Roman Empire Case Study

Improved Essays
8.Despite the fact that the Roman Empire was ruled by the wealthy, the deepening class conflicts of the plebeians helped bring major change to the political life of this empire. According to Strayer, “a written code of law offered plebeians some protection from abuse” (130). Furthermore, the poorer classes of society were able to “shape public policy”, through the system of public assemblies (Strayer 130). This is significant because it indicates the greater opportunities that plebeians were offered within the Roman Empire. The political system and principles of the Roman Empire enabled them to “launch their empire building enterprise”, causing them to gain power and spread their empire through the Mediterranean Basin and beyond.

9. There
…show more content…
Empire building affected the Roman’s views on gender roles. According to Strayer, women became an essential part of the Roman’s warrior culture “by bearing brave sons and inculcating these values in her offspring” (132). This is significant because it demonstrates that the main role of a woman lied in reproduction and motherhood. However, the life and role of a woman varied depending on her social class. According to Strayer, elite Roman women were less restrained to being at home, whereas thousands of women were used as slaves and were “often brutally treated and subject to the whims of their masters” (132). Evidently, the freedom and lifestyle of a woman in the Roman Empire largely depended on their wealth and social status. Although there were some exceptions to the role of women in the Roman Empire, women were mostly valued for being wives and mothers. All in all, the role of a woman in the Roman Empire was characterized by the men in their …show more content…
According to Strayer, the Romans’ omission of a “strong bureaucratic tradition” was a main factor in Europe’s struggles (140). Plus, in the Roman Empire, religion “did little to support the creation of large scale empires”(141). On the contrary, the Chinese used philosophies, such as Confucianism, to bring structure to society and they “placed great value on political matters in the here and now”(140). All in all, the Chinese combination of Confucianism and a bureaucratic government helped provide the social order that Europe lacked, and supported the creation of another empire. This is significant because it shows how the style of government of the Han Empire followed even after its collapse, whereas most of Europe became a government that spread political responsibilities, that made them unable to form another

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    The Roman Empire is one of the most well-known and prominent civilizations of its time. It was the epitome of power and the impact it made on Western civilization has been profound. The empire became a melting pot and a place where people of different backgrounds could trade and travel freely. It spread over a vast area of land and encompassed much of the area surrounding the Mediterranean, which is known as Western Europe. At the time, it may have seemed that bigger was better, but the sheer size of the Roman Empire contributed to its decline. Rome was ruled by emperors; some great, some not so great. These not so great rulers led the empire down a path of destruction and political decline. Though the Roman Empire made major contributions…

    • 1079 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Roman Government Structure

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The author of this journal article is Fergus Millar who is noted to be one of the leading historians in the studies of the ancient worlds. In his multiple publications, he focused on the roman republic and empire and what made it different economically, socially and politically.…

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Roman Empire Dbq Essay

    • 485 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Roman Empire was one of the greatest civilizations in history, developing advancements in many important areas, like architecture and technology. Its culture was widespread, and it had a big impact on other civilizations to come. The main way Rome was able to become so advanced was being able to adapt to its geography. This allowed them to complete tasks more efficiently, and maximize the effectiveness of what they were doing.…

    • 485 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Rome Empire Dbq

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages

    4. The last cause for the fall of the Roman Empire was the fall of the…

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Roman Empire Dbq

    • 203 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Romans adapted to the land by building roads to make travel smooth and efficient. The outcome of this is, since the trader were able to trade better it gave Roman an opportunity to expand their Empire. Document 4a Roman Roads says, “Good roads meant that orders, troops, and supplies could be sent quickly throughout the empire. In times of peace, it meant increased trade and taxes for the Roman.” Also, when they made the roads they the roads very durable so trade can be very easy. In Document 4a it says, “Roman roads were also incredibly durable. They were built to resist rain and everyday wear and tear.” Lastly Roman’s also would use boats to along with land to trading.…

    • 203 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Roman Empire Dbq

    • 225 Words
    • 1 Pages

    The thesis of this chapter is the acceptance of others in the Roman Empire without judgement. This was important to include because every freeborn male born into the empire was allowed citizenship, it also allowed men to take part in making political decisions.…

    • 225 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Roman Empire Dbq

    • 338 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Ancient Rome’s government set an example for future countries that used it as generations passed. Rome established a Republic, where citizens voted for…

