Chapt 3

I learned fairly quickly in my first year in college, that my previous teachings vastly differed. I feel that in High School (well at least in my High School)we were only taught about Slavery, WWII, and the Civil Rights movement.

Now that I have a better understanding of the Roman Empire, I'm able to relate some of their practices to our modern society.  Similar to the Romans, U.S. has their share of conquering weaker states. So are we Rome? If we're not Rome we are pretty close. We invade and make our presence known.  Although there are similarities with the rise of the Roman Empire and the rise of the U.S.; some Historians refute the comparison. As  the author Strayer mentioned," Historians frequently cringe as politicians and students use (and perhaps misuse) historical analogies....."(pg144)  I view the Romans as fearless. They conquer fearlessly but they also take advantage of the weaker states. The U.S. started with only 13 colonies and eventually ended with 50 states. There was a lot of blood, sweat and tears in order for these empires to be as dominate as they were/are.

During the rise of the Roman Empire, the Romans were able to build an army to evade the smaller states.  The Romans invaded and destroyed smaller states to make an example to the rest.  Other than displaying the characteristics of a bully, the Romans offered citizenship to the citizens they conquered.