Greeks Vs. Romans

[TheBlackChidori]

Who was the superior civilization at their peak? Size is not a deciding factor.

Take many things into account, religious unity, economy, leadership, military, prosperity.... Back up your claimings.

[Jutsu Junkie]

Superior? Well, that's a loaded word. But I will venture to side with the Greeks on this one, for a few reasons. First, I don't respect how the Romans shamelessly co-opted the Greek religion. You could see it as an homage to the Greeks, but I just think it's unoriginal, and frankly it betrays the spirit of their native folk religion, which was essentially animistic. The Greeks also established the first stable democracies, prevented Eastern civilization from overrunning Europe, and established much of our philosophical and scientific culture. They also contributed a huge amount to art, engineering, and architecture, doing so earlier than Rome. A good deal of what Rome did was spread Greek culture masked as their own, although the Romans made their own unique contributions as well. Most historians consider Greece to be the cradle of Western Civilization. So, yeah...

[Vernon]

Originally Posted by Jutsu Junkie

Superior? Well, that's a loaded word. But I will venture to side with the Greeks on this one, for a few reasons. First, I don't respect how the Romans shamelessly co-opted the Greek religion. You could see it as an homage to the Greeks, but I just think it's unoriginal, and frankly it betrays the spirit of their native folk religion, which was essentially animistic. The Greeks also established the first stable democracies, prevented Eastern civilization from overrunning Europe, and established much of our philosophical and scientific culture. They also contributed a huge amount to art, engineering, and architecture, doing so earlier than Rome. A good deal of what Rome did was spread Greek culture masked as their own, although the Romans made their own unique contributions as well. Most historians consider Greece to be the cradle of Western Civilization. So, yeah...

Wow.You took the words right out of my mouth.

[TheBlackChidori]

Originally Posted by Jutsu Junkie

Superior? Well, that's a loaded word. But I will venture to side with the Greeks on this one, for a few reasons. First, I don't respect how the Romans shamelessly co-opted the Greek religion. You could see it as an homage to the Greeks, but I just think it's unoriginal, and frankly it betrays the spirit of their native folk religion, which was essentially animistic. The Greeks also established the first stable democracies, prevented Eastern civilization from overrunning Europe, and established much of our philosophical and scientific culture. They also contributed a huge amount to art, engineering, and architecture, doing so earlier than Rome. A good deal of what Rome did was spread Greek culture masked as their own, although the Romans made their own unique contributions as well. Most historians consider Greece to be the cradle of Western Civilization. So, yeah...

Didn't the Romans eventually split into Catholicism?

[Kenshin Mizoguchi]

Originally Posted by TheBlackChidori

Didn't the Romans eventually split into Catholicism?

The Roman empire started off being polytheistic, with their gods coinciding with celestial bodies and being very similar to that of the Greek theology, but eventually they did morph into Christianity. This happened when Constantine I came into power, and Christianity was established as the main religion of the empire. Later, his sons took over the throne and declared that those who practiced Graeco-Roman polytheism were at risk of persecution. Overall, Christianity was forced into the Roman empire by those who ruled, with threats of persecution and eradication of religious monuments such as temples.

[TheAkatsukiClanPM9999]

Romans. In that time period, they were the most powerful army.

[Jutsu Junkie]

Originally Posted by TheAkatsukiClanPM9999

Romans. In that time period, they were the most powerful army.

I suspect the op's intent was to exclude size for this reason. It's obvious they had a superior military, even if you count the two nations at their respective pinnacles. However, just having massive military might doesn't automatically mean you have a superior culture. Like I said before, most historians would probably side with the Greeks on this one.

[Uchiha_Itachi]

Funny. We're learning greek mythology in english class, and also about the trojan war. From the greek's stories points of view, the roman's look really bad. After christmas break we're going to read the story from the roman's point of view. Personally, I like the greek people better. Doesn't "This Is Sparta!!!" sum it all up?

[kakashi uzumaki]

Originally Posted by TheBlackChidori

Who was the superior civilization at their peak? Size is not a deciding factor.

Take many things into account, religious unity, economy, leadership, military, prosperity.... Back up your claimings.

I would actually say they both evened themselves out by being superior to one another.
Both had great technology and a great civilized empire. Both had different methods of governing.

If they didn't have a great method of ruling, they would have great technology. If not good technology, then they would have a good method of ruling, therefor I believe they both were the same, no one was superior.