Rome’s Political System
Despite its legacy of accomplishments, ancient Rome is often thought of as lacking an ‘Enlightenment.’ While what exactly constitutes the Enlightenment is up for debate, many suggest that for an intellectual movement to be considered an ‘Enlightenment,’ it must promote the superiority of reason, intellectual curiosity, and challenge laws, customs, and institutions. Rome was a complex, hierarchical political system, and its freedom of thought was limited by its political structure.
First, Rome could be characterized as a monarchy. Though it was a Republic, it was at its heart autocratic in nature. While there were small amounts of freedom of speech and expression, Rome’s leaders were overwhelmingly concerned with maintaining order and supremacy. Moreover, they had a bias towards conserving the laws and traditions of their predecessors. Julius Caesar himself, for example, reintroduced a law that allowed him to appoint senators rather than have them elected. This concentrated power in the hands of a few, and curbed the kind of dissent and debate that marks the Enlightenment era.
Rome’s hierarchical social system also discouraged dissent. Social mobility was virtually non-existent, as Rome’s citizens were committed to the social roles and stations that had been assigned to them by birth. Though the potential for urban uprisings did exist, due to the discontent of the poorer classes, they were generally suppressed by the ruling classes, as “they thought open debate too chaotic to be beneficial.” The lower classes often felt unable to challenge the status quo – and even if they did, their calls for reform were typically ignored or overruled.
Rome’s Tolerance for Other Views
Rome’s intellectuals and scholars, such as those at the university in Alexandria, were involved in lively debates and discourses. But ironically, Rome’s tolerance for different points of view was in some ways its downfall. Rome was open to incorporating foreign ideas, cultures, and religions, which led to an amalgamation of everything from Greek philosophy to Egyptian gods. This ‘eclecticism’ injected foreign ideas into Roman culture, altering the traditional ways of life and belief systems, which could have “prompted the deaths of Roman cultures and traditions.” This diversity of beliefs ultimately made it difficult for something like the Enlightenment, which was based on reason and critical thinking, to take hold.
Rome’s Religious Climate
In addition to its political and social systems, Rome’s religious culture hindered it from experiencing an Enlightenment. Rome was largely polytheistic, believing in many gods and goddesses rather than a single, unified conception of divinity. This conflated idea of a divine power prevented the presence of a single, unifying ideology. Additionally, many of the traditional religious practices involved ritualized violence and the notion of proclivity to one’s fate, both of which were seen as obstacles to the move towards reason and critical thinking.
Moreover, human sacrifice and superstition were still common among the Roman citizens. Before the Pax Romana period under Caesar Augustus, for example, it was thought that disasters and other upheavals were acts of divine punishment. This notion was very much at odds with the idea of the divine order that is espoused by the Enlightenment thinkers. Rome’s religious beliefs, then, were a major factor in its failure to experience an Enlightenment.
Influence of Greco-Roman Culture
Despite failing to experience an Enlightenment, Rome had a major influence on the development of the renaissance and Enlightenment traditions that developed later in Europe. Historically, social and religious aspects of Greco-Roman culture had already been influencing early Christianity. The new religion of Christianity “made inroads into Roman culture as it asserted its own ideas, beliefs, and practices that emerged during the Roman period”.
This process would later transform Europe, eventually leading to the birth of the Enlightenment. Rome, then, even if it did not experience an Enlightenment itself, played a crucial role in laying the groundwork for the Enlightenment that would eventually spread throughout Europe.
The Influence of Roman Law
Roman law also served as a critical component for the development an Enlightenment, as many of its principles would form the basis for modern legal systems. Roman thinkers were among the first to create legal theories for a complex system of law, as well as for codifying and documenting these laws. This law code, known as the Corpus Iuris Civilis, was an important source of influence for legal theorists who began to develop theories of natural rights, government powers, and civil responsibility during the Enlightenment.
Roman Architecture
The reign of the Roman Empire also left a major architectural impact on Europe. Roman architecture and infrastructure influenced the development of modern cities and towns across Europe and provided a framework for the development of large-scale engineering projects. The technological innovations of the Roman Empire, such as concrete and aqueducts, allows Europe to make large strides in technological development, eventually laying the groundwork for further advances during the Enlightenment.
Christianity and the Roman Emperor
In 312 AD, Roman Emperor Constantine I legalized Christianity in the Edict of Milan, effectively bringing it into the mainstream of Roman life. This allowed Christian teachings and ideas to slowly become interwoven with Roman culture, eventually leading to the intellectual movement known as the Enlightenment.
The Roman Church had a major role in influencing the religious ideas of the Enlightenment, which began to incorporate principles from faith in both reason and divine power. This amalgamation of beliefs would eventually inform the development of many of the scientific, political, and philosophical ideas that were paramount to the Enlightenment.
Rome’s Legacy
Ultimately, despite the fact that Rome did not experience an Enlightenment era in its own right, its legacy paved the way for future innovations in Europe. From its political system to its unique religious climate, the Roman Empire laid many of the foundational components for the Enlightenment and intellectual thought. Rome’s experience in polytheism, legal documentation, technological advancement, and infrastructure laid the groundwork for modern society and allowed the Enlightenment to eventually take hold.
Though Rome did not experience an Enlightenment itself, its impact on the development of Europe was paramount. It laid the groundwork for the spread of intellectual thought and contributed to the development of many of the ideas that are central to Enlightenment thinking. Rome’s legacy, then, still reverberates today in the way we think, act, and live
