TheRealMafoo said:
I guess the reason I have a hard time picking them (and the US), is while both have had a huge impact on the world, what they have really done is expand the Romans culture (granted a lot of things have changed too). I think the Romans were the first people who took over nations, with the belief that doing so would make that country a better place. Most of the time they were right. The British and the US do the same. There is this feeling of doing the right thing that's part of there culture. This is Roman influence however, and not British. Every time the Brits did this kind of thing, it was an example of why the Romans had such an influence. We do get our language from the british, but not sure that's such a great thing. As far as languages go, English kind of sucks. |
...Wow. No. Roman culture = greek culture. Historians marvel at how Greek culture took over Roman culture despite Rome taking over Greece.
The Romans were hardly the first to conquer another land. That's been going on since the beginning of human history.
While English certainly orginated in England, English isn't some original language. It's heavily based on North German and French with some Latin as well. You have Norse and French invaders to thank for the language we speak today.
That said, Rome does deserve a lot of credit for how Britain turned out today. Before Rome conquered the British Isles, it was primarily Celtic. If it hadn't been for Rome and the people they sent to rule there, the history of the British Isles would have been very different.
You also said China was to focused on its self to be influential. While that's true in some regards, it's not a very accurate statement. First, it wasn't that China was focused on its self, as it did plenty of exploration, and had plenty of contact with surrounding countries. Hell, the great majority of its musical instruments are originally foreign. However, China never cared about what the rest of the world was doing technologically. There was a good reason for that. Until the Renaissance, they were LIGHT YEARS ahead of everyone else. It's not like pretended the West didn't exist; it's just when emmisaries came they were like "Pfft, what can YOU give US?" Many of China's major inventions found their way over to the West. The flow of knowledge was kind of a one way stream.
Also, so what if China didn't influence the West as much as Greece or Rome? Western civilization only accounts for half of the world's population. The other half was led and influenced by China for thousands of years.
I guess my point is, Western history features far too many influential civilizations for one to be deemed the most influential. However, China was easily the most influential civilization in Eastern history, and was light years ahead of the West. They represented the pinnacle of civilzation for the great majority of human history, and influenced the ENTIRE WORLD with much of their progression.
