The Two Worlds!

Despite the distance between the Roman Empire and the Islamic world, they still have their similarities, but yet their differences that makes them unique. Between the Expansion of Rome and the Beginnings of Islam, they both have political, social-culture, and technological aspects in which some they share, while others, they differ in.

Rome and Islam were pretty much a similar government, but their regions were completely different from each other. For starters, they both had leaders that kept their people, culture, and religion strong. “In Rome, they created a government in which average citizens had a voice, but the wealthy members of noble families wielded great influence in the Roman Republic.” (pg. 48) The people of the wealthy family and noble people think that they are smarter and have more powerful than everyone else. “In Islam, Muslims followed the prophet, Muhammad which in a way is their leader. However, when Muhammad died, a caliph would take over the position. Because Muhammad didn’t select a caliph to take his place, the leaders of the dominant group selected Abu Bakr, a man respected for his devotion to Muhammad to be the next successor with three other caliphs in line after him.” (pg. 93, 99&100) It might have been easier for the people of Islam rather than the people of Rome. Romans weren’t always happy with their leaders because they thought they were too hard on the citizens whereas in Islam, the Muslims were happy with the caliphs because they were fair and did a good job. "The region of Rome experienced cool, rainy weather with the Apennies Mountain Range protecting it from harsh weather." (pg.47) "On the other hand, the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula in the Islamic world covered hundreds of thousands of square miles. The region is very arid receiving little rain and is covered mainly by deserts. Nevertheless, there are some places built around an oasis for water." (pg. 85&86) Since Rome has better weather and rainfalss, this show that they probably had much better land than Islam which means crops will be able to grow easier in Rome because it's hard to plant anything in a dry desert area, something that the Islamic world has. In that case, farming must be more productive in Rome. "They both had to suffer through wars in which the Romans fought against a group known as Carthage- these wars were known as the Punic Wars." (pg. 49) They continued several battles because Muhammad and the Muslims fought for their religion and what they thought was right. Once they won the battle, Muhammad then forgave the Meccans even though it was teh Meccans who started the many battles because he wanted peace. On the other hand, the Romans fought for land and was just happy when they won. Both the Roman Empire and Islamic world went through the ups and the downs while suffering a few times. They went through many govermental struggles, wars, poor farming, etc. to get to where they are now.

Both the people of Rome and Islam had different cultures, beliefs, and religions. "As time passes, a new religion known as Christianity began to spread in Rome. Jesus encouraged people to love God as well as their neighbors, and even to love their enemies. Eventually, authorities arrested Jesus and put him to death. His followers continued to spread his teachings across the Roman Empire. Thse who became Christians did so a t great risk for they believed in a single God, and refused to worship Roman gods. For that reason, Roman officials imprisoned and killed many Christians." (pg.50&51) "As for the Islamic culture, their religion started with Muhammad. At first, he began preaching that there is only one God (named Allah) and that all other gods must be rejected. About 10, 000 people believed in this basic principle that Muhammad started and were known as Muslims." (pg. 93&94) "Differences between the Eastern and Western Christians Churches continued to grow which then led to a schism in 1054. The result was the creation of two Christian religions: the Roman Catholic Church in the West and the Orthodoz Church in the East." (pg. 62) Even though the religion of Christianity did spread, it was hard for the people that were Christians back then. They didn't get the freedom like what the Muslims got. They were suppose to believe in the Roman Gods, but instead took a great risk and believed in Jesus. In Rome, they got punished for this by giving up their life. "Instead of going to churches like Christians do in Rome, Muslims worshiped at an ancient religious shrine called the Ka'aba, a cube-shaped stone building which was located in the middle of Mecca and the mosque, a building used for Muslim worship." (pg.88&95) In Mecca, where the religon of Islam took place, they got to choose whether to support Muhammad's teachings or not, and overtime most people did. Rome may not have wanted the Romans to start believing in other gods, and stick to the Roman gods. Because of this, the religion of Islam was easier than the religion of Christianity; the Islamic people were more free and had the rights to be a Muslim. Maybe because of the Ka'aba, mosque, and the Islamic culture, more people came to Mecca. Even though Chrisianity started out harshly, it continued to flourisha nd so did Islam. Now even today, these two religions still exists and are believed by many people and it all started back then.

Both Rome and Islam started many technologies and made different inventions that helped make their lifes easier back then. "Because the Romans began to build roads, more trade has been happening in Rome from different countries. They both traded things like copper, grain, incense, ivory, perfumes, silk, spices, textiles, etc. Not only roads brought trade, though but also the Arabian Peninsula which was a crossroad of three continents- Asia, Africa, and Europe. Also, it was surrounded by bodies of water including the Meditteranian Sea, the Red Seaa, the Arabian Sea, and the Persian Gulf." (pg. 87) Just because of trade between countries, both the Rooman Empire and the Islamic world can get what they need. Thanks to the Romans for building roads, more trade have been coming through the two places and because of that, not only are they getting what they need as for supplies, but they're also receiving more money. Maybe because trade was so popular and successful, they began to open up a marketplace, so people can buy stuff. "Unlike Rome, the people of Islam mainly rode on camels when the Romans drove chariots around. Even so, theyboth had horses that the people could use to get around." (pg. 45, 83&90) The people fot he Islamic world might have rode on camels because that was their main livestock and was what they usually traded, but had other animals like sheep and horses, as well. When it comes to Rome, there might have been a lot of horses and chariots because of the Colosseum and the Hippodrome in which they held entertainment and chariot races in. Since they did this, it must mean there were a lot of horses and chariots around that could have been used for transportation. "They both had their way to get water just in a different concept. The Romans had an aqueduct that brought fresh water into cities and towns." (pg. 69) Maybe because Rome had many arches, domes, and vaults, they could have made an aqueduct to carry water in. "An oasis was used to get water by Islamic people instead." (pg. 86) Instead of being cool and wet, the Islamic world was dry and full of deserts, so even if they wanted to, they probably couldn't make an aqueduct like the Romans, but they still needed water. That makes an oasis the best choice for him. As you can see, both the Roman and Muslim's life got easier because of these new technologies that also brought in new trade.

In conclusion, both Rome and the Islamic world both had their similarities and differences. Either way, their goverment grew larger and their country's population grew bigger because of political, social-culture, and technological aspects. Between the Expansion of Rome and the Beginnings of Islam, many great things happenned.