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Roman art, architecture, and culture are still alive and well in modern society. Their architectural style can be seen in many of today’s government buildings. The network of roads built to transport troops and supplies across Europe are now used as the basis for many of the European highways. Since Roman culture was such a melting pot, using art and traditions from a variety of former and surrounding civilizations, it is not a surprise that their influence is so strong in modern society. Their ways encompassed more than just the duration of the rule, but rather adopted a long stretch of history (and physical land), propelling their customs and their art into modern culture. Many of their structures and art still exist today, such as the roaring Pantheon and various statues of Roman emperors. This speaks to the ability and talent of the civilization.
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I agree with Laura that this speak to the talent and ability of the Roman Empire.
You can still see many Roman influences in modern society. For example The Pont Du Gard is mimicked in many bridges such as the Riatlo Bride located in Italy in 1181 and The London Bridge in Lake Havasu City Arizona. Additionally, most of Washington DC’s government building draw there inspiration from Romain Temples such and the Temple of Portunus. Finally the famous Arc de Triomphe in Paris France bears a striking resemblance to the Arch of Titus.
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Even though the Roman empire ended nearly 2000 years ago, we are still being influenced by their thoughts and ideals in many areas in our modern society. The use of complex road systems, arches, and bridges all originated from the Romans. In the USA and in other parts of the world, many governmental buildings resemble roman architecture. Their style of architecture is still valued and used in many homes as well. When I was young, my mom had a number of decorative roman esc columns around the house. Another similarity I see is the use of games in order to keep the people at ease. While there are some differences, looking at our modern sports stadiums, it is clear that we have, like the Romans, glorified the place that sport ought play in society. The Roman language, Latin, has also had a tremendous impact on a plethora of languages, including English. Many of the root words in English are, in fact, Latin. Also, the English alphabet is based off of the Latin alphabet. The reach and impact of Roman culture on western culture is wide reaching. Rome has paved the way for western civilization.
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To Aubri Stogsdill
I thought your example of how the Romans influenced languages was great. Do you think the world would be the way it is today if cultures like the Greeks and Etruscans didn’t influence the Romans themselves. If the Romans were cut out of history how do you think other said cultures would have influenced the would. Religions like Roman Catholic and those influenced by them wouldn’t exist without the influence of others. Great ideas! -
I’m glad you mentioned latin, because it is a hugely impactful remnant of the Romans, and is not only a large contributor to english, but is the base language to many others such as french, spanish, italian, and romanian, with heavy influences in many other languages as well. While it might not be the first thing many think of when Romans are mentioned, it is certainly the most wide spread and influential pieces of the past.
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Aubri – I agree that we can see a lot of Roman influences in various places of society today! I think that a lot of these adaptations became popular during the Classical and Romatic era, and have lived on since then. The Roman society definitely had a great influence on the structure of society, from roads, to bridges, to hierarchy of political or religious importance. Thank you for your insight!
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RE Laura,
I like what you said about Roman culture being a melting pot of many of the cultures that came before it. You’re so right in that this compilation would make what we understand to be ‘Roman’ to stick around for so many years. Roman architecture was heavily influenced by the Greek and Etruscan architecture. Also, the fact that so much of their architecture is still standing, and is so wide spread, makes their influence very long lasting. I hadn’t considered that as a potential reason for their influence to have been so great.
Awesome post!
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The Romans have played a huge part in the way we construct our lives from buildings to the government. Official state and federal buildings are inspired by their architecture. Our modern day stadiums replicate the Roman amphitheater. So many sport arenas all over the world are reminiscent to ‘The Colosseum’ (70-80 CE). Pottery shards would be used with numbers to keep the crowds organized just as we use tickets today. Humans have always been complex, using art as a tool that opens us to continue to grow, learn, and evolve. For thousands of years societies influenced and shared each other’s cultures. The Romans adopted from others such as the Greeks and the Etruscans before them. Their empire led to growth for other societies and cultures to become a mixing pot that opened doors to innovation.
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Hey Miranda,
I hadn’t even though about the government inspiration you mentioned – I think I took the question at face value and just looked at art, but I think you’re very right. Not only do the buildings go off of architecture we have seen in the Roman times, but so do many other heavily trafficked places. It is crazy to look at things that are so old and see inspiration from them in so many things that stand today. -
That’s so cool about the numbers on pottery shards as tickets! I must’ve missed that one. Crazy to think ancient societies functioned much the same as ours, just without all the technology and complication. I’m sure many of the same problems and drama existed back then. It would be so fun to go back and see it firsthand….and then come back to my smartphone!
