There was and still is the middle class and the upper class. Where you were born in a family depended on which class you were from. Life in Rome was a struggle to get to the top or be the best. The middle class and upper class both competed to be the best. But the upper class always had more privileges and rights. The only way you could move to a higher class was to be adopted into a family of an upper class. In Rome if you wanted if you wanted to make a change or difference you had to make a statement and let the people hear what you had to say.

To be able to fathom the understanding of living in Rome is not possible to figure out. Just to breath in the air, to be there gives you a whole new perspective on Rome. I hope that when I am a senior and I go to Rome that I will have an experience like that. Living in Rome was wasn't ever all fun in games, there was the threat of diseases, earthquakes, ad famines. Life in Rome wasn't easy. The boys went to school every day and the girls stayed home and took on the job of a mother. Women in the Roman minds weren't treated as well as the men were. Men excelled in Rome while women were left with the chores around the house. The boys had to be prepared for life and the challenges ahead of them.

How the Romans lived there lives depended on their class. The more upper class you were the more there was for you to do. The upper class was basically handed everything and the lower and middle classes had to work more to get what they wanted. Many people lived in Rome because that's where everyone was, it was the main part of Rome, the city. The Romans lived a similar life like us just in a different time in history. Something that really effected Rome was their emperors. Each time a different emperor came to rule, it would change Rome's society. Each emperor either helped Rome out or caused major damage. All in all to live in Rome would be a dream though it was never outstandingly beautiful. Most times beauty isn't important, it's what you make of life and what you do to make a difference. In conclusion Rome just was the best place to live, just like many other places today, it's not about where you live it's about what you do to make the best out of it.

Roman architectural and artistic development

The Romans were best known for their architecture and art. The Romans brought a lot of new ideas to architecture. The three most important were the arch, the baked brick, and the use of cement and concrete. Brick and cement were used for arches to build a new forum with a big column in it. This technique also helped elaborate market building that is the source of modern shopping malls. Roman architecture is more reflected in the development of engineering skills and secular monuments than the ideas of gods then that of the Greek architecture. They introduced new ways to construct a more efficient building and also a entirely different purpose for the building to be built. They build their temples more as for the public and they believed their was a purpose behind architecture.

The Romans learned much of their architectural techniques by the Greeks and the Etruscans. They used many natural materials to form plaster and brick to make their structures and buildings. Once Ancient Rome became a dominating world power their architecture began to grow. One of the architectural techniques that came into use was the arch and vault. These helped in the building of the amphitheater, monumental avenue, and public baths. Aqueducts were channels made of brick or stone that were designed to carry water to a location. Rome didn't have the first aqueduct of the world, but it was the only major city that was supplied with water and therefore they were most famous for them. Public baths were also an important part of Roman life. The baths generally had dressing room suites and bathing chambers with hot, warm, and cold water.

The Romans were very well known for their roads and bridges and no other society have done better. The Romans original intented to build roads for military use. As the Romans conquered new territories, roads were built to allow the soldiers to travel throughout the empire quickly. The roads were generally constructed in four layers. The top layer consisted of a pavement of flat, hard stones, concrete or pebbles that were set in mortar. These roads were usually constructed in straight lines but sometimes they were constructed in a curve. The bridges that the Romans constructed were just as remarkable as their roads. When the arch was developed it made bridges easier to build and many are still in use today.

Romans were also well known for their artistic abilities. They used designed many mosaics and sculptures. The Romans art consisted of many different cultures like the Etruscans, Greeks, and even the Egyptians. Mosaics were pictures made by an artist that was made out of stone and many other hard pieces of natural items. The rich families were usually the ones who had their houses decorated in sculptures and mosaics. The Romans used other cultures ideas and from there added on to them. They seemed as a very moderate society. (Adkins)

The Emperor Hadrian was responsible for the Pantheon which was one of the most influential buildings in western architecture. Hadrian transformed the traditional Roman temple into a structure employing architecture and concrete. It best exemplifies the importance of Roman architecture. Hadrian was strongly influenced by Greek culture and many of the temples were dedicated to the gods. Roman architecture was almost an exact copy of that of Greece. There were three types of designs that were used with concrete and they were the Doric, Corinthian, and the Ionic. The use of concrete allowed marble to be used and it made it easier to build temples and it was much better then using stone. The concrete that the Romans used is used today and is most relevant throughout our world today. (Bookrags)

ONLINE BOOK http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/Roman_architecture (Bookrags)
Adkins, Lesley and Roy A. "Handbook to Life In Ancient Rome". Oxford University Press Inc. 1994. New York.
Mr. Lockwood the spell check isnt working again just letting you know

The government of Rome

The Roman government was a strange mix of a republic and democracy. An very interesting fact about the people of Rome is that they took many of their ideas of government from the Greeks. The Roman state was described as a republic with its consuls which continued to be appointed after the establishment of the one-man rule under the empire. The Roman government only lasted until the beginnings of the first century. Many Romans did not like how one man made all the rules. So they decided to balance the power of the government between three branches. They were the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch.

The Romans viewed their empire as the instrument that brought law and justice to the rest of the world. They started out with the most powerful and largest empire in the world. They were considerated a military state and because of this they ruled a vast amount of land in subject countries. The Romans devoted much of their brilliance to military strategy, administartion, technology, and law. Ancient Rome in the earlier years was ruled by kings, but that changed in a very short amount of time, because the Romans hated it. When Rome began to grow and become more powerful, a government position became more and more attractive in Rome's society. This meant that more men got involved in goverment. These men believed that their empire and city would be ruled by one man. They called the one man rulers emperors.

The one man rule was not working for the Roman government so this started the first triumvirate. The first triumvirate was a time when three men ruled instead of one. These three men were Crassus, Pompey, and Julius Caesar. Pompey was killed in a battle and Crassus and Caesar were left. The only problem was that when there was only two men in charge each wanted the power so they fought for it. Crassus then died and Caesar had an affair with Cleopatra, this Cleopatra was claimed to be the most famous. This then leads up to Caesar's murder, because Rome did not want a king. Then in the year 146 B.C. the Roman government began to fall. The only important power left that they had was the Mediterranean Sea. From this they controlled almost all of its coastline. The Romans then realized that they could no longer depend and lean on the Senate. (Barnett 14-16)

The Second Triumvirate was basically the same as the first but different people and a different time.The three men were Octavian, Caesar's nephew, Ledipus, and Mark Antony. The story starts out with how Ledipus was pushed out of his powerful position. This caused Octavian and Mark Antony to go to war against each other. Then later on both Mark Antony and his wife Cleopatra comitted suicide and Octavian took control of Egypt and Alexandria. (Bookrags)

There are many reasons to why Rome fell. One reason was because of economics. The Western Roman Empire was much weaker than the Eastern Roman Empire. This meant that one part of the empire was holding the structure of Rome up but the other was vulnerable for attacks. From this the Western Roman Empire was attacked by nomadic peoples which caused the empire to become more weakened. Eventually the Western Empire fell completely to the outsiders. The trade between different areas was cut of by the new rulers of Western Rome. This then lead to all of Rome falling in 476 B.C.

Barnett, Mary. "Gods and Myths of the Romans". The Archaeology and Mythology of Ancient Peoples. Smithmark Publishers Inc. New York. 1996.
Online book: "http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/Second_Triumvirate"
(Mr Lockwood the spell check wasnt working so I did my best)