THE ROMAN LEGACY

When travelling around Europe, North Africa or the Middle East, travellers can see ruins, sections of road lost in forests and plains, headless statues, bridges that are still used. If all we do is observe these beautiful constructions and works of art, we might be tempted to believe that the Roman Empire is dead and has left behind a great selection of beautiful ruins that we continue to admire today. But this is not so, the Roman world has left behind an intangible legacy much more lasting than its imposing works of art or engineering.

The Roman influence is present in the languages spoken today, the literature, the texts that make up our laws, the structures of states, architecture, medicine, sports, art and modern building techniques.

But the Roman world's contribution to the languages we speak today begins from the base: our alphabet, which is the most commonly used in the world, is the same alphabet the Romans created and developed, spreading it all over the western world in their conquests. The same letters we read today are the ones that were read by the ancient Romans in times before Jesus Christ. Latin, like the other great successes of the Roman Empire, was the result of a huge work of engineering, which has led to the language being taught in schools all over the West for the last 2000 years, not only so that students can read the classics, but also so that they can gain a better understanding of the basic mechanisms of language and understand their own language better.

Even for people who have never studied the language, Latin appears in their everyday conversations: Alma mater, alter ego, habeas corpus, ipso facto, persona non grata, per capita... the list is endless.

Undoubtedly, another priceless legacy from the Roman world is Law. The idea of written and coded Law as a legal entity to protect people and control the State was a concept the Romans took from the Greek, but one which they changed from an abstract concept to a practical activity. The system for drawing up the laws of Rome has been inherited by the world's democracies. It was based on a system with two houses in which the laws were first of all adopted by the Comitia, a citizen assembly, and then endorsed by the Senate and enacted in the name of the Senate and the people of Rome.

However, the Roman Legacy can be appreciated in our daily life, in the structure of our towns and cities, the layouts of our streets, the architectural designs of our buildings, which, converted into temples of democracy, justice or finance, have recreated and imitated classic architecture. The intangible but ever-present influence of Rome can be seen in the art, sculpture, painting and literature that have been produced throughout history, in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the modern age and today.

However, the most marvellous thing about the Roman legacy is that the Ancient Romans did not intend to leave behind their testimony as part of history. They designed an alphabet, legislation, a solid road network, cupolas, aqueducts and complex urban structures with features and services for citizens because they believed in doing things well, in things being useful for users, giving them a character of magnificence and durability.