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The architecture of our government buildings really is amazingly inspired by Roman art. Even city hall in Fairbanks has a Roman flavor to it, which is kind of mind blowing when you think about it. Our courthouse is a modern building, but the huge high walls make me thing that it is something the Romans would have approved of.
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We see Roman art plenty of places throughout the world, mainly in architecture. Although Romans weren’t the first to use decorative columns, they are present in many very high-end buildings throughout the world. Even so, much architecture from the Romans is still standing today (in comparison to the rest of ancient buildings). When it comes to statues, I think statues crafted today are most similar to that from the Roman time period; there isn’t a standard contrapasso pose, but most statues do their best to recreate the person they are based off of, similar to that of Roman creation. Most of this is still seen in European society (I imagine) but is lacking in the western world.
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We see traces of the Roman empire all around us in modern society. It is present in the way we construct buildings (especially formal buildings which hold some sort of power- often political), the value we place on sports, and the art that we create. We are influenced by the work produced during the Roman empire, but also influenced therefore by the work that influenced the Romans. Roman art was often a reflection of the cultures and societies around and before them. The influence of the Romans is certainly present in contemporary society and culture.
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Roman art and architecture is everywhere in todays society. A lot of the worlds political buildings have columns very reminiscent of Roman architecture. The Roman government was very powerful, so its no surprise the world emulates their buildings for our own government buildings. The Romans were the first society to put their ruler’s faces on coins, and now pretty much the whole world follows this practice. I think the majority of what the world has taken away from the Roman empire is the strength of their rulers, and we have integrated the aspects of their culture that helped illustrate their power.
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Roman Art seems to be the number one art era that is copied a lot around the world today. It is also on display at many art galleries. If you would take a look at a lot of the political buildings through out the world you would see that a lot of those building is similar to Roman Architectures. They seemed you love the high column looks on their buildings. You will also find that a few stadiums have been remodeled to look a lot like Roman Colosseums. Not only is their art big in todays society, I to believe that Rome is one of the most visited and intriguing countries. And though the Roman Empire ended a long time ago it still and will also ways have one of the biggest influences on todays society.
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Modern government buildings are often in replica of ancient Roman architecture as are many houses who use similar style columns. Many government buildings are also made from marble too like Roman Empire architecture. The kind of engineering that was accomplished at such an ancient time is amazing and quite a feat. I can immediately think of two places I have visited where I can easily see the ancient Roman architecture. In Nashville, TN they have a huge replica of the Parthenon. And in Lake Havasu, AZ there is a famous bridge called the London Bridge that looks a lot like Pont du Gard made by the Roman Empire. Even in Fairbanks, the local Courthouse is I believe sided in marble and the federal building has columns and marble throughout.
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I can think of plenty of examples of roman art influencing modern art. I was actually just housesitting in a house that had many pillars or columns inside and out that were styled very similar to the ones seen here in the ancient roman art works, although they were only for decretive purposes not holding up the structure. There are also a great deal of official buildings that seem to have gotten their design inspiration from the ancient roman architecture, using a similar dome shape. Sports stadiums are built in a style that resembles the colosseum. Aqueducts and bridges are another example of modern art that utilizes the designs found in Ancient Rome.
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csayreswoody, I definitely agree with your statement about how popular it is to copy roman art today, and it definitely has a place in many museums and is probably one of the most visited places specifically for viewing ancient artworks. I think an important part of the roman influence is also that many pieces from the ancient roman time period are still standing today, showing that they are well built strong structures. I have to wonder if the roman use of marble is what influenced the use of marble today, after all a lot of houses use marble countertops, and it is used in many other ways in a home.
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The Roman Empire ended nearly 2000 years ago but traces of it are all around us today. How do you see the influence of Roman art and culture in contemporary global society?
