Germania and Rome

Since I'm in retirement status....I've got hours to waste.  I know.....there ought to be various productive ways of wasting one's day if retired, but I tend to get into history, culture, and essays.

Today, I spent a couple of hours on Roman law.....which has a dynamic effect on German culture and history today.

For historical purposes.....there are three era of Roman history.  Most people don't realize it.....nor does it really influence things except you tend to realize there are three separate periods of history.

The Roman Kingdom (753-509 BC).  To be kinda honest.....there are few facts here because no one kept any text or documentation of the period.  The locals around Rome organized themselves as a tribe.....went through several localized conflicts with various kings.....and by 509 BC.....ended the king concept and the kingdom.  One might perceive this as a lessons learned period and the locals simply had enough of direct law by one individual.

The Roman Republic (509 to 27 BC).  The Roman Senate came into being....elected by the locals of Rome, and the Senate would elect two individuals who would act as the leadership of the Republic.  In general, one could say that traditions and public safety (military action) were the key factors of the Republic.  Within this period.....laws came and went.....to a significant degree.  If one was knowledgeable on the current laws of one era......within a decade or two....there were enough changes that you'd be all confused and unable to comprehend what was legal or illegal.  In some ways, the nature of reshaping laws was the beginning of the end for Rome's place in the world.  Expansion?  Yes.....this was the growth period of Rome's effect on the civilized world.....or in some ways.....civilizing what was uncivilized.

It's toward the end of the Roman Republic that Germanic tribes finally introduced themselves to Rome, and became a threat.  Had they arrived three hundred years prior....the odds are heavily in the favor of the Germanic tribes conquering Rome and preventing the Republic or Empire from ever occurring.

Finally, the Roman Empire (27 BC to 476 AD).  The Republic stalled itself into a one-man show through a series of political conflicts, civil wars, and external wars throughout the expanding Republic.  The evolution into a civilized dictatorship was the only method of existing.  The Senate still held some political power over Emperors......appointing them as each came to an unfortunate end or simply lacked confidence to control the public sentiment.

Toward the end....there were roughly seventy million within the control of the Roman Empire.  Some will say this was between ten and twenty percent of the population on the face of the Earth.  To control this sized group.....they needed the largest Army in existence.  If you drew up a map of then and now.....you'd say forty modern countries fit within the map of the Roman Empire.  Cultures?  There are probably a thousand separate tribes or cultures that easily fit within the same map.

From the sense of timing....the Germanic tribes never realized their potential until it was too late to achieve anything in their favor.  The German culture today....would be a great deal different and probably lesser.....had the Romans never conquered and established a trend in terms of innovation, science, agriculture, and commerce.