The Sport of it All

Similar to American culture and lifestyle the Romans enjoyed a bit of sport now and again.  I found it intriguing how much after 2000 years we still have in common with the Romans.  As they began to develop larger metropolitan areas, in particular Rome, there were games and festivities for everyone to enjoy.  I cant help but think if the movie The Gladiator and how that effected me so much.  I would like to say that the sports we have on television today are so much more wholesome then what the Romans were exposed to.  The truth is that every time I watch football, soccer, heck even NASCAR (does not happen that often) I am waiting for the next BIG play or perhaps the next BIG hit.  There are some sports that obviously are riskier then others, but one trend that is up and coming is Ultimate Fighting.  This of course is where two individuals head to head punch, kick, scratch, claw... okay maybe not scratch and claw, but still, seeing the resemblance?  I am sure the Romans began to be desensitized by bear on bear so they added bear on lion, then lion-bear on human.  I know this is a bit of a rant, but what always struck me as being so odd about The Gladiator is how people could let something like that happen.  Does it still happen, not in America, but who knows perhaps in other parts of the world this type of conduct still exists.  We have more in common with the Romans as people then I thought, and the article 'A Brief Social History of the Roman Empire' seems to be all the case and point for it.

The Slip

Hannibal intrigues me as a historical figure.  As he is defending his Country land of Carthage, he also builds an outstanding name for himself.  It truly was amazing the amount he was able to outwit the Romans with relative ease.  It does seem though that the Romans learned slowly to new tricks; however, over time they learned and adapted forging themselves into a power that shaped the rest of the world.  What intrigues me most of the whole story of Hannibal, is the drama that comes with the death of his brother Hasdrubal.  The deep family ties that are inevitably destroyed by the might of Roman rule were the cause of much grief to the Romans for a lengthy period of time.  Hannibal seems to me almost a Robin Hood type of character in an odd sorts.  As Rome grew larger, and Carthage began to be threatened, Hannibal consistently outwitted the Romans, what a sly fellow.  Amazing also how successfully he AND his brother were able to get large elephants across the river, outstanding work!

This article entitled 'Culture of Greece', is an article which helps to develop a greater idea of what Greece has to offer as a current sovereign country.  Also this wikipedia article gives a brief history of Greece and the cultural significance of the country.  The article helps in understanding the religious ideologies, the attitudes of older greek civilians, as well as current Greece residents.  Also included in this article are contributions by Greece to cinema, language, and art.

1.  The article consists of 6439 words.

2.  The search term used was 'Greek Culture', the article title was 'Culture of Greece'

3.  The disambiguation link helps searchers to resolve conflicts in article titles occurring when there may be more than one link relating to the search criterium. 

4.  Within the discussion link individuals who contribute to the wikipedia searches content add comments and pose questions to discuss amongst other wikipedia users.

5.  There were 135 edits total on this article; the last edit was on the 2nd of september 2008, while the first edit was on the 1st of September 2004.

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Overall this article gives the reader a good grasp of the Greece we would see today, and how it got there through it's historical context; however, I would have to say that the validity of this page is questionable due to the lack of external links, and references to in which add viscosity to the article.  I would recommend this sight to get a high level look at what Greece has to offer, but not for a Greek history lesson.

Meager beginnings... Sort of

I thought it to be interesting how Rome begun.  Starting as a tribal group, minimal in influence, and population.  As Rome grew the Etruscans to their north began to feel threatened, however, as time showed it was Roman destiny to take over.  As a significant role was placed on the male, Roman rule was given in the form of a monarch, with checks and balances.  I see a similarity in how our current government has taken underpinnings of Roman government structure in order to form democracy.  For example the monarch ruled side by side with a senate to whom swore loyalty to the emperor.  With the diversification of power, Rome could rule effectively, and at times efficiently.  The main problem I do see in the humble beginnings of Rome however, is that the tribal mentality did not go away, it simply got more complicated.  With the distribution of wealth in the hands of only two people groups, the patricians and the plebeians, I see that Rome still only rewarded the wealthy.

An Inward Battle

As the Greeks finally semi-defeated the Persians, their war machine begins to turn on itself, in the form of the Peloponnesian War.  One of the fascinating things about the Greeks is how similar, yet different they are simply due to the miscommunication between them.  In reading the article on the war between the Greek states, personally I think too much of modern Greece, as it is now unified under one flag.  Of course this was not the case, they were just as much at odds with one another as in our own civil war, the north was against the south.  They did not see eye to eye at all on how to run a civilization.  Nor did they care about the prosperity of the local economies, and the out reaching effect that may have on their own states.  This dog eat dog mentality comes to mind when I read about the Peloponnesian war, especially when Alcibiades takes the charge to the Athenian war effort.  On the verge of a great battle, Alcibiades is taken under custody only to rat out the Athenians true plan to the Spartans, who originally put themselves in this position due to their half-hearted foreign policy efforts, which lead to Athens becoming the super power it was to begin with.  As many twists and turns that there were in this battle, it seems to me that all of this could have been resolved with a little communication amongst leaders of the Greek territories.