Influences on Western Culture

INFLUENCES ON WESTERN CULTURE FROM ANCIENT TIMES TO EARLY RENAISSANCE

Western civilization is said to have emerged in ancient Greece . At least it was Greece , where some basic principles of the West have been first formulated , including democracy and local self government and the rule of philosophic thinking in spite of mythological one of ancient East However , ancient Greeks seem to be more dreamers , than active doers their activity has been limited more with learning , rather than action and they were conservators , satisfied with their life , being hardly interested in the rest

of the world . Greeks lacked passion and will to change anything , and even their gods often appear to be more comic figures , than sacred ones

In contrast to Greeks , Romans showed themselves to be much more pragmatic and purposeful . Philosopher has never in fact been their ideal , their ideal was a warrior and a ruler , sometimes a politician , a person involved in action , changing the world around as it may seem fit to him . Having started from a small rural community , Romans did bring a greater part of the known world to their influence . However , it was not only Rome , which influenced the world , it was the world , which influenced Rome . At the times of republic , the philosophers of Greece were the of the day . Later , at the times of the Empire , Romans accepted much of the religious cults of the conquered peoples . The high point of such religious sensibility was extraordinary fast spread of Christianity . Old gods could no longer satisfy people 's needs , and even despite of severe repressions against Christians in the first decades A .D , Rome had to adopt the new religion as an official one . Such conversion showed , that the old spirit of the world ultimate secular empire became outdate , and that Rome is already about to collapse

The first ages after occupation of Rome by the barbarians are often called dark ages , however , they were not so dark , as it is usually considered . When the horrible hordes of the Guns were pushed away from Europe and other barbaric people have more or less settled on one and same place , they just continued to lead their traditional way of life , which existed already in Roman times . The first trends of feudalism appeared already in the IV century in the Empire , the barbaric kings were direct heirs of tribal leaders , and many of the old Roman cities retained their institutions , because destroying them was of little interest to the barbarians , who were interested only in material wealth . Knowledge and wisdom of the ancients has been saved in the churches and monasteries , which often represented power on the empty lands . The power of the emperors has been substituted by the authority of the Popes , who have long strived for influence with the secular rulers . In contrast to earlier times , St . Augustine created a doctrine of sinful City of Earth and the divine City of God , which supported the superiority of the Church before the...