Assignment:
Background to the assignment: As you read, you learned how the Roman value system was very pragmatic. Pragmatism used in the philosophical sense, is a belief system having various forms, but generally stressing practical consequences as constituting the essential criterion in determining meaning, truth, or value. It deals less with theory as well as idealism and more with practicality. This value of being pragmatic explains what the Roman people saw when they interacted with the world around them. They were interpreting their situation by applying their worldview and living their lives accordingly, just as we do today as we interpret the world around us.
Description of the assignment: List at least 3 of their achievements and explain how each of them expressed the pragmatism of the Romans.
Your discourse must indicate that you have an understanding of this value. If you include sources, you must cite your sources in current APA format. This assignment must be 250 to 300 words and must include the word count in parentheses
The main point about Roman pragmatism is that it usually worked, which means that, by definition, the Roman virtues of duty, honor, and love of country were true. When combined with Roman practicality and efficiency, the Roman virtues helped build the mightiest empire that the world had yet seen. Theories, concepts, ideas, and ideals may occupy a higher ground but Roman pragmatism made its civilization the dominant way of life in much of Europe, Noah Africa, and the Middle East.
Notes
1. The very last Antonine was Commodus (reigned 1110-1921. the son of Marcus Aurelius. Anything but illustrious, he was corrupt, demented, and, ultimately, the victim of a household conspiracy.
2. Constantine himself personified Roman decadence. "Twice married, he murdered Crispus, his son by his first wife, in 326. He had his second wife drowned in the bath; killed his eleven-year¬old nephew. then his brother-in-law. after giving his assurance of safe conduct under oath. lie mairilered his co-regent, Lieinius, to become the sole emperor of the West and East." Peter De Rosa, vicars of christ: The Dark Side of the Papacy (New York: Macmillan. 1988). p. 18.