Ancient Rome vs. Ancient Egypt
By Emily Gooden
Religion
Ancient Rome
Many of these beliefs changed however once Christianity was made the official religion of Rome in the fourth century by Emperor Constantine. Previously, Christians had been arrested and even put to death for being Christians.
Ancient Egypt
They believed heavily in an afterlife which required the body to be perfectly preserved, thus the mummification performed to protect the body. In addition to this, they magically built the pyramids to bury their pharaohs in to help them on their journey of the afterlife.
Government
Ancient Rome
Once free from their masters, the Etruscan conquerors in 509 B. C. who had ruled over the Romans for hundreds of years , the Romans established a government called a republic, in which citizens elected representatives to rule on their behalf. A republic is quite different from a democracy, in which every citizen is expected to play an active role in governing the state.
The Roman government was also one which other nations looked up to and respected. Even the United States' government is partially modeled after the Roman's governmental system.
Ancient Egypt
Education
Ancient Rome
Ancient Egypt
Things taught in Egyptian schools were very similar to what we learn now. They taught reading and writing, history, math - using a decimal system based on ten fingers, arithmetic and geometry, astronomy, music, geography, and science.
Sports
Ancient Rome
They also played and watched sports. Gladiator combats were approximately equivalent to today's football, popularity wise. The Romans would gather in an arena and watch gladiators fight with various weapons until the rest were either wounded or dead. The Circus Maximus was a horse racing event where men in chariots pulled by horses would speed around a track while people kept score using seven eggs and dolphins.
Children often entertained themselves with games such as leapfrog.
Ancient Egypt
Art
Ancient Rome
Ancient Egypt
Gender Roles
Ancient Rome
Women: The women of Ancient Rome were denied education thus leaving them incapable of writing their stories so there is little to know of what the average woman's lifestyle consisted of. We do know, however, that they did a lot of work around the house such as cleaning, preparing food, caring for the children, etc.. They very rarely even left the house!
Ancient Egypt
These are almost exactly the same as the gender roles for the Ancient Romans.
The Ancient Egyptians believed that each gender was created to specifically fulfill a a certain job as a part of their family.
Women: The women were to stay at home and prepare the food brought in by her husband as well as clean the house and take care of her children and husband.
Daily Life
Ancient Rome
A Typical Day:
A typical Roman day (for a man) would start off with a light breakfast and then off to work. His work would end in the early afternoon when many Romans would take a quick trip to the baths to bathe and socialize. At around 3 pm they would have dinner which was just as much of a social event as it was a meal!
Family:
The family unit was very important to the Romans. The head of the family was the father called the paterfamilias. Legally, he had all the power in the family. However, usually the wife had a strong say in what went on in the family. She often handled the finances and managed the household.
School:
Roman children started school at the age of 7. Wealthy children would be taught by a full time tutor. Other children went to public school. They studied subjects such as reading, writing, math, literature, and debate. School was mostly for boys, however some wealthy girls were tutored at home. Poor children did not get to go to school.
Clothing:
Toga - The toga was a long robe made up of several yards of material. The wealthy wore white togas made from wool or linen. Some colors and markings on togas were reserved for certain people and certain occasions. For example, a toga with a purple border was worn by high ranking senators and consuls, while a black toga was generally only worn during times of mourning. The toga was uncomfortable and hard to wear and was generally only worn in public, not around the house. In later years, the toga grew out of style and most people wore a tunic with a cloak when it was cold.
Tunic - The tunic was more like a long shirt. Tunics were worn by the rich around the house and under their togas. They were the regular dress of the poor
Ancient Egypt
Clothing:
Looking nice and being clean was very important to the Ancient Egyptians. Most everyone, men and women, wore jewelry of some type. The rich wore jewelry made of gold and silver, while the poorer people used copper, but not matter what, everyone wore it!
They also wore make up! Both men and women had a cosmetics case that they would carry with them where ever they went.
Because it was so hot, most people wore white linen clothes. Men wore kilts and women wore a straight dress. Slaves and servants would wear patterned fabrics.
Housing:
The average family lived in a village of sun baked mud houses. The houses were fairly small with few windows or furniture. They had flat roofs that the people would sleep on in the summer when it was too hot inside.
