Are the (romans of jesus' time) the present-day italians?

Question

helping my kids with world history..

Answer 1

Some Italians are descendants of Romans.  Although, one is going to find that it is virtually impossible to possess a pure pedigree.

Answer 2

At the time of Jesus, although Rome (as others have pointed out) covered a vast area, not all in that empire were considered "Roman".

There were different levels of being, with 'citizens' having more rights than non-citizen subject people. For rights of citizens, view this site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_citiz...

A later Emperor Caracalla, in order to increase the tax base, and the army recruitment base declared all those free within the Empire were Roman citizens.

But at the time of Jesus not all of Italy was 'Roman'.

Later on, the Roman empire was divided into two, with the eastern half being centred at Constantinople (now Istambul). It continued on until the mid-1400's and always considered itself Roman, even though, after the 500s all laws, reflecting the language of the people, were made in Greek.

Answer 3

I would say so. But explain them were rome is and how the roman empire developed.

Answer 4

The Roman Empire in Jesus' day covered a huge amount of territory. Present-day Italy was included in that territory, so I guess the answer would be that some of them are. The first Romans would have been from just the city of Rome. Over the years, they expanded their rule the include all of Italy and then all of the land around the Mediterranean Sea.

Answer 5

Only on the Italian pennisula.  The Roman Empire granted 'citizenship' to its subjects of non-Italian descent.  Thus the 'barbarians' of the Roman colonies eventually became 'Roman' through the citizenship process, even though they bore no relationship with the original patrician founders of Rome; such as the blue-eye blonde haired Germanics and Britons.

But yes, the Romans eventually became the modern day Italians.

Answer 6

I'm guessing so but like everyone else says the Roman empire covered half of Europe so I guess.

Answer 7

Remember, Rome was a city-state, much like the Greek city states like Sparta or Athens.  Romans would eventually expand its borders by way of conquest and these new people that their homes incorporated by the Roman empire became Roman citizens.  

So as others have pointed out, the original "Roman" was from the city of present day Rome, thus they are indeed Italians.  On a side note, Rome was founded by Romulus.  He was supposedly, a descendant of people who trace their lineage to when the refugees of the fallen city of Troy later ended up on the shores of present day Italy and interbred with the indigenous "Latins."

Answer 8

They are SOOO different in character that you can't compare them.

Modern Italians (in Europe)  think of themselves as sophisticated, artistic, worldly, and very, very peace-oriented.  The ancient Romans would be thought of as vulgar and warlike, in comparison.  (Though of course, they achieved much.) A Roman hero would have been Julius Ceasar; an Italian hero would be Michelangelo.

Italian-Americans are considered another breed altogether

(by Italians in Europe) as they're seen as highly-nationalistic

(attached to the US, instead of worldly), materialistic, and highly addicted to fatty foods.  Their heros might be Lee Iacocca, or Nancy Pelosi.

Italian-Canadians fall somewhere between Italians in Europe and Italian-Americans.

Answer 9

If you're asking if the people living in Italy today are descended from the people living there in 1 AD, then the answer is "yes, but...".

The original inhabitants of the peninsula didn't go anywhere, but Imperial Rome attracted people from all over the empire. As the empire was crumbling in the 5th century, Germanic tribes moved in. A German tribe called the Lombards eventually took over the northern part of Italy (still called Lombardy) and a little later, the Arabs conquered Sicily and stayed there a few hundred years.

All these people intermarried with the original inhabitants and with one another, so, just like in most of the world, the gene pool is all messed up.