Introductory Blog: Roman Culture

                I will be studying the Roman culture for my cultural identity project. Rome is an entity that has a significant place world history. After all, at its peak, the Roman Empire had control over much of Europe and the entire Mediterranean region, stretching even into Persia and northern Africa as shown in the following map (Livius 1912).

Figure 1: Map of the Roman Empire at its peak

Even today, elements of the Roman culture still exist in obscure areas such as Croatia and Tunisia in Figures 2 and 3 respectively (Barone 2010). I took this project as an opportunity to learn about European history, something I am not very knowledgeable on. I can think of no better way to do this than to study one of the greatest and most influential cultures of all time.

                                       

 Figure 2: Roman ruins in Pula, Croatia                Figure 3: Roman ruins in El-Jem, Tunisia

                Martin defines culture as “learned patterns of behavior and attitude shared by a group of people.” (2012) However, it is difficult to put the entire Roman culture under one umbrella. Geographically, the entire populace was indeed “Roman” and shared common allegiances. However, the backgrounds of people living in areas such as Spain and Egypt vary so much; one can almost say they should constitute different cultures. In a similar manner, it would be difficult to define someone from New England and Hawai’i as from the same culture if they weren’t both on American soil. Hence, this project will focus less on the actual Roman culture, and more on how being Roman effected the local cultures of each region. For example, what elements of the Roman Empire still remain in Algeria? Do people living in present day Rome still relate to the historical Roman culture? How did the technological prowess on the Romans effect the overall development of Europe even after the fall of the empire? How did regions not traditionally attached to Europe, like Egypt, react to being under Roman rule, and are there lessons there that can be applied to conflicts today?

                Despite the fact that there is no Roman empire today, the interpretive approach can still be used to study their culture. People living in what was once the heart of the Roman Empire still likely relate with the Roman culture. Furthermore, the Romans left plenty of things behind for us to study. This lends itself to using qualitative studies to see how the Romans lived. Even though we may not be able to talk to a true Roman, structures such as the Coliseum give pretty good hints to their culture. The Roman culture lends itself particularly well to the rhetoric approach, analyzing texts and historical events in the context in which they occur (Martin 2012). The historical context of the Roman culture is significantly different that today’s world, so one must be able to immerse themselves in the context of the culture.

Barone, J. (2010, March 15). Roman Ruins Outside of Rome. Retrieved from http://www.bootsnall.com

Livius, T. (1912). The History of Rome. (Vol. 1). New York: E.P. Dutton and Co. Retrieved from etext.virginia.edu

Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2012). Intercultural Communication in Contexts (6th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw Hill.