There are many influences from the Roman Empire that are apparent today. Sports stadiums, one of the most notable, with their oval design and staggered upward seating. This design was actually established by the Romans. We can see an example of this in the Colosseum and many other amphitheaters. Additionally, the Colosseum is made of concrete, a material widely used today. The Roman aqueduct of Pont du Gard displays a series of arches. The Romans began the use of arches architecturally. This idea is still widely used for strength and design. We see it in our modern society everywhere we turn. As a society we continue to fashion our sculptures after achievements and achievers, something the Romans also began doing, rather than of gods, though we honestly still do that also.
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Architecture is the first thing that comes to mind when I think about the influence of Roman on modern day culture. For instance, the Temple of Portunus and the Alaska State Building share several common features. Four tall columns, with stairs leading you in, making you look up to anyone that may be on the highest level. While the State Building isn’t in Ionic style, it still gives this feeling of age, wisdom, and a bit of intimidation. Roman architecture tends to have this feeling of opulence, of this grandness that we tend to copy in a majority of governmental buildings. Another place I see that we bring a bit of the Roman culture into modern life is in sports. The gladiator fights were brutal and highly popular. Today, we tend to try to have the same feeling, without the brutality that was popular then. Football is violent and can be brutal, hockey is brutal as well, and with both, most fans love a good hit or fight. In other words, not that much different than the days of the Coliseum, just a tad less bloody.
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Many long dead cultures still leave traces in the modern world, but none so much as the Romans. This is most prominently featured in architecture, especially political buildings as well as stadiums and stages all around the world. The most impactful remnant of this culture, however, is the language. Latin has become the staple language for knowledge, wisdom, and remains to be considered a holy language in several religions. Despite no longer being actively spoken, it is used daily by those in the world of biology, chemistry, mathematics, medicine, and, of course, latin classes. Another example of the adaptation of Roman culture into religion is the Pantheon, as some of the reason it still stands is that it was adapted into a church, and hence survives to this day, where it is no longer the only building with a concrete dome.
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mbsimington – I agree that Latin is a language that even though it is not actively spoken, it is incorporated into many of our languages and terminologies! Similar to how Romans would inscribe in Latin on buildings, we have many buildings in the United States that are similar. Could we even state that the process of inscribing on a building is something we can attribute to Roman influences?
Thank you for this post!
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The Romans are definitely a part of our society, their influence can be found in many aspects of our society. I wanted to focus on just one artifact from their culture to demonstrate their influence on modern society. The Colosseum is a great example to consider.
Originally, known as the Flavian amphitheater in honor of the Flavian Dynasty. The name at some point changed to Colosseum probably in acknowledgment of the “colossal’ bronze statue of Nero that was near. The term colosseum is now commonly accepted as a reference to any large stadium designed for watching sports and entertainment. The structure itself provides an architectural reference for the types of columns it is constructed from. Doric columns on the lower levels, Ionic on the second level and the third level was constructed with Corinthian columns.
The materials of construction were also unique. The walls were constructed of travertine and brick-faced concrete. This was a new building material and concept that is still utilized today. The use of concrete decreased the skills required of the workers and allowed greater error tolerances over cutting and setting a stone. The Romans also began utilizing the concept of urban planning. Unlike the Greeks, they no longer had to rely on the features of the natural landscape to determine the placement of buildings and amphitheaters. Instead, they could shape the landscape to their construction needs.
One final concept that remains prevalent today in our own major event centers is the concept of saved seats. The Colosseum utilized individually marked shards of pottery as tickets and the entry portals were clearly identified with a number. All designed to allow entry and egress from the facility in an efficient manner. -
When looking over Roman art and architecture, I see a lot of similarities from 1800 and 1900 architecture in society today. For example, the layout of the Pantheon seems to be something that was popular when constructing buildings of political importance (for example the White House). A lot of churches even have steeples and domes, and this seems to be an influence from Roman architecture.
I also noticed that portraits, busts, and statues, and it seems that these are popular artworks that we still see today. We have the statue of Abraham Lincoln, and I’ve seen busts of various Presidents as well. This type of signifying the political or religious importance of an individual is even noted on how we have the faces of Presidents on our money. This is not just in the United States, a lot of countries do this.
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Miranda, I like that you mentioned a specific time frame that had a lot of similarities! A lot of churches and courthouses especially still have a bit of influence from Roman architecture. The busts of important individuals is a great example as well. I wonder if we could say then that wax sculptures of famous people could be influenced in a way by Roman artwork.
