Rome and the Invention of the West Essay

The Aeneid

The largest work of the great ancient Roman poet Virgil was his epic poem “The Aeneid.” In ” The Aeneid,” Virgil tells of the adventures of the hero of the Trojan war, Aeneas, who was destined by the gods to stay alive after the destruction of Troy to come to Italy and establish the future Roman state there. The desire to create a national epic while preserving the mythological concept in the poem prompted Virgil to turn to the Homeric poems Iliad and Odyssey. Virgil disposes of his epic material under the influence of Homer: books I – VI tell about the flight of Aeneas from the dying Troy and about his adventures before arriving in Latsium; books VII-XII describe preparation for battle, the battles of Aeneas and his allies with the enemy, the exploits of Aeneas, and his victory over Turn (Johnson 37). Thus, the first part of the poem echoes the Odyssey and the second with the Iliad.

Ovid

In the form of tales, which was quite common in Roman literature and already had its classics, Ovid was able to show full power bright talent, which immediately made his name loud and popular. Finishing the last of these elegies, he portrays himself as glorifying his people as the Peligins, as Mantova owes her fame to Virgil, and Verona to Catullus. Undoubtedly, there is a lot of poetic talent, free, laid-back, sparkling with wit and accuracy of expression, in these elegies, as well as many accurate life observations, attention to detail, and versioning talent, for which there were no metric difficulties. Despite this, most of Ovid’s creative path lay ahead. The study of the formation of statehood in Western Europe during the Early Middle Ages, without a doubt, is one of the key problems in the whole complex of issues related to the period under consideration (Wilkinson 29). In this regard, it is especially important to clarify the level and degree of interpenetration and mutual influence of the elements that existed before and were introduced by Rome and its poets.

Circling the Mediterranean: Europe and the Islamic World

The writing address one of the first interactions between Rome and the primordial Islam world. Karl Musa, the grandson of Karl Martell, nicknamed the Great, first allies with the emperor of the West against Arabs annoying them with raids. Karl swears that he is ready to return with his people to the fold of the Christian church, he is with the army on the Apennine Peninsula and treacherously captures Rome. Most of the provinces of the empire are part of the Frankish Caliphate, proclaimed by Karl. Norwegian king Olaf accepts Islam and brings the Koran and Sharia norms to the Scandinavian world (Gibbon 141). Wilhelm, a native of the Roman caliphate, defeats the Anglo-Saxon King Harold and imposes Mohammed’s doctrine in Britain. Christians retain influence in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the Eastern Roman Empire, with their capital in Constantinople.

The Christian Bible: The New Testament Gospels

The history of Christianity in the Roman Empire covers the period from the birth of Christianity in the first half of the 1st century to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. During the II century, Christianity spread almost throughout the Roman Empire, in the II century, there was extensive apologetic literature, as well as messages and writings of authoritative Christian authors. New Testament Gospels address mostly Rome’s internal term oils, which were not only based on religious views but also influenced by political disbalance of power and corrupt hierarchical structure (Gibbon 85). The Gospels can be used as a source for observing and view the given events from religion’s perspective, which was establishing itself in this new empire.

Works Cited

Gibbon, Edward. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Palala Press, 2015.

Johnson, Ralph. Darkness Visible: A Study of Vergil’s “Aeneid”. The University of Chicago Press, 2015.

Wilkinson, Patrick. Ovid Recalled. Cambridge University Press, 2014.