What is the relationship between ancient Greece and Rome and today’s European and American countries?

When most people discuss the history of Europe and the United States, they always go back to the ancient Greek and Roman periods to illustrate that the history of the West is also very long and can be compared with the four major ancient civilizations, and more than 2,000 years ago It is scientific, free and democratic.

Then it is necessary for us to discuss the relationship between Europe and America today and ancient Greece and Rome.

As we all know, most of the current European and American countries are countries founded by Germanic people.

In 476 AD, the Western Roman Empire fell. The Germanic barbarians went south and established many Germanic countries and tribes. After scuffles, these Germanic countries and tribes first established the Merovingian dynasty in 481 and then the Carolingian dynasty in 751.

In 800 AD, Charles was crowned emperor and became the Charlemagne Empire. In 843, it was internally divided into three parts, which were the predecessors of France, Germany and Italy.

The Anglo-Saxons, the ancestors of the British, are also a branch of the Germanic people. The United States was independent from the British colonies, and its residents are mainly European immigrants.

In short, the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and other Western European countries were all countries established by Germanic people, and of course some local indigenous people were integrated into them. Most of the countries in Eastern Europe were founded by Slavs.

Whether they are Germans or Slavs, they are not the same nation at all as the ancient Romans who established the Roman Empire.

According to research by modern scholars, the Germans and the ancient Romans were not even the same race. The ancient Romans and Greeks were probably not white, but yellow.

Let’s not discuss whether ancient Greece and Rome were yellow people for now. Anyway, the Germanic people and the ancient Romans are not the same nation. The Roman Empire established by the ancient Romans had basically nothing to do with the Germanic people.

In 395 AD, the Roman Empire split into Eastern Rome and Western Rome. In fact, in order to avoid the German barbarians, the rulers of the Roman Empire abandoned the western part of the empire and established the new capital Constantinople in the east. Shift the center of gravity of the empire from the west to the east.

In other words, the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Rome) that perished in 1453 was the orthodox Roman Empire. The Holy Roman Empire established by the Germans was just a copycat. It was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.

So, what is the relationship between the Germans and the ancient Romans?

They are two completely unrelated ethnic groups, not even remotely related to each other.

The Germanic barbarians destroyed Western Rome. The Fourth Crusade captured Constantinople and greatly weakened the Byzantine Empire, which eventually led to the destruction of Byzantium by the Ottoman Empire.

For the ancient Romans, the Germans were invading barbarians, just like the Huns, Xianbei, Jie, Qiang, Di and other barbarian peoples during the Five Hus Period.

The relationship between the Germanic countries and the Roman Empire (including Eastern Rome) is probably like the relationship between the early Northern Wei Dynasty and the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

Of course, the Northern Wei Dynasty carried out Sinicization reforms during the periods of Empress Dowager Feng and Emperor Xiaowen. The Northern Wei Dynasty during the period of Emperor Xiaowen was no different from the Han regime.

Now that the relationship between the Germanic people and the ancient Romans is clear, what is the relationship between the current European and American countries and ancient Rome?

Let’s put it this way, it is probably equivalent to the relationship between Japan and China.

China and Japan are two nations, and China took the lead in entering a civilized society. Japan has been in contact with China since the Eastern Han Dynasty. It has been influenced by Chinese culture since the Northern and Southern Dynasties. It has sent students to China since the Sui Dynasty. It has learned from China for more than a thousand years and has been deeply influenced by Chinese culture.

The influence of Chinese culture on Japan is definitely greater than the influence of ancient Rome on Europe and the United States.

Summary: The relationship between Europe and America and ancient Rome is like the relationship between Japan and China. The relationship between Europe and America and ancient Greece is even further than that of ancient Rome.

The history of Western European countries is the history of the Germans, which can be traced back to the barbarian invasion of Western Rome. The history of ancient Rome and ancient Greece cannot actually be regarded as the history of European and American countries. It is just that European and American countries were influenced by the culture of ancient Greece and Rome.

No matter how deeply influenced Japan is by Chinese culture, it cannot regard the history of Chinese civilization as the history of Japan. In the same way, Europe and the United States cannot regard the history of ancient Greece and Rome as their own history.