Roman Civilization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Roman Civilization - Essay Example During the rule of Augustus, Rome experienced prosperity and peace and it is regarded as the golden age. Rome had an autocratic form of government and Augustus ruled Rome for around 40 years. Rome had a civilization which has set an example for other countries. The civic life, religious principles, culture and norms, economic ties everything was worth praising. The Rome had a superior infrastructure and the building and transportation was of high quality. Roman Empire was the largest in the world history and covered much of the world’s regions from Europe and Africa to Middle East. Even the population of the Empire was largest and was around 60 million inhabitants. The military and army of Rome was superior and many battles have been won by them. Roman had laws which were based on morality and justice. Rome had multi -cultural society and believed in shared identity. For the very same reasons, Roman civilization has had a great impact on the modern world. Impact on Law and Political System The major influence of Roman civilization on modern world was the Roman law. The Roman law distinguished between public law and private law which we can see in the modern law constitution. This is the basis of Western law and is known as civil law. Also the private international law is also influenced by the Roman law. In Roman civilization, they practiced jury trials, same as today’s’ practice. The Roman can also be credited with many defense techniques practiced by the modern people. The concept of â€Å"innocent until proven guilty â€Å"which is the basic rule of American Judiciary system came from ancient Rome law. The written law to protect the human rights and freedom was also a system followed by Roman people. The law regarding taxation is also taken from Roman civilization. According to Roman law, people were to be treated equal and fairly. Their laws were based on common sense and practicality. Most of the legal system in the world is following Roman practic e of law. Roman has also influenced the way in which the political system works today. The voting system which we followed today is the legacy of Roman people. Even they had lower and upper class senate like we do. They had legislative bodies and senate just like modern political system. The Impact on Language The language of Roman civilization was Latin and they depended little on order of words. The Roman alphabets were formed with Greek alphabet as a basis. The Roman people mostly studied literature that was in Greek. As the Roman Empire grew, so did their language spread to different parts of the world,With some time the classic Latin took a form of Vulgar Latin in some parts of the world which gave birth to different Romance language. So it can de definitely said that Indo European languages evolved from Latin, which is the language of ancient Roman civilization. Later, Latin language gain prominence in Western empire and became the foundation of French, Italian, Portuguese, Sp anish and Romanian languages. Even though, they all started as bad Latin as time passed by these established themselves as different languages. Latin language also had influenced many words used in other different countries. For Example, English has many Latin words although it does not follow Latin syntax- grammar. Since Latin was the language of Roman Catholic Church it influenced even the non –romance languages. The Impact on Infrastructure The Roman civilization

Female Genital Mutilation in Africa Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Female Genital Mutilation in Africa - Article Example By definition a rite of passage is "a ritual associated with a crisis or a change of status (as marriage, illness, or death) for an individual" (Agnes, 1990, p. 1018). Although the excisions do not occur because of a crisis, they do, in fact, occur in preparation of a change of status, as in marriage, and the woman or young girl often takes on new roles after the operation is performed. Those operations that are performed on infants cannot by definition be considered a rite of passage since the change in status is not in the near future. Thus, FGM can be considered a rite of passage when it is performed in preparation for the new roles the girl will assume in her future marriage. Indeed, the ritualistic components of FGM are evidenced by the preparations that are made for the operation. Girls are often given new jewellery, clothing, and gifts as part of the operation. In some cases, a great feast will occur in celebration of the operation. From the definition, it can be concluded tha t FGM qualifies as a ritual. Another reason often cited for FGM is that it is a fertility rite. Saadwai (2002) comments that if FGM were intended to be a fertility rite, the excision would be partial and symbolic: However, in the Sudan, after the girls are circumcised, they are then washed in the Nile as a fertility offering to the god of the Nile. There certainly are many aspects of FGM that make the connection with fertility rites a plausible one (Lowenstein, 1978; Salama, 1980; Saadawi, 2002). Sociologists and anthropologists have tended towards concurrence with the perception of FGM as a traditional ritual and rite of passage. Campbell (2006), most noted for his work on male circumcision, maintains that FGM is a direct offshoot of male circumcision rites among the ancient totemistic hunting groups. In these societies, there is an abundance of large game which led to the development of the art of hunting. Emphasis in the social structure was placed on the men as they were the providers. Wile the rite of circumcision in these societies reflected "a bias in favour of the males and therewith an emphasis on the sexual aspect of the rites and particularly on circumcision," female circumcision evolved in complementarily to the male fertility dimension of this practice. (Campell, 2006, 320). Some sociologists have argued an alternative theory, suggesting that FGM is an outcome of the desire of some primitive societies to control female sexuality and, thereby, ensure the paternity of children (Morris, 2003). This argument is inextricably linked to the mother's premarital chastity and fidelity during marriage, not the father's per se. This line of thinking can be taken to its logical conclusion: perform a physical operation to keep the woman from having sexual relations outside of marriage. This will be viewed as necessary for societies that see the constraint of female sexuality as the necessary condition for continued propagation of the human race (Sanderson, 2001; Morris,