Legacy of the Roman Empire

The legacy of the Roman Empire has been varied and significant. The Roman Empire built upon the legacy of other cultures and has had a lasting influence on many areas, including state institutions, law, values, religious beliefs, technological advances, engineering, and language.

This influence survived even after the empire ended in the 5th century AD in the West and the 15th century AD in the East. The Latin language of ancient Rome evolved into many modern languages we use today, such as French, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Romanian. The Eastern Roman Empire helped keep the Greek language strong in parts of the Eastern Mediterranean.

Ancient Roman architecture has shaped buildings in the Western world, especially during the Italian Renaissance. Roman law and ideas about government have influenced many modern democratic republics, including the United States. Even the calendar we use today comes from the Julian calendar created by the Romans.

Language

Main articles: Latin and Romance languages

Latin became the main language of the early Roman Empire and later of the Western Roman Empire. In the Eastern Roman Empire, people also used Greek, Egyptian, and Aramaic. Even after the Western Empire ended, Latin stayed important. It became the official language of the Roman Catholic Church and was used by learned people during the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Baroque periods. Important books about science, like Nicolaus Copernicus' De revolutionibus orbium coelestium from 1543, were written in Latin. Latin was used for science until the 18th century and for describing plants and animals until the late 20th century.

Today, languages that came from Latin, called Romance languages, are spoken by over 920 million people as their first language and by 300 million more as a second language. These languages are official or widely used in 72 countries. Two of the United Nations' official languages, French and Spanish, come from Latin. Latin also influenced many other languages, like English, German, and Dutch, adding many words to their vocabularies.

Script

Main article: Latin alphabet

The Latin alphabet, which spread across Europe from the Roman Empire, is now the most used writing system in the world. It came from ancient Greek letters, changed by Etruscan people, and then used by Romans. The Greek alphabet was used in the Eastern Roman Empire until it ended in the 15th century. The Cyrillic alphabet, used in many Slavic languages, comes mostly from Greek.

Latin literature

During the Carolingian Renaissance in the 8th century, many Latin writings were saved and copied. Some of these works were lost again but found later during the Renaissance. Famous Latin writers like Virgil, Cicero, Ovid, and Seneca were read for centuries. Greek writers, such as Plutarch, also influenced European literature for many years. For example, Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar uses stories from Plutarch's books about Caesar, Cato, and Brutus.

Education

Main article: Liberal arts

A writer named Martianus Capella created a system of seven important subjects for learning, called the liberal arts. This idea shaped how people learned during medieval times. These seven subjects were split into two groups: the trivium, which included grammar, logic, and speaking well, and the quadrivium, which included math, geometry, music, and studying the stars. This way of learning lasted from the time of the Roman Empire until the Renaissance in the 12th century.

Calendar and measurement

Main articles: Gregorian calendar and Names of the days of the week

The calendar we use today in the West comes from changes made to the Julian calendar, started by Julius Caesar. The Roman Empire’s calendar began with months like Ianuarius (January), Februarius (February), and Martius (March). The idea of starting the year on January 1st began in ancient Rome, even though during medieval times the year sometimes started on March 25th.

A monk named Dionysius Exiguus created our way of dating years using the Anno Domini (AD) system, which counts years from the birth of Jesus. We also follow the seven-day week from ancient Roman times, naming days after heavenly bodies like Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars.

Main articles: 12-hour clock and Roman timekeeping

The Romans created the 12-hour clock we still use, splitting the day into two parts: before midday (A.M.) and after midday (P.M.). They also began the day at midnight, which we still do today.

Main articles: Roman numerals and Ancient Roman units of measurement

Roman numerals were used in Europe until the 14th century but are still seen today on clocks and in special writings. The Romans also helped shape our idea of an hour as one-twenty-fourth of a day, and some of our measurements like the inch come from Roman times.

Main article: Three-age system

The idea of dividing ancient times into the stone, bronze, and iron ages started with the Roman writer Lucretius.

Religion

Christianity

Main articles: Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church

Christianity grew and spread through the Roman Empire. After Emperor Theodosius I made it the official religion, many lands became Christian and shared their beliefs with the world.

Christianity also helped keep the books and ideas of ancient Greece and Rome alive. Even after the empire ended, people in schools still used these old writings. Important Christian writers like St. Augustine used stories and ideas from Roman authors to explain their faith. This helped Roman culture continue to influence the world for many years.

Pagan revival

Main article: Reconstructionist Roman religion

In modern times, some people have become interested again in the old religions of ancient Rome. This started in the Renaissance and grew stronger in the 1800s and 1900s. Today, groups like Nova Roma keep these ancient traditions alive, mostly in places around the Western world.

