Ancient Greece and Rome, two great civilizations, are the cradles of western culture, two eternal monuments in the history of world culture, and the moderns that westerners talk about. The industrious people of ancient Greece and Rome used their wisdom to create amazing masterpieces for us, leaving us a height that could not be surpassed in the history of culture and art. Among them, ancient Greek culture is the source of Roman culture, and Roman culture has been developing and innovating on this basis, creating many unique cultural and artistic ideas and masterpieces. Therefore, this paper mainly discusses the similarities and differences between the two cultures, finds out what "primitive Greece" is, distinguishes the innovation of Rome, and provides some superficial clues and veins for the inheritance and development of western culture.

Economic development model

Greece consists of the continental peninsula and some small islands scattered in the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. It is surrounded by the sea on three sides, and only the north is connected with the land. It has a mild maritime climate with many hills and few plains. It is precisely because of such geographical conditions that its agriculture is difficult to develop. In order to survive, the Greeks learned to exchange agricultural products with other regions and gradually formed a prosperous trade exchange in the Mediterranean region. The environment in Rome is similar to that in Greece. It is located in the present Italian peninsula, and it is a hilly and swamp area. So agriculture is not very developed. But Rome did not solve this problem through free trade and barter, as Greece did. It used a bloody way-aggression and expansion. In order to meet the growing demand of the Roman Empire for food and wealth, the Romans chose to keep invading. Relying on powerful troops and weapons, Rome jumped from a humble town on the Tiber River to an imperial center that ruled 2 million square miles. At the same time, with the continuous expansion of the Roman Empire, the consumption of these materials increased sharply, which in turn led to the continuous expansion of the Roman Empire, thus forming a vicious circle, which accompanied the Roman Empire from beginning to end. In contrast, in order to resist the harsh and changeable sea environment, Greece has developed a benign competition model of mutual cooperation. Moreover, the latter has penetrated into the spiritual field of contemporary westerners. In addition, the economic development of Greece mainly depends on overseas and regional trade conducted by businessmen and farming by local farmers. The number of slaves in Greek city-states is much less than that in Rome. After years of war, Rome brought wealth and a large number of slaves. These slaves are widely distributed in most industries, such as mining, metallurgy, navigation, paving roads and building large buildings. It can be said that a large part of the greatness and achievements of ancient Rome were created by slaves.

Generally speaking, the economic development of Greece and Rome took completely different paths and embodied two completely different ideas, which had a far-reaching impact on the economic development of western countries later. Anyone who knows a little about history knows that western countries have basically gone through these two stages, such as the overseas expansion of the new European Empire to Africa and America, and the slave trade, which is just another version of the Roman form, while the widespread trade between countries at the same time is a Greek reproduction.

Politics and democracy

When it comes to democracy, we will think of the contemporary western "human rights" society, but the word democracy first appeared in Athens, ancient Greece. Greek democratic politics, on the one hand, gave democracy to hundreds of people, on the other hand, deprived thousands of slaves and freemen of their right to participate in politics. The essence of Greek democracy at that time was: majority rule; Everyone is equal before the law; Freedom of personal life. Although democracy at this time has a strong class nature and is only aimed at citizens' democracy, this view has far surpassed its era thousands of years ago. Compared with the democracy of our time, I think their connotations are the same. Although contemporary western political circles keep saying that "everyone is equal and human rights are guaranteed", does this democracy really exist? For example, in the United States, its politics is still in the hands of a few rich and powerful big capitalists, which is reflected in its appearance as the spokesman of "democracy" funded by it-the president of the United States. Middle and lower class citizens are still often played by politicians in the illusion of "democracy". In this sense, its democracy is completely consistent with that of ancient Greece.

The early political system of ancient Rome was modeled after Greece, and later from Augustus? 6? From 1 Caesar, "democracy" ceased to exist and became an absolute monarchy until its demise. The greatest contribution of the Romans was legislation. In the process of fierce contradictions and struggles between the nobility and the poor, the first written law, the Twelve Copper Tables Act, came into being. Although this law still safeguarded the interests of the nobility and the upper class, it was a great progress of civilization at that time. After that, civil law, civil law and civil rights law came into being one after another, which laid the embryonic form of the western legal system. In particular, the provision that "citizens' private property is sacred and inviolable" in the Civil Rights Law has become the eternal theme of western law.

In addition, in religious literature, sculpture, natural science and other aspects, ancient Greek and Roman civilization also provided a steady stream of inspiration and vitality for the development of western literature and art in later generations.

The above is only a brief discussion on some aspects of the influence of ancient Greece and Rome on later generations, and I can only knock on the heavy door of western classical period with my vulgar words. But only from these aspects, we can see how great and far-reaching the influence of ancient Greece and Rome on the western world is. Maybe we can learn to reflect on our own culture, find the essence of it, reposition ourselves rationally and move forward with more motivation.