Need help from those whove studied italy!!?

Question

how is the world of rome during augustus' time different from that of the renaissance in florence? any answers or thoughts would help please!

Answer 1

Curious that nobody has given you an answer to your  question. Any student of History can see what your are getting at:

The Renaissance is a “return” to the classic era of Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece, with their love  for harmony, beauty and the fullness of life, which, shall we say, “went astray” after the fall of the Empire and vanished slowly in a sea of barbaric, earthy  values.

The Rome of Augustus is the era I love most in it’s History (I took an office for about 5 years right in front of his Mausoleum), when the Morals and Ethics of the Republic were still alive and the arrogance and complacency of the Empire had not yet set in. Life was exciting at the “hub of the World”; “civis romanus sum” was not the simple statement “I am a Roman”, it rang with the pride and self assuredness  that you could roam the known Earth and were respected for your integrity and the protection your city gave you.

Renaissance Florence  (my Mams birthplace), was a completely different piece of cake. Life was Russian Roulette, you could just as well die from the unhygienic  conditions as from  being waylaid by a rival or a criminal. Not a nice time to stroll the streets. The “Roman baths” and running water and closets were part of a distant past, which would return in the 19-20th Century. I don’t want to idealise Ancient Rome, it was violent, civil wars abounded, but standards had certainly dropped and although  Ã¢Â€ÂœItaly” could lay claim to a Religious, Artistic and Commercial hub, the “Power”, the Unity without frontiers and the Pax Romana were gone. Try reading two comparative authors for details Cicero and Machiavelli. You’ll notice the difference, the former open, illuminated and with Ethical standards, the latter, whom I nevertheless like, a cynical realist, a “survivor” and apostle of craftiness in it’s worst stages, the celebration of crude unadulterated and sinister power.

In terms of religion Augustus was pretty tolerant, “persecution” as some later  Emperors practiced was virtually unknown, Legionnaires  brought all sorts of creeds home from the far reaching provinces and everybody practiced freely. Not so in Florence, where they even reached a heady puritanical period, introduced by  a monk from Ferrara, called Savonarola, where works of art were burned because they “offended the Lord”.   The two rival factions (Guelphs for the Pope and Ghibellines for the Emperor) mirrored this pseudo religious fervour.

The philosophy of Ancient Rome was part stoic, essential (Roman roots), part sophistic and dialectical (Greek influence), part mystic and existentialist (Eastern influence).

Florence began re discovering these various roots, which were the basics of the Renaissance, and managed to feed them into a splendid celebration of Life, Art and Culture, not  to mention Innovation (Leonardo). They re invented "Banks" (comes from the Italian "banco") and enhanced global commerce, just like in Augustus' time.

Answer 2

I live in Italy in Florence town..I understand english ..but I don't understand your question !! Between Augustus imperator and "reinassance" there are 1500 years of difference !