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Roman culture is gone. Ancient Egyptian culture is gone.

by nmnmnmnmnm001 11y ago

mc32 11y ago
So is ancient Japanese culture.
digitalengineer 11y ago
Of course not. New cultures were build up on their remains. Such is Europe.
colechristensen 11y ago
The western world is largely a direct descendant of the Roman Empire. Language, architecture, cultural ideas, religion, science, just about everything around you shares Roman origins or influence. If you think Roman culture is gone, you might consider the Pope, head of the religion started in and promoted by the state whose seat is in Rome (ok, Vatican City is it's own thing, but the Pantheon is like a mile away), who conducts mass in Latin, the language of the empire ... might I go on? ~15% of the world population are Catholic.
- jessaustin 11y ago
  It's interesting to think about how much more "gone" ancient Egypt is than ancient Rome. Sure, much of ancient Egypt was really ancient, but the present culture of Egypt owes very little even to the Ptolemies.
  - apalmer 11y ago
    it is pretty interesting... I think there are many reasons but a large part is the religious aspect... pre approximately 500 AD Egyptian Culture was more or less wiped out during the spread of islam. I dont know how much pre common era egyptian culture was related to ancient egypt culture... Meanwhile on the european side catholocisms spread only increased the influence of (certain parts of) roman culture. The renaissance which was significantly due to 'italian' culture further served to increase the influence of roman culture (especially in architecture and the arts)
- lmm 11y ago
  > Language, architecture, cultural ideas, religion, science, just about everything around you shares Roman origins or influence. Roman influence, sure. Also Arabic, Indic and Chinese influence. Every experience affects us. But would we really be so different without the Roman influence? E.g. Roman sewer systems were used to argue for the design of London's sewers... but only for about 20 years, after which modern sewer design surpassed anything the Romans had done. > you might consider the Pope, head of the religion started in and promoted by the state whose seat is in Rome But only adopted in the fading years of the Empire, well after 250AD, and not really a reflection of Roman culture. > who conducts mass in Latin, the language of the empire Rarely, and getting rarer. > ~15% of the world population are Catholic. Sure. But how many of them know Latin? How many of them have any real influence of the Roman empire?

Roman culture is gone. Ancient Egyptian culture is gone.

mc32 11y ago

So is ancient Japanese culture.

digitalengineer 11y ago

Of course not. New cultures were build up on their remains. Such is Europe.

colechristensen 11y ago

The western world is largely a direct descendant of the Roman Empire. Language, architecture, cultural ideas, religion, science, just about everything around you shares Roman origins or influence. If you think Roman culture is gone, you might consider the Pope, head of the religion started in and promoted by the state whose seat is in Rome (ok, Vatican City is it's own thing, but the Pantheon is like a mile away), who conducts mass in Latin, the language of the empire ... might I go on? ~15% of the world population are Catholic.

jessaustin 11y ago
It's interesting to think about how much more "gone" ancient Egypt is than ancient Rome. Sure, much of ancient Egypt was really ancient, but the present culture of Egypt owes very little even to the Ptolemies.
- apalmer 11y ago
  it is pretty interesting... I think there are many reasons but a large part is the religious aspect... pre approximately 500 AD Egyptian Culture was more or less wiped out during the spread of islam. I dont know how much pre common era egyptian culture was related to ancient egypt culture... Meanwhile on the european side catholocisms spread only increased the influence of (certain parts of) roman culture. The renaissance which was significantly due to 'italian' culture further served to increase the influence of roman culture (especially in architecture and the arts)
lmm 11y ago
> Language, architecture, cultural ideas, religion, science, just about everything around you shares Roman origins or influence. Roman influence, sure. Also Arabic, Indic and Chinese influence. Every experience affects us. But would we really be so different without the Roman influence? E.g. Roman sewer systems were used to argue for the design of London's sewers... but only for about 20 years, after which modern sewer design surpassed anything the Romans had done. > you might consider the Pope, head of the religion started in and promoted by the state whose seat is in Rome But only adopted in the fading years of the Empire, well after 250AD, and not really a reflection of Roman culture. > who conducts mass in Latin, the language of the empire Rarely, and getting rarer. > ~15% of the world population are Catholic. Sure. But how many of them know Latin? How many of them have any real influence of the Roman empire?