How Did The Roman Culture Influence Western Civilization

Western civilization is what is presently called modern or contemporary society that mainly comprises Western Europe and North America. It is believed that civilization came in through the influence of ancient cultures the two main ones being Greek and Roman. The Roman Empire has given most of the modern world and much of the medieval world its governments in not only its forms but also in its substance. The barbarian tribes who succeeded the empire adopted much of its laws and many of its forms of governments. For instance the Visigoth kingdom of Italy had a senate and for a time consuls.
They came up with a system of laws that is used mainly by the USA, an example being "innocent until proven guilty". Romans used arches, and invented concrete. 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 are all as a result of other people’s influences. In fact there was little that they did which was their original idea. The total of what they did was unique to them and made them remarkable people in history. The Roman Empire had influence in two main areas of philosophy. One, the general subject of philosophy itself and two, and the type of philosophy it has …show more content…
The Romans took care of their people too. For slaves there was generally better treatment than in other empires and mostly, but not always, than even the Greeks. There was a path to freedom by manumission, a will, declaration by the emperor or by saving the monies that you occasionally or even regularly mostly received and buying it. There was a path to citizenship itself. The impact of Roman literature influenced the subsequent and modern world like no other. It not only preserved much of the wisdom of the ancients, but also in educated circles (such as monasteries and the east) Roman literature was widely