What were contributions of Ancient Rome?

Answer 1

Although some modern cultures are closer to Rome than others, in the end, the ancestress city of every modern city in the world is Rome. The Romans refined the following things;

1) The idea of the rule of law, as opposed to the rule of force, which was prevalent in ancient cities prior to Rome.

2) Although maligned the world over, the bureaucracy, without which you can not run or organize a modern city.

3) The judicial system, whose structure is the same in pretty much all democratic societies.

4) The idea that the law works with, rather than against the rights of man. See, before Roman law, don't do it because I said, and if you don't do what I say I'm gonna whack you, however Roman law says, lets follow rules and try to get along, that's the crucial difference.

5) A legal system open to interpretation by anyone willing to work for an education in order to educate themselves to how it works, or anyone willing to put in the work in order to learn the laws, something people treat with disdain and take for granted these days. The modern legal system was in fact invented by the Hebrew people; the world did not have a true legal system until Moses. See, the difference between a set of rules, and a legal SYSTEM, is that a set of rules is group of inflexible dictums not open to interpretation, break any of them and you get punished. Problem is in life, situations arise that are unique, that a set of dictums won't cover, consequently you need a network of laws, a SYSTEM, rather than just a set of rules. Therefore, that means that the true inventors of modern law are in fact the ancient Hebrews. However, the crucial difference between ancient Hebrew law, and Roman law, is that ancient Hebrew law's interpretation rested solely with the priests, and could be overriden only by one of four powers all mentioned in the Bible

- God himself

- The Judges; believe it or not the Judges of the Bible were above the law, there is an unwritten rule in the Bible that if someone's soul is purified by God, chosen by him, they are trusted to do good.

- The King of Israel

- Finally the prophets, the difference between a Judge and a prophet, is that a prophet is very often a harbinger of bad omens, usually in the Old Testament, God sending a prophet is NEVER a good sign. A prophet let the Hebrew people know God was angry, while a Judge's job, was to protect the people of Israel. The uniqueness of the Messiah, is that per biblical prophecy, he will both King, and Judge.

Roman law did not have nearly as strict a Caste System. Although Roman society was clearly stratified, in fact it is from them and the Greeks that Europe got the idea of the "nobility," in fact many Royal families of Europe can trace their ancestry all the way back to Rome, interpretation of the law was open to all citizens. Additionally, even if you weren't a citizen, Roman law clearly dictated that free subjects of the Roman Empire were entitled to rights. For example, Roman law protected subject women against sexual assault, citizen women were also protected, albeit a lot more, however, non-subject women, women beyond Rome's borders were fair game. A citizen also could not be sold into slavery, it was illegal, however a subject could.

The Roman system however was not without its flaws; that is why here in America we have the same Republican form of government, with the added and needed modification of checks and balances to prevent any branch of government from growing too powerful. Also, all people are protected within the U.S. borders, owing to international human rights agreements, although, citizens of the U.S. carry greater priveleges. Speaking of which; in a democracy, ultimately everything is a privelege, what makes a democracy a democracy, is that everyone is priveleged, and everyone has rights, but NO ONE is entitled. In a feudal society such a mdieval European one, a few are entitled, and the rest of the people need to be grateful they have food on the table. That is what separates America, from old Europe.

Answer 2

what didn't they contribute? systems of law, methods of engineering (military and civil), the lingual and cultural delineations of Europe (latin based vs. germanic/slavic/other), the subsequent history and shape of Europe... idiot.

Answer 3

* Architecture (arch, dome) * Language (Latin) * Sports * Religion * Government

Answer 4

ancient Rome made contributions in building aqueducts, road building, written laws, and a republican form of government. Many laws today in some European governments are based on Roman laws.