Science and philosophy

Main articles: Roman philosophy and Ancient Greek philosophy

The Roman Empire helped shape the way we think and learn today. Even though many important ideas from Greece, Egypt, and Babylon came before Rome, the Romans made their own discoveries that influenced the world for centuries. Famous Roman thinkers like Seneca the Younger, Epictetus, and the emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote about life and nature, and their books were read again many years later during a time called the Renaissance.

Roman scientists also made big steps in understanding health and space. A doctor named Galen wrote about the human body, and his ideas were used for over a thousand years. Another scientist, Ptolemy, wrote a book called the Almagest that explained how the stars and planets move. Many of the star patterns we see tonight were first described by him. These ideas from Rome and Greece continued to be studied and improved by thinkers in many places, shaping the way we understand the world today.

Roman law and politics

Main articles: Corpus Juris Civilis, Civil law (legal system), and Republic

Even though the laws of the Roman Empire are not used today, many modern laws are based on ideas from that time. We still use some Latin words that come from Roman law. The way courts work today, with a judge, someone making a claim, and someone defending, started with the Romans.

The idea of a republican government, where leaders are chosen by the people, comes from the Roman Republic. Many important buildings and ideas in the United States, like the Congress, are inspired by the Roman Senate and its meetings. Important thinkers in Europe learned a lot from Roman writers, and many leaders looked up to the Roman writer Cicero as a great example.

Inventions

Main articles: Ancient Roman technology and List of Byzantine inventions

The Romans were great inventors who often improved ideas from other cultures. They made big changes in many areas like the military, building, medicine, farming, and more.

Some of their most famous inventions are still used today, like the Roman aqueducts for bringing water to cities, Roman roads for travel, and special heating systems used in Roman baths and rich homes. They also created new ways to clean water, build with strong concrete, and design amazing buildings like the Colosseum. Their ideas in metalwork, glass, and architecture helped shape the world we live in today.

Colonies and roads

Main articles: List of cities founded by the Romans and Roman roads

The Roman Empire created many cities called colonies. Over 500 of these cities were founded, and most were home to veterans from the Roman army. Some of these cities grew into very important places for trade and travel, and even became capitals of large empires. Examples include Constantinople, London, Vienna, and Budapest.

The Romans also built many roads to connect these cities. They built more than 400,000 kilometers of roads, with over 80,500 kilometers paved with stone. Many of these ancient roads are still used today, and they help shape modern economies, especially in Europe. One example is the Via Emilia in northern Italy. These roads made travel easier and helped people and goods move across great distances.

Architecture

Main article: Ancient Roman architecture

During the Renaissance, an architectural style developed by Andrea Palladio, inspired by Greek and Roman designs, became very popular around the world. Later, in the mid-1700s, Roman architecture also inspired Neoclassical architecture, a big movement that spread internationally. Neoclassical buildings focus more on flat surfaces and clear shapes rather than curved, sculptural forms.

Famous examples of Neoclassical architecture include Karl Friedrich Schinkel’s Old Museum in Berlin, Sir John Soane’s Bank of England in London, and important buildings like the White House and the Capitol in Washington, DC, in the United States. In Russia, architect Charles Cameron designed grand interiors for Catherine the Great in St. Petersburg using a style called Italianate.

Imperial idea

See also: Succession of the Roman Empire and Translatio imperii

The Roman Empire, started by Augustus in 27 BC, continued in its eastern part even after the western part ended in 476. This eastern part, known as the Eastern Roman Empire, kept Roman ideas of government and culture. People there still called themselves "Romans."

The name "Byzantine" for this empire came much later, from a German historian in 1557. After Constantinople fell in 1453, some small states tried to carry on the Roman legacy. In Western Europe, the Holy Roman Empire saw itself as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In Eastern Europe, leaders like those in Russia also claimed to be the true successors of the Roman Empire.

Inspiration for other empires

When India was a British colony, leaders thought they were continuing the old Roman tradition of helping other places grow.

Toponymy and ethnonymy

See also: List of cities founded by the Romans, List of Latin place names in Britain, List of Latin place names in Africa, and List of Latin place names in Asia

Many places and people still carry names that come from the time of the Roman Empire. For example, the Italian region of Romagna and the country of Romania are named after the Romans. In Turkey, cities like Erzurum have names that mean “land of the Romans.”

In language and people names, we see similar influences. The word “Romance” used for languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, and Romanian comes from the word “Roman.” The people in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, called Romandy, also have names linked to the Romans.

In popular culture

See also: Category:Roman Empire in art and culture

In 1979, the film Monty Python's Life of Brian showed a funny scene where someone asks, "what have the Romans ever done for us?" This leads to a long list of great things the Romans created and built for everyone.

In 2023, a trend started on TikTok where people asked men how often they think about the Roman Empire. This idea came from a post by a Swedish Roman history fan named Artur Hulu. He wanted women to ask the men in their lives about this. In many videos, the men said they think about the Roman Empire a lot, which surprised the women. Some men talked about the big size of the empire, the clever inventions like aqueducts, and the strong army.