Greece and the Roman empire are among the largest empires established in the ancient time. In this paper, I will describe the impact geographical factors, specific cultural features of the two empires, two major leaders of the Roman empire with their significant contribution and finally analyze the changes that took place in Roman empire over time.
The Greece geographical aspects that played a significant role in its expansion since are mountains, the location of the sea, and the Mediterranean climate. The mountains such as Balkan dividing the country into small valleys and plateaus. The extreme mountains posed a major problem in inequity between different area since communication and transport was hindered and getting from one city to another was a major challenge. Mountains played a significant role in Greece politics and economics. The mountains separated regions in Greece thereby preventing them from forming large parties (Mackinder, 2014) . Therefore, Greece politics remained to be based on city-state. Additionally, the mountains also affected the economics. Mountains hindered overland trade to occur which had a significant role in shaping the Greece economy.
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The geographical features that contributed to the rise of ancient Rome are fertile soils from volcano and Tiber river valleys. The Tiber river alluvial plains created rich agricultural soil and enough water to sustain the Rome population. The rich volcanic soil and Tiber river valleys contributed greatly to the expansion of agriculture in Rome. The volcanic ash made the soil near Rome one of the best places in Europe. Rome attracted settlers due to its agricultural potential. The agricultural potential increased the Rome population due to olive and grains surplus. Also, the extra population joined the military troops which created political stability throughout the empire (Mackinder, 2014) . The surplus was traded making the empire have strong Mediterranean powers and thereby promoted economic stability.
The unique Greece cultural characteristics were composed of architecture and sophisticated sculpture, philosophy, science, literature, and theatre. Greek architecture and sculpture took the initiative from Egypt and over centuries evolved to a unique Greek vision in arts. Greek made human body sculptors using stone and bronze. Similarly, unique architect’s buildings were observed in theatres and temples and become staple features of the cities. Additionally, the ancient Greeks had a scientific and philosophical culture. Pythagoras and Archimedes contributed in geometry and mathematical proof. Also, Hippocrates impact greatly in medicine and remedies and was regarded as the father of medicine (Cosgrove, 2017) . The philosophical culture was exemplified in Plato’s dialogue who turned Socrates questioning style into written form. Also, art and literature were popular in Greek culture, and performances spread to the Roman theatre and also influenced Hellenistic.
The unique Rome cultural characteristics include significant engineering features such as monumental architecture, roads, and building aqueducts which were influenced by Greek culture. Additionally, written literature was mainly contributed by busy politicians such as Cicero and Seneca. Also, Christian literature in theology, exhortation, and pastoral are features of classical Roman literature such as St Augustine of Hippo who contributed deeply in Christian writing. Also, complex law codes written by the roman can be an important cultural feature of the Roman empire (Cosgrove, 2017) . Although law codes initially originated from Mesopotamia the complexity of the law codes can be associated with the Roman empire. Additionally, Hellenistic philosophy gave inspiration to Roman thinkers. Finally, stoicism school gave strong attraction over the Roman minds.
The two major leaders of the Roman empire are Augustus Caesar (63BC- AD14) and Trajan (98 CE - 117 CE). Augustus took over after major challenges which threatened the stability of the empire. Julius Ceasar assassination leads to civil war following threats caused by Brutus. However, Augustus became successful in maintaining the growing empire, promoting stability and making restructuring reforms in his administration. Augustus introduced new provinces to promote efficiency in his administration. Furthermore, he categorized the province into two; those administered by the emperor and those administered by the Senate. Augustus acted as a symbol of unifying all people, and he asked the citizen to refer him as “first among equals” and not emperor which would be distant the people from him (Heather, 2017). Additionally, he reduced the number of militants and in turn added their pay which boosted their motivation to conquer other empires. Also, Augustus transformed Rome appearance with massive building such as Aqua Virgo. He also abolished private tax farming replacing with salaried civil service tax collection. Finally, he established an effective financial system in the empire by imposing direct, consistent taxation to the provinces.
Nerva approved Trajan as his successor even though he was a native Italian.
Trajan became the first Italian emperor who expanded then Rome territory further and designated Optimus princeps which attest his reputation. The significant contribution of Trojan includes; administration, public works, war, and conquests. Public works became widespread throughout the empire. Via Traiana road in the south, Claudius's artificial dock at Ostia, buildings in Rome including shops, libraries, and halls are a significant contribution to his work. Additionally, he continued the work of Nerva by giving low-cost loans to farmers whose reimbursement went to support poor children in local communities (Heather, 2017). Trojan also appointed curatores to control the town budgets solving conflicts between traders.
Significant political changes took place between 100CE and 600CE. One of the changes that took place was the changes in trade routes linking the Roman empire to China, Asia, and Africa. The exposure to these areas led to the spread of epidemic diseases killing almost a quarter of the population resulting in weakness in the political system. Additionally, internal conflicts made when emperors started seizing thrones further weakened the Roman empire. Another significant change is the split of the Roman empire. Diocletian divided the Roman empire into two the east and west (Heather, 2017). The west region suffered German invasion and was also attacked by Hun leading to its downfall. Constantine builds the center of the roman in the east, and the empire has a strong centralized government. Finally, the emergence of Islamic empire further weakened the Byzantine empire, and its many parts were conquered. While the west empire felled, the eastern empire flourished.
In conclusion, the geographical factors such as mountains affected Greece negatively by hindering trade and accessibility. Availability of fertile soil promoted the political and economic stability in Rome. Greece had major unique cultural practices ranging from architecture, science, and philosophy. Many empires such as Rome copied the Greece cultural practice. The Rome is unique its aqueducts building, roads, and complex law codes. Augustus and Trojan had an important contribution towards the Roman empire. Their contribution ranged from a stable political system, reduced taxation, territory expansion, and increasing financial stability. Finally, the political system changed over time due to the rise of different empires which came with different policies. At the eastern empire flourished while the western empire was conquered.
Reference
Mackinder, H. J. (2014). The geographical pivot of history. In Geopolitics (pp. 44-48). Routledge.
Cosgrove, D. (2017). Cultural landscapes. In A European geography (pp. 65-81). Routledge.
Heather, P. (2017). The Huns and the end of the Roman Empire in western Europe. In Warfare in the Dark Ages (pp. 67-104). Routledge.