Food:
The main staple of the commoner was bread. They also had fruits, vegetables, lamb, and goats for food. They had clay ovens to cook in and usually used dishes made of clay. The main drink was beer made from barley
Crime and Punishment
Ancient Rome
The Ancient Romans had many different kinds of punishment for many different kinds of crime.
If a slave was in need of punishment, they might be beating or be forced to carry a piece of wood around his/her neck for the next few days.
If it was a fellow Roman citizen that required punishment, depending on the cruelty of the crime, it could result in fines, bonds, retaliation, banishment, slavery, and death. A Roman citizen could not be sentenced to death unless he was found guilty of treason. A Roman citizen had the right to be tried in Rome if accused of treason. If sentenced to death, no Roman citizen could be sentenced to be crucified however.
A few ways of punishment through death were beheading, strangling in prison, throwing a criminal from that part of the prison called Robur, throwing a criminal from the Tarpeian rock, crucifixion, burying a person alive, or throwing a criminal into the river.
Ancient Egypt
There were many laws in Egypt, as there were many punishments for breaking a law. One of the punishments was one hundred strokes of a cane, and if the crime was worse, five bleeding cuts were added. Other punishments included branding, exile, mutilation, drowning, beheading, and burning alive.
The worst crime was tomb raiding because the treasures in the tomb were sacred. A lot of punishments in ancient Egypt were fatal, such as drowning, beheading, and burning alive. The pharaoh usually decided what would happen to the criminal.
Common Occupations
Ancient Rome
Ancient Egypt
Warfare Techniques
Ancient Rome
History:
The Roman army was the support of the Roman Empire and one of the most successful armies in world history. It was well-trained, well-equipped, and well-organized. In order to guard such a large empire, the army took advantage of well built Roman roads to move about the empire quickly.
Organization:
The army was divided up into Legions of around 5400 soldiers. Legions were led by a Legate who was usually a Senator or a Governor. Legions were made up of ten groups of soldiers called cohorts. Cohorts were then further divided into groups of 80 men called centuries. The officers, or leaders, of each century were called centurions.
Armor:
The government knew the importance of the Roman army and provided them with good armor and weapons. Roman soldiers had armor made of strips of very strong iron. The iron made the armor strong and the strips made it flexible. They also had iron helmets which protected their heads and neck, but still let them have good vision for fighting. All of this iron armor was heavy, so they needed to be strong and in good shape. They also carried tall shields in some cases to defend themselves from flashing swords.
Weapons:
The Roman soldiers used a variety of weapons including a pugio (a dagger), gladius (a kind of sword), hasta (a spear), javelin, and bows and arrows. The soldiers were trained to fight with their weapons and practiced on a regular basis. They would sometimes spar with each other using wooden swords.
Ancient Egypt
History:
The original Egyptians were farmers, not fighters. They didn't see the need for an organized army. They were well protected by the natural boundaries of the desert that surrounded the empire. During the “Old Kingdom”, if the Pharaoh needed men to fight, he would call up the farmers to defend the country.
However, eventually the Hyksos people located near northern Egypt became organized. They conquered Lower Egypt using chariots and advanced weapons. The Egyptians knew they now needed an army. They learned how to make powerful chariots and gathered a strong army with infantry, archers, and charioteers. They eventually took Lower Egypt back from the Hyksos.
From that point Egypt began to maintain a standing army. During the New Kingdom the Pharaohs often led the army into battle and Egypt conquered much of the surrounding land, expanding the Egyptian Empire.
Organization:
The head of the Egyptian army was the Pharaoh. Under the Pharaoh were two generals, one who led the army in Upper Egypt and one who led the army in Lower Egypt. Each army had three major branches: the Infantry, the Chariotry, and the Navy. The generals were usually close relatives to the Pharaoh.
Armor:
The Egyptian soldiers seldom wore armor. Their main form of defense was a shield. When they did wear armor it was in the form of hardened leather straps.
Weapons:
The most important weapon in the Egyptian army was the bow and arrow. They could shoot arrows over 600 feet killing lots of enemies from long distance. The foot soldiers (infantry) were armed with a variety of weapons including spears, axes, and short swords.
Chariots:
Chariots were a very important part of the Egyptian army! They were wheeled carriages pulled by two trained, fast warhorses. Two soldiers rode in each chariot. One would drive the chariot and control the horses while the other would fight using a bow and arrow or spear.
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