The Challenges Of Mesopotamia And Rome And Roman Empires

Mesopotamia and Rome were two civilizations that were both highly impactful on world history. Even today, we can see themes that have transcended centuries. One of the themes that linked these two superpowers together was expansionism, a force that both built and destroyed these empires. As leaders in many spheres of government and culture, it was no surprise the rulers wanted to expand their borders. In this essay, I will dive more into this, exploring what each did to ensure permanent strength and sway in their time. Rome, for example, was known for their expansionist ways, a trend that would ultimately lead to their destruction. On the other hand, Mesopotamia was also a powerful and influential kingdom, yet they had a different style of …show more content…
Originally, the Roman Empire only had control of area inside of present day Italy and Sicily. The empire would expand greatly as the years went on. Unlike the Mesopotamians, Rome did not have to suffer the change of empires, making it relatively easier to spread their empire. Out of the history of Rome’s influential emperors, one of the most successful would be Julius Caesar. During his reign, the Roman empire expanded greatly, pushing its borders from only Italy and Spain to Gaul, Northern Africa, and Anatolia. These successes were only made possible by Rome’s superior system of roads, military training, and economy. All of these factors went into creating the Empire, one of most powerful forces of all time. A great Roman author, Virgil once wrote in his book The Aeneid, “Roman, remember that you shall rule the nations by your authority, for this is to be your skill, to make peace the custom, to spare the conquered, and to wage war until the haughty are brought low.” This quote best sums up Rome at the height of its power. Being one of the most influential empires in the world, Rome had expanded greatly, having control over many places. This power and authority did, however, have its downsides. Ironically, the factor that put Rome on the world stage also took them off of it. The empire was so thinly spread, it was hard to control every …show more content…
While Rome changed leaders, yet kept a steady empire, Mesopotamia changed empires often. This change in empires was brought on by a number of different things. Despite changing states more than Rome, the Mesopotamians managed to continue to expand. Their largest expanse was during the Neo-Assyrian Empire. This empire was a powerful and influential force in the Middle East at its time. To maintain their empire, they set up harsh laws for crimes and established a nearly invincible army, being one of the first forces to be armed with iron weapons. In addition to this, they had fighting techniques that put them ahead of other places. With their military and financial might, the Neo-Assyrians pushed the boundaries of their land from Mesopotamia outwards to part of Anatolia, the Levant, and Egypt. No previous Mesopotamian empires had spanned this large of an area of control. “More than anything else, the Assyrian army excelled at siege warfare, and was probably the first force to carry a separate corps of engineers…Assault was their principal tactic against the heavily fortified cities of the Near East. They developed a great variety of methods for breaching enemy walls: sappers were employed to undermine walls or to light fires underneath wooden gates, and ramps were thrown up to allow men to go over the ramparts or to attempt a breach on the upper section of wall where it was the least thick.” (Fighting