Notepage Standard 3.1
Ancient Greece and Rome
Long ago there lived two groups of people who made important contributions to our modern
society. These ancient Greeks and Romans influenced our architecture, government, and
sports.
The architects of Greece and Rome designed and built many beautiful buildings. They loved
to build magnificent structures using huge columns and massive arches. Some of these
structures, like the Parthenon in Greece, still exist today. The Parthenon is a good example of
the use of columns. It is a rectangular building that has 17 columns on each side and 8 on
each end. Each of the columns is over 34 feet tall and 6 feet across! You may have seen the
Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. It looks very similar to the Parthenon because its
builder was influenced by the builders of ancient Greece.
The Romans loved to use massive arches in their buildings. Two examples of ancient Roman
arches still exist today. They are the Coliseum in Rome, Italy and the Roman aqueducts. The
Coliseum was built as a huge outdoor stadium. It is 4 stories tall and contains over 240
arches. It would hold over 50,000 people and just like today, you had to have a ticket with a
seat number to get in! Our modern sports stadiums are very similar to the Coliseum. This is
because modern builders were influenced by the architecture of ancient Rome. The Romans
also built huge bridges using arches. Some of their bridges carried water down from the
mountains into the cities. These water bridges were called aqueducts and were built by
connecting many arches together for strength. In addition to columns and arches, Greek and
Roman architects loved to adorn their buildings with beautiful artwork such as tile pictures
called mosaics, sculptures, and paintings.
The Greeks and Romans also influenced our ideas about government. Greece is called the
birthplace of democracy or government by the people. The Greek government was a direct
democracy. This means that the people voted to make their own rules and laws. Here in the
United States, we are allowed to vote on the laws of our country, too. Ancient Rome also
influenced our government. The Romans had a representative democracy. This means that
the people elected a smaller group of citizens to make the rules and laws for everyone else.
The United States is also a representative democracy. We are allowed to vote for senators,
governors, and presidents to name just a few.
The ancient Greeks and Romans also contributed to our modern society in the area of sports.
The Greeks loved individual sports such as riding, hunting, wrestling and swimming, while
the Romans loved team sports such as soccer. Our modern Olympic games come from the
ancient Greek athletic festivals. The ancient Greeks and Romans have influenced the lives of
people today in many ways.
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