Rome

        An entire page devoted to my thoughts on Rome. Seem a little strange? Maybe so. After spending a few days there one summer, the parellels between the Roman Empire and America struck me. The fate of Rome also gave me a bit of perspective of the mortality of America.

Assimilation

    Strolling through a walking tour my first day in Rome, I began in front of Christian church in the style of western Europe in front of which was an Egyptian obelisk taken from Ancient Egypt mounted on a Roman base and topped with a cross. I descended the Spanish steps toward the square at the bottom where I drank from a fountain made in the style of Classical Greek.
     The next day I visited the Pantheon which combines a Greek temple, a dome, and another Egyptian obelisk.
     Whatever peoples  the Roman Empire defeated, it took from them aspects of their culture, architectural style, and art and sometimes took not only the idea, but the actual works themselves as displayed in the Egyptian obelisks that frequently stand in front of Roman churches.
     As governing their massive empire was very difficult, the emperors let the local governments and religions continue as before using the newly gained land merely as resouce for taxes and troops. Even though the empire did not force its culture upon those it ruled, Romans brought in their own culture and picked up on some parts of the indigent cultures.
     Modern America, through its brief and sometimes inhumane and nonsensical history, has gathered the most diverse population in human history, equivacable to that only of the Roman Empire. Some of America's diversity comes from the indeginous peoples, some who had fled religious persecution, some who desired wealth, some who longed for a fresh start, some who were brought by force, and some who came seeking riches.
     The diversity of the Roman Empire came from the conquests over other civlizations, and the diversity of America came from a complex  sometimes forced, more often willing gathering of peoples in a new world. Nonetheless, both civilizations assimliated these diverse cultures allowing them to survive under one united government.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION