1. Emily Manzo<br />Pd 1<br />March 6, 2011<br />Compare/Contrast Essay<br />Celts vs. Romans<br />At first glance, the Romans and the Celts appear very different, yet if you take a closer look there are many similarities. Even though Rome was more of a united culture than the Celts were, their military was the same in a few ways. The belief in gods and goddesses was a shared trait, although they worshipped them differently. A key part in any culture is government, in which the Romans were very much different from the Celts. If you look past what you see at first, you will find that the Romans and the Celts shared many traits, and differed as well, in their military system, their religion, and their government. <br />The Roman military was well organized while the Celtic military was scattered. Different tribes would join into battle when they felt it was necessary. The Roman military worked as one large group, whereas the Celtic military worked in smaller groups in battle. Although they had different sizes of groups, they both had large numbers. In both cultures male warriors made up the majority of the military, although women were allowed to warriors in the Celtic culture.<br />Both cultures believed in an afterlife. Gods and goddesses were worshipped, and each culture had different ways of honoring them. The Celts believed in human sacrifice, their philosophy was “a life for a life”. They left offerings around where they believed the gods abided to get on their good side. In Roman culture however, human sacrifice was highly frowned upon, and in most cases illegal. The Romans built temples and had banquets for worshipping the gods. Romans and the Celts both believed that the gods lived everywhere, in trees, bushes, etc. <br />Rome was more of a united nation than the Celts were. In both governments, people were elected. The exception being that in Celtic society king or chiefs were elected in different clans, whereas, two members of the senate were elected to be the head of the government. The senate was made up of the noble and wealthy families of Rome and they made the laws and controlled spending. The members of the senate where chosen by the consuls. The civilians that were chosen to be members had to serve for life, as did Celtic kings or chiefs. In clans everyone was closely blood-related while in the Roman government people weren’t chosen for blood-related reasons. <br />Taking a look at what makes the larger picture of the Romans and the Celts, we find that as much as they seem to be different, they are very much the same. Both cultures were able to find a military system that worked well for them, in different ways. Their belief systems were very close in comparison, little things showed differences though. While their governments seem as though they couldn’t be any more different, there are many ways in which they are alike. <br />