What we owe to the Ancient World….

It may seem in our present day world of machinery, air travel and science, that the way people lived centuries ago has little meaning or importance.  But if we stop to think, we shall find that the foundation of almost all that we do and believe in, lie in ancient times.  Since the rise of town dwelling in Egypt and Sumeria, some 6,000 years ago, there has been an increasing knowledge and belief in the importance of good conduct, despite all the setbacks caused by innumerable wars and disasters.

Apart from power driven machinery, the people of the Ancient World invented almost all the processes and arts of civilized living.  Farming, building, road and canal making, trading methods, reading and writing all have developed from their beginnings in the Middle East.  We owe many less important discoveries, such as the manufacture of clothes, pottery, furniture and even of central heating, jewellery and ladies’ make-up, to people who lived centuries before Christ.

The Greeks, more than any other people, gave us ideals and standards of beauty in sculpture, building and literature.  They also founded the modern spirit of enquiry into the world we live in,  through their discoveries in physics, mathematics, astronomy and medicine.  Most important of all, perhaps, they showed us that good government depends upon the interest and effort of all citizens.

The Romans, less artistic but more practical, extended the Greek civilization, not so much by inventing as by improving on the ideas of others.  They built better roads, bridges, and aqueducts than any other people, and they understood big business and how to govern many lands with different peoples and religions.  Above all, the Romans taught the importance of respect for law, and under their rule the Christian Church grew up.  It is Christian teaching, together with the discoveries and ideas of the past, which is the basis of our present day lives.