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Roman society still bears prominence in modern society through it’s structure, and even names of government, such as senators and republicans. Government buildings are inspired by roman architecture taking a look at the columns and the shape of the buildings. Even modern houses have been inspired by roman architecture, such as those built on plantations in the south. Stadiums are erected all the time to host sporting events which reflect that of the Colosseum, and tickets are given out like the pottery shards which help keep the stadium organized. Roman culture itself has a hand in creating the english language and all latin-based languages we have today. It’s interesting how much of an impact a culture from so long ago has on our society still.
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RE: Bob Hook
I am glad you pointed out the concrete– I had forgotten to do so. That is an extremely important contribution of Roman culture to modern culture, and we still use it every day, all over the world! I wonder if they knew such creations would outlast 2000 years. As with the Colosseum, it’s fascinating when we realize how modern society’s “skeleton’ lies within Roman culture. -
RE: mbsimington
Ah yes, Latin! It piques so much curiosity out of me that it’s technically a dead language but it has relevance in nearly everything we do, science, medicine, music, and so much more like you said. Regardless of how we feel about Christianity, we can be grateful for it for preserving Roman culture so well– like through the prayers and medicine developed through Christianity, not to mention the preservation of roman buildings and art. -
To me, the most prevalent examples of Roman influence on modern culture are the structures and architecture of many modern governments, and the prestige of Latin as a language in the fields of both science and religion. Many students have touched on the influences of Roman art on modern architecture of government buildings, but I think the extent of the spread and influence of Latin has been understated. Worldwide, despite no longer being spoken, Latin is used as the primary language for defining scientific terminology, as well as serving as many word roots in the English (and other) language(s). Even the country’s motto, “E pluribus unum”, is a Latin phrase. As such, Latin has been put in a position of prestige, and is even described as “a language of scholarship and administration”. This ties the idea of Roman culture inherently to the ideas of academia and governmental leadership, demonstrating how much our modern society has used Roman society as a role model and basis for these ideas.
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You made a really excellent point about Latin being one of the structures still standing after the fall of Rome. I hadn’t thought of it, but yes. A lot of the parts of English words are from Latin, I’ve been spotting it in many of the lessons this week but never made the connection. I went through a lot of lab training, and classes in science and was immersed in Latin without thinking about where it came from.
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It’s not difficult to see the impact that Roman culture has had on modern society. The building of roads by the Romans helped make Rome a center of commerce, a practice that many modern cities adhere to. The easier it is for people to enter and exit your city, whether by air, sea, or ground; the more likely they will be to bring business to that city. The Roman introduction of the aqueduct, such as the Pont du Gard, helped modernize Rome. The aqueduct was the precursor to many of our plumbing ideas in modern times. The Roman weren’t only concerned about their infrastructure, the entertainment of their people was also important. The Romans built theatres, sporting establishments, and public bath houses. Having areas where people can meet and socialize is something that is still very important in modern times.
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One piece of Roman art that has a lot to do with the modern art of today is the Colosseum! We have so many modernized colosseums being used for things like football, basketball, soccer, and all sorts of sports! If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Also In Roman culture, they build things like statues and monuments for people who deserved to be honored like the Colossus of Constantine. in our current society, we do a lot of that. For example, we have the MLK statue and we have the statue of liberty.
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Roman art is still seen in modern day buildings we have. The Colosseum, for example, was the beginning inspiration for all of our sports arenas; there are many openings for people to enter and exit, we have a similar ticket system for entry, and they’re dedicated to sports and other entertainment much like the Colosseum was. We also see the influence of Roman art in some of our government buildings and many courthouses with columns similar to the ones that we see in the Temple of Portunus.
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Much of Roman culture was used to create the modern world we see today in many European-originating first world nations. The architecture can be seen in many of our professional and governmental buildings, much a parallel since much of our government and political system is based on theirs. Even their language, Latin, is the common base of most European languages. Society is still enthralled with Roman mythology and the gladiators in the Colosseum. Major motion pictures and fantasy books have been based on Roman society.
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Many roman symbols are still in use today, especially in the sphere of government and financial institutions. The architecture of the whitehouse, congress, the courts, old structures all mimic those of the roman empire. The image of authority that was created by the Romans still persists to this day. Another roman symbol is the bald eagle that soars above the lands. This was relevant to the roman empire who ruled over so much land, and has also become the symbol of the USA. It is probably no coincidence that both countries which chose this symbol are superpowers. Similarly the way that we revere and obsess over our leader, in our case the president, is reminiscent of Roman art.
