One of the Roman’s greatest acheivements was their large amount of art. They created forms of art, fine tuned other existing forms to suit their needs, and created an extensive body of literature. Roman art in it’s heyday was a pinnacle of human artistic achevement and it is truely a shame that hardly any of it still exists.
The bas relief sculpture form was a completely Roman invention. It was a form of sculpture like no other at the time.
It projected a portion of a figure or image from a flat surface, creating a three- dimensional picture of sorts. Although the bas-relief was an effective tool for sculpture, it was underused. When used it was primarily for teaching purposes, not for the pure enjoyment of the work.
The Romans used the frescoe almost to the point of exhaustion. If you were above the poverty line, did not live in a slum, and had a decent occupation youre were almost expected to have a frescoe in your home.
Frescoes were a form of painting where a painting was directly applied to a wall, often when the plaster was drying so it would become part of the plr and last nearly forever providing it were in the right conditions.
Roman literature was also some of the greatest in history. It is often overlooked because it is compared only to Greek literature which the Romans tried to emulate. They did have their masterpieces though. The nid is arguably the greatist books in history.
It is all to often thrown out as erotic garbage from two thousand yers ago, when in actuality it competes on the same literary plane as Plato’s Republic and Homers duet epics, the Illiad and the Oddesy.
The fact that they conquered so much land (most of the know world) is amazing in itself. The tactics used to rule these land would be questionalble now but were acceptable (as if there were any choice) during their reign. The tactics included outright conquering through war, extortion or a combination of the two.
War was a common thing for the Romans for the waged it regualrly. When the Romans defeated an enemy (an enemy was anybody who didn’t stand down to the mighty power of Rome) they were crushed by the Roman Legions. The Romans used a method of military organization much like the Greeks. Each legion was made up of many phalanxes and when they attacked, they flanked their enemies, slowly surrounding them and destroyed their enemies from the outside, in.
Extortion was another form of conquer for the Romans. For example, a Roman legion would march to the capital of a tribe or a series of villages united and the the Roman general would speak to the cheiftan/king/ruler. The Roman would tell this leader the if they submit to the might of Rome, and pay a yearly tribute, they would be spared a war and slavery. Most of the time this worked.
When the extortion tactics didn’t work, the Romans generally attacked. If, by some chance, the Roamn enemies were deemed honorable, valliant, strong, or even right in their refusal of submission to the might of Rome, they were given a second chance to go into Roman rule without slavery, but with yearly tribute (much like Tigranis the Great of the Armenian Empire). This usuauly never worked out due to issues of pride and penal stipulation put upon by Rome.
The Roman system of law was one of the first in history to enforce the belief that all men were created equal. Roman law also established the precedent that the weight of proof weighed on the accuser, creating the belief that smeone is innocent until proven guilty. It also stated that a person could not be punished for a thought but only an action.
All men are created equal. A belief held by the Roman legal system. If it weren’t for this early precedent set, it may not be considered an inelliable right of a human. This adoption by the Romans allowed for centuries of equal rights (mostly) for all people.
A right to a fair trial was not a common thing during the Roman Empire’s reign for it favored the rich, but attampts were made to even the playing field. The judges in the courts began to recognize the rights of the common citizen. This change in the system allowed the poor to have a better defense against the ever powerful rich statement “I have money and I don’t want him to do that”.
Thought crimes were used by many courts throughout history. Even the Catholic Church, a religion that preaches tolerance, has tried, convicted, and executed people for though crimes. Not the Roman Emperical courts. They believed a man’s thoughts were private and even if they were voiced he could only be punished if here were to take action. Free speech had it’s roots in this law.
An Analysis of One of Romans Greatest Achievement as Their Large Amount of Art. (2023, Mar 15). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/an-analysis-of-one-of-romans-greatest-achievement-as-their-large-amount-of-art/