Ancient Romans Essay, Research Paper

Western Civilization has been influenced in many different ways. Ancient Romans were a major part of influencing modern western civilization. The ways that they influenced this was by engineering, architecture, literature. Engineering included aqueducts and roads. Architecture helped with columns, archways, and domes on building. People like Pliny and Virgil helped literature. They wrote literature that was heroic to the past.

Engineering in ancient roman civilization was a major factor in influencing western civilization today because of the aqueducts, bridges, harbors, and roads that were built. The Roman engineers built very large aqueducts. Aqueducts are bridge like stone structures that brought water from the hills into Roman cities. Roman people also built bridges. They had male and female public baths. They went to the baths not only to bathe, but also to talk about the latest gossip. Today we still use aqueducts and we also use roads. With out roads we would have no way to get around in our cars. It is very important that they were made.

Architecture might have been the most impact influences that ancient roman civilization because of the columns, archways, and domes. The columns were influenced from Greek architecture. They Romans emphasized on size. The made everything grand. They improved many things, such as the arch and the dome. They allowed for roofing large spaces. We still use domes and archways. Most of our capital and religious buildings use archways, columns, and domes in their structure. With out this then most of those buildings would not be as they are because the domes and archways allowed for the large buildings and big ways.

Literature was important because it was shown as heroic. Virgil and Pliny helped literature a lot. They wrote poetry that showed Rome s past, as it was heroic. We still interpret many things as if they were heroic to make it seem better. Virgil wrote the Aeneid, he hoped it would arouse patriotism and help unite Rome. We still use that method, to arouse patriotism so that during wars people will become more patriotic.

Literature, engineering, and architecture in ancient roman times improved modern western civilization by many factors. Literature helped form ways to be patriotic during wars. Architects helped by building bridges, and archways that are still used today, in many capital and religious buildings. Architecture helped by making the aqueducts and they allowed for water to be transported. It also helped with roads, which are essential to today s life. All of these factors and more influenced modern western civilization greatly.