Western civilization concepts and historical overview

¶ … history of the eastern half of the Roman Empire is so different from the western half. It also discusses the factors that contributed to a distinctive Western European culture.

The basic reason for striking difference between the history of the eastern and the western parts of the Roman Empire was the geographical distance between the two. When the Roman Republic expanded following the defeat of Carthage and annexation of Greece and Asia Minor by the Romans, it was not easy for the central government in Rome to effectively rule the distant corners of its territories due to the slow communication and transportation at the time. Hence, even before the advent of the Roman Empire in 27 BC, the territories of the Roman Republic had been divided for administrative and political reasons. The Eastern and Western provinces of the Empire had distinctive cultural and historical backgrounds. For example, the areas encompassing the East had previously been conquered by Alexander the Great and retained its Greek and Macedonian culture while the West had retained its Gallic and Celtic roots. Political, military, and economic developments in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, divided the Empire into distinct Eastern and Western parts, ruled by different Emperors. Even so, both parts of the Empire retained their Roman identity while incorporating local cultural influences.

The Roman era legacy was the single most important factor in the development of a distinctive Western European culture. Latin language (from which most European languages such as French, Spanish and Catalan evolved) and Roman law are perhaps the greatest legacy of the Romans to the Western Civilization. After the decline of the Western Roman Empire, however, there was a gradual revival of the Celtic culture and a corresponding decline of Roman culture in Europe during the Middle Ages. During the Renaissance, interest in the Greco-Roman civilization was revived and the ancient civilization's highly developed art, literature, philosophy and language left a lasting influence-in fact, helped shape the Modern Western Civilization. (Mellor, 2006)