РефератыИностранный языкThThe Romans Essay Research Paper The Roman

The Romans Essay Research Paper The Roman

The Romans Essay, Research Paper


The Roman people were a overly proud and highly


religious people, whose sense of identity as


romans came primarily from their accomplishments


in war and their respect of their ancestors. By


examining Livy?s The Early History of Rome, we can


identify these traits through roman patterns of


behavior and the foundation myths that their


nation is built upon.


The romans repeatedly display not only an


overdeveloped personal sense of pride, but an


exceptional pride in their nation – taking


precedence over even family loyalty. The first


example of this Roman pride is seen in the very


first foundation myth of Rome, the tale of Romulus


and Remus. The second of the two versions of this


story tells how after the auspices have indicated


Romulus as the rightful leader of this new nation,


?Remus, by way of jeering at his brother, jumped


over the half-built walls of the new settlement,


whereupon Romulus killed him in a fit of rage,


adding the threat, ?So perish whoever else shall


overleap my battlements( P.40 Livy) .?? Not only


do we see a foreshadowing of Rome?s violent nature


in this tale, but it seems to indicate a strong


belief in the superiority of this ( barely


existant ) nation, one that necessitates a


national pride of greater magnitude than the even


the strength of the loyalty between brothers.


This kind of loyalty to country, as displayed by


the Rome?s founder, certainly sets a precendent


for later roman citizens. Not surprisingly then,


we see this same kind of pride with similar


consequences later on following a battle between


Rome and the Albans. The victory had been


decided, not by a full scale war, but by a contest


between three men from each country ( two sets of


three brothers ). This contest left Rome


victorious and five people dead – only one roman


brother stood living. The victor returned to rome


carrying the ?triple spoils? and,?slung across [


his ] shoulders was a cloak, and [ his sister ]


recognized it as the cloak she had made with her


own hand for her lover. The sight overcame her :


she loosened her hair and, in a voice choked with


tears, called her dead lovers name. That his


sister should dare to grieve at the very moment of


his own triumph and in the midst of national


rejoicing filled horatius with such uncontrollable


rage that he drew his sword and stabbed her to the


heart( Livy 62).? Again we see the word ?rage?


used to describe this similarly extreme exhibition


of extreme national pride.


Back in the foundation myth of Romulus and Remus,


we see another aspect of Roman pride. There is


some indication

that, In Livy?s time, there was


some suspicion that Greek infulence in Rome was


detrimental to Roman society. Livy seems to


emphasize the absence of any kind of formal


schooling ( which would have been greek ) in the


adolescence of both Romulus and Remus ( P.38 Livy


) The idea that Romulus in particular, was a


self-made man, shows that Rome owes nothing to


previous and other nations like Greece and so the


pride of such a great nation is all theirs.


There is plenty of evidence that Rome was always


a highly religious nation. From even as early as


the founding of the nation we see their dependance


on auguries of the gods to make important


decisions – namely the choice between Romulus and


Remus as their leader. ? As the brothers were


twins and all question of seniority was thereby


precluded, they determined to ask the tutelary


gods of the countryside to declare by augury which


of them should govern the new town once it was


founded, and give his name to it ( p.40 Livy ).?


More than any one other aspect of Roman behavior,


I feel that recognition and respect of the ways of


their ancestors as the ways of ?True? Romans was


the most primary source from which Romans defined


there identity. This respect stemmed from oral


tradition and early historians works that have not


survived to us, but which Livy owes his knowledge.


From the respect of great deeds that made their


cultural history so worth of pride, came their


habits of dedicating particular places and


edifices in the name of honorable contemporaries


and ancestors. Take for instance the story of


Caius Mucius Scaevola, a man who was willing to


risk anything to save rome from a Etruscan attack.


It cost him his hand, hence the name Scaevola-


translating as the Left-Handed Man, but his


efforts brought peace to the struggle. Livy


tells of the recognition of this Roman hero:


?Cauis Muscius was rewarded by the Senate with a


grant of land west of the river; it was known


subsequently as the Muscian Meadows ( P.120 Livy


).? Not only was this naming of places


indicative of the honor, but the name they chose


showed something – the congnomen Musius was


chosen, not his prinomen or Scaevola, the name he


won for himself. It was recognized that the honor


was for the family and for the family, though


Caius would be remembered, the gaine family pride


of the Mucius family only contributed to their own


pride in their country.


Roman society encouraged being proud and


respectful of the honors of the city and its


citizens. Roman tradition and respect for the mos


maiorum ( ways of the ancestors ) was not only a


trait that de

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