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Salvo, classmates.
This isn’t an answer to the question, but I want to point out the significance of one of the images. The image of Aeneas carrying his father away from Troy to found Rome may be representative of Aeneas bringing the traditions, wisdom, and way of life of the old State to the new State he will found. The old state was crumbling, losing its sight and hearing in the way that a centralized government does when it grows too large or too secure in its power. The State is vulnerable to death, and must be taken — like a cutting from a tree — to grow and regain its health in new soil.
Roman art is found in our older architecture, such as capital buildings and learning institutions. It’s also found on our money, not only in the borders, but in the style of portrait busts that commemorate our founding leaders. In Roman art, Rome itself was represented by the figure of a beautiful woman, and Americans often associate their country with the statue of liberty.
America is one of the greatest powers in the world today, as Rome was in its own day. As a monetary power, our culture is exported and emulated all around the world. Our government consists of a council of elders, as in the Roman Republic. Yet we also have a president with veto power, as with Emperor Augustus in the Early Empire. America is generally welcoming to anyone who legally immigrates, no matter what your genes are or your god looks like, “welcome to America, pay your taxes.’ We both see our national character as fantastic — despite having some problems. For both of us those problems include running out of viable candidates for the military. A couple other problems that faced Rome when it was declining – and America now – are the loss of value of family and the loss of religious belief and behavior.
We have a class system, as the Romans did, but unlike them we have a middle class between the Plebs and the aristocracy. In Western culture we know that it is possible (yet statistically improbable) for a person of lower economic class to move upward to a higher tax bracket, just as you could in Roman culture. It just takes a strong will, hard work (or a catch phrase), and luck.
Rome built a great system of roads, we do the same. Their roads were for common use by traders, and for easier access to conquered lands. Our roads are more for common use by traders. We also share a knack for building multi-level shopping spaces such as malls for trade.
Like the Early Roman Empire, our government provides food and encourages engaging in entertainment so that the Plebs don’t become restless and revolt. By providing a set amount of food stamps to people of low economic status, the use of activism to change the government is disincentivized and the desire to move up in economic status is slowly killed. We each have a miniature version of the Colosseum in our living rooms to keep us complacent with entertainment: a television — or another type of screen. Entertainment is something that triggers our brains to produce reward chemicals, which is what happens if we watch our favorite team win the Superbowl, or our favorite gladiator kill some Christians. If we become dependent on a source of dopamine and seritonin, we will work to earn money to keep purchasing the reward — a Hulu subscription for instance. Subsequently, we remain complacent and pay our taxes.
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The Roman Empire ended nearly 2000 years ago but traces of it are all around us today. How do you see the influence of Roman art and culture in contemporary global society?
There is traces of the Roman Empire all round us! Most of their influence can be see in our federal buildings as well as our justice buildings. Like the Temple of Portunus’s pillars, our federal and judicial buildings have similar pillars in front of them. I believe this to be a symbol of how the Roman Empire took pride in showing their subjects that these buildings were magnificent and they did so by creating these large simple but complex pillars. It could also be interpreted that the pillars are the laws of the land that hold up society and inside the building is where judging and laws are created to keep the pillars standing.
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Roman influence is alive and will in modern society. My first thought when I think of roman architecture is columns, arches, and coliseums. The coliseum is perhaps the biggest influence that is still alive today in the form of stadiums. The government building also incorporate a lot of roman influence, The White house, The Capital building, and even the Lincoln memorial use many roman design features like columns and domes. The Olympic stadium, Brandenburg Gate, and Reichstag in Berlin feel like they could have came strait out of Rome.
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We can find traces of Roman influence in forms and structures throughout the development of Western culture. It has left an impact on our language, art, and architecture. Today, columns that the Romans once used are implemented into many of the structures we build. Such as state and federal buildings. The sports stadiums we see today have oval shapes and tiered seating, derive from the basic idea the Romans developed like the Coliseum. Finally, many Latin root words are also the foundation for many English words. The English alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet. Along with that, a lot of Latin is still used in the present-day justice system. The ancient Romans helped lay the groundwork for many aspects of the modern world. Ancient Romans shaped our cultures in many ways that still sit with us after 2000 years.
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