Ancient Greece and Rome



Ancient Greece and Rome

Long ago there lived two groups of people who made important contributions to our modern society. These ancient Greeks and Romans influenced our architecture, government, and sports.

The architects of Greece and Rome designed and built many beautiful buildings. They loved to build magnificent structures using huge columns and massive arches. Some of these structures, like the Parthenon in Greece, still exist today. The Parthenon is a good example of the use of columns. It is a rectangular building that has 17 columns on each side and 8 on each end. Each of the columns is over 34 feet tall and 6 feet across! You may have seen the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. It looks very similar to the Parthenon because its builder was influenced by the builders of ancient Greece.

The Romans loved to use massive arches in their buildings. Two examples of ancient Roman arches still exist today. They are the Coliseum in Rome, Italy and the Roman aqueducts. The Coliseum was built as a huge outdoor stadium. It is 4 stories tall and contains over 240 arches. It would hold over 50,000 people and just like today, you had to have a ticket with a seat number to get in! Our modern sports stadiums are very similar to the Coliseum. This is because modern builders were influenced by the architecture of ancient Rome. The Romans also built huge bridges using arches. Some of their bridges carried water down from the mountains into the cities. These water bridges were called aqueducts and were built by connecting many arches together for strength. In addition to columns and arches, Greek and Roman architects loved to adorn their buildings with beautiful artwork such as tile pictures called mosaics, sculptures, and paintings.

The Greeks and Romans also influenced our ideas about government. Greece is called the birthplace of democracy or government by the people. The Greek government was a direct democracy. This means that the people voted to make their own rules and laws. Here in the United States, we are allowed to vote on the laws of our country, too. Ancient Rome also influenced our government. The Romans had a representative democracy. This means that the people elected a smaller group of citizens to make the rules and laws for everyone else. The United States is also a representative democracy. We are allowed to vote for senators, governors, and presidents to name just a few.

The ancient Greeks and Romans also contributed to our modern society in the area of sports. The Greeks loved individual sports such as riding, hunting, wrestling and swimming, while the Romans loved team sports such as soccer. Our modern Olympic games come from the ancient Greek athletic festivals. The ancient Greeks and Romans have influenced the lives of people today in many ways.

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