    • 338 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Roman Empire Dbq

    • 1231 Words
    • 5 Pages

    From 300 BCE to 300 CE there were two major empires that dominated the world. The first one was the Han Dynasty in China, which lasted a little over four hundred years providing Asia with economic prosperity and centuries of peace. The much larger, and very impressive Roman Empire was the European equivalent of the Han Dynasty. “The Roman Empire became a great power ruling 60 to 70 million subjects.” (Tignor 256). It is by far the largest empire the world has ever seen. Their empire would eventually stretch from modern day Scotland to modern day parts of Sudan. Rome did not gain this much territory only for their extreme aggression; there were also several other factors that destined them to be an unmatched world power. The factors that allowed…

    • 1231 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Roman Empire Dbq

    • 239 Words
    • 1 Pages

    “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”- Joe Walcott. This is true for boxing, but especially true for the Roman Empire. Rome began as a small settlement on the banks of the Tiber River and, with help from swords, shields, and spears, conquered land from most of the Old World. At the climax of the Roman Empire, they controlled Europe, most of Asia and a good portion of Africa. But, like most climaxes, then comes the resolution, and the Roman Empire came to a close. Some people have the belief that the primary reason for the fall of Rome was foreign invasions, but if you look deeper, the primary reasons for the fall of the Republic turned Empire were military mistakes and political corruption. Rome was lazy and unprepared from crippling…

    • 239 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Roman Empire Dbq Essay

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In approximately 200 AD, the ruling power of Greece started to diminish whereas the Roman Empire continued to expand at an exponential rate. The Roman Army persisted in their efforts to seize territory, and was so thorough in its imperialistic endeavors that it grew to an impressive size. Rome, obtaining the title of preeminent empire of the ancient world for several centuries, was comprised of various elements from successful societies such as the Greeks and Etruscans. These foreign lands impacted the republican government organization and further political ideology as well as the basic social and religious morals of the Roman people. Compared to all healthy governments, Western Rome faced trials regarding its…

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Imperial Rome (31 B.C.E. -476 C.E.) and Han China (206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.) are likely the two most well known empires of the time period Because of their large size and influence. When describing methods of political control, the two mirrored each other in many ways but, in some respects, had contradicting ideas. The methods of political control used by Imperial Rome and Han China were similar regarding their use of political theologies to justify leadership, their centrally structured government, and their use military power, but exhibited different roles of citizens in government and techniques for maintaining order in the lower class.…

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Merry Wiesner’s article exploring the imperialistic ways of Ancient Rome and China during the Han Dynasty was quite eye-opening. Both kingdoms were located in very different parts of the world, but they had similar terrains, and obviously a similar way of thinking. They both understood that the people of their country needed to be governed, but monarchy was not the way to go about it. So, in turn, they decided to become an imperialistic society – rule with the use of an emperor. Wiesner poses the following questions in her piece: how did each of these peoples [Han and Rome] redefine political authority to suit a new level of world mastery, and what do their views of imperial authority tell us about the ways in which they understood the state and its power? The answers are simple, the people needed to be told how to think. Using the military, they kept the citizens in fear and made it easier to get whatever they needed done, done. Both Han…

    • 1097 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “When Rome emerged as a republican city-state in late sixth century B.C.E., the peoples of Italy were mostly farmers.”(Dunn and Mitchell 193) These contrasting origins inspired the methods used by the empires maintain their rule.…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Within these two articles, “Pleasures and Excess in the Roman Empire” by Paul Veyne and “Slums, Sanitation, and Mortality in the Roman World” by Alexis Scobie, we learn about the history of how the Roman society worked as well as gain insight through the theories created in what could have possibly been going on in the everyday life of Roman citizens. We get to delve in the social scales of the people including how/ where they lived and what they were capable of achieving while building up their empire.…

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the late Roman Republic, the external expansion of early Rome was a surprise to many. The era of the great expansion of Roman power and civilization is the era of the Roman Republic, in which its Senate ruled Rome and its assembly, which were establishments, formed at the beginning of the monarchy. The Republic had a history of many conflicts, aiding the Republic in becoming so powerful, thus making Rome become unstoppable. But as we all know from the conflicts that aroused in the past with many other large city-states and Empire’s, with incredible power comes many dilemmas. The development of early Rome was fundamental to the rise and fall of the political and economic developments of the late Roman Republic.…

    • 736 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays