Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Question 5

“Is it fair to say the United States is the modern day equivalent of the Roman Empire?”


The United States today is not the equivalent of the Roman Empire today for a variety of reasons. The United States is more civilized, the laws are more serious, and the government is different. The Roman Empire was still very strong, but in the end it did collapse and it did not have the civilization and knowledge we have today. Today, the government has a firmer grasp on people and anything going crazy. The United States republic is a very smart way to have a leader instead of one emperor. Even though the Roman Empire was something great, the United States have built off of their ideas to an even better government.

The United States is a relatively civilized country. Over the years, it has gotten even better because the government has better control of whats right and wrong. The United States deals with situations in a pretty good way. "Law Arrests 70 at Wakarusa" said a title of an article in the Times Record newspaper (Micham Raache). This article shows how the United States can deal with the problem by just arresting and speaking to the people who committed the crime. In the Roman Empire, they would have probably killed or exiled the guilty members of the incident. This all has to to with the civilization of the country. 

Not only is the country more civilized, but also had better laws. The Roman Empire probably had few laws that they really enforced. "April 8 Incident Brings DUI Charge for Trooper," says the Anchorage Daily News (Casey Grove).This is showing that there are laws that you cannot drink and drive because its unsafe. In the Roman Empire, they probably did not care about drinking habits and everyone could have drink unsafely. The laws are here to keep the people safe.


The final main difference is that the United States and the Roman Empire had different government types. The United States had a republic which helps keep everything equal and everybody to have freedom. The Roman Empire's emperor created havoc because too many people would want to be in rule and the classes. "Boren Won't Seek Re-Election in 2012," says Peter Urban from Time Record (Peter Urban). This shows the different types of elections and if someone is not doing a good job, they will not be elected. In the Roman Empire, people would fight for power and it caused trouble. In the U.S. you cannot fight or you simply will not be chosen.


The United States has many great qualities in its government that over power the Roman Empire's government. Even though the Roman Empire was very strong, it did have its flaws and the United States tried to correct those in their government. Today, the United States has a very strong government and it has succeeded in keeping it powerful.














Urban, Peter. (2011, June 8). Boren Won't Seek Re-Election in 2012. Times Record. front cover.

Grove, Casey. (2011, June 8). April 8 Incident Brings DUI Charge for Trooper. Anchorage Daily News. front cover

Raache, Micham. (2011, June 8). Law Arrests 70 at Wakarusa.Times Record. front cover

1 comment:

  1. While the first two examples are stretched a bit, your final example of the differences in perspective on how political power is attained is interesting. Certainly in terms of the position of Emperor, fighting, deceit, and murder were never too far from the foreground.

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