Islam and Rome, seemlingly different, but are they really?

When you think of the great distances between Rome and Islam, you would think that they have nothing in common. Whether you are talking about political, technological, or socio-cultural aspects of both cultures, both the Islamic nation and the Roman Empire had great impact on our people of today.

The way of worship for many countries past and present are very different, just like the Islamic and Roman religions. Well, while Islamic people worshiped the religion of Islam, Romans usually worshiped either Orthodox Christianity or Roman Catholic. Furthermore, Islamic worshipers usually prayed in a mosque, while Roman citizens either worshiped in cathedrals, synagogues, or churches. Lastly, Roman’s worships were led by priests, popes, bishops, or patriarchs, while Islam’s worships “had no clergy but a scholar class called the ulama and imams, who may lead prayers”. (pg R76) These contrasts show how different many cultures were long ago, just like how people and their different opinions are today. Those points are important because comparing and contrasting cultures of the past can help us see how much our modern-day cultures have morphed from ideas and beliefs from the past. To conclude, ways of worship for all cultures are different, yet these differences show that you should be tolerant of others’ opinions because all people think differently.

Despite being in different areas of the world, Rome and the nation of Islam both have inventions that are still of much use today. For instance, some of the most important inventions that Rome has created were umbrellas, scissors, shoes with different shapes for the different sides of feet, and Islam has created the distillery, astrolabe (which is used to measure time), torpedoes, and the crank connecting rod system, which is an easier way to transport water. These inventions are important because they have had a great impact on our lives today. This also shows us how the technologies of long ago, (though primitive), have been spruced up by us modern people of today to become our newly advanced technologies. To close, ancient inventions and technology of places like Rome and the Islamic nation have many similarities, and without their inventions, present day life would be much more difficult than it is right now.

While Rome and Islam had their similarities, they also had their distinct differences in governing styles, and political thinking. For example, Islam and Rome chose their leaders in different ways and processes. In Islam, leaders were chosen if they were the former leaders trusted advisor, friend, or close family member who had the same political opinions as them. On the other hand, Roman leaders came to power if they were either voted in, a great military leader, rich, or by inheritance, depending on which time period you were talking about in Rome’s history. Also, when Islamic leaders led mainly tolerantly, while Roman leaders led with a harsh hand. Many times, there were forced taxes, and severe punishments for “wrong” actions in Roman society. In Islam, people were tolerant of other religions, though people of other beliefs were charged with extra taxes. Lastly, there were many different types of government forms that the Romans and Islamic leaders used in ruling the citizens of their area. Rome started out as a kingdom, led by Etruscan kings, and later formed into a republic, then an empire, while Islam started and stayed a Muslim made by the prophet Muhammed for all of its existence. This is important because the ways people ruled in past settlements are examples that modern countries use to decide the best and most fair way of ruling for the kind of people of all social classes that live in that certain area. All cultures and people have different political beliefs and aspects on what is fair, so Roman or Islamic, neither ones politics are right, because there are no rights and wrongs in opinions.
Either Rome or Islamic, there are always differences and similarities between cultures, though both have had a great impact on our lives and cultures of today. They both have left behind important technologies and inventions, political types and judgments, and religious beliefs that have been fixed up by the modern age into what cultures and traditions that exist today.