The Qualities That Made Rome Great: Roman Historian Titus Livius

1 The Qualities That Made Rome Great

Roman historian Titus Livius once said, "Rome has grown since its humble beginnings that it is now overwhelmed by its own greatness." Rising from a small city-state in central Italy to one of the most significant influences on the western world, Rome was indeed great. But what qualities allowed for the rise of this great civilization? The Romans went through phases of growth and different political systems that changed the way the people interpreted things. Rome began as a small city-state in central Italy in 753 BC. This tiny kingdom became the first republic and expanded outside Italy to encompass much of the Mediterranean. As the republic grew, it also fell prey to power-hungry senators

Wolfe

HIST 207

February 5, 2023

Throughout all of Rome’s history, the Roman people relied on their strong religious beliefs to make sense of the world. The Roman gods gave purpose and reason to the Roman people and drove them to expand Roman culture. The gods gave a basis for the Roman virtues and enabled the Roman people to develop their culture and traditions to the rest of the

Mediterranean. The roman people held in high esteem their religious values and avoided any philosophy that denied the gods. The roman poet Horace warns in his “odes'' that the people need to cling to their religion to preserve Rome and warns them against turning away from the gods.

He says, “Romans, though you’re guiltless, you’ll still expiate your fathers’ sins, till you’ve restored the temples, and the tumbling shrines of all the gods, and their images, soiled with black smoke. You rule because you are lower than the gods you worship: all things begin with them: credit them with the outcome. Neglected gods have made many woes for sad Italy…(“Week 4:

The Romans”)” Rome's religious beliefs gave solidarity to the people of all the empire. Without them, Roman civilization would have been fractured and gradually

The Romans highly valued loyalty to the state and serving as a general or magistrate would increase a citizen’s status. When the Republic rose to power, family status and political prowess became intertwined, making loyalty to the family and state imperative to the

Roman citizen. Horace writes of the decline of the virtues of family and state loyalty, warning the Roman people that “Our age, fertile in its wickedness, has first defiled the marriage bed, our offspring, and homes: disaster’s stream has flowed from this source through the people and the fatherland. (“Week 4: The Romans”)” The family became the backbone of the roman citizen’s political power, and the family's social status and loyalty to Rome determined their political influence. The importance of family status continued during the Empire, where the name Caesar became synonymous with leadership in Rome. strong religious beliefs, influenced the Roman people and allowed the Roman civilization to expand beyond its humble origins. These qualities took Rome from a tiny kingdom in central

Italy to one of the most influential empires of Western society. Even though Roman