Response to answers
Part 1
Question 1
The village was an essential component in the development of the modern city as it is as observed by Mumford in his work. The main reason why the village held such a central role in shaping the character and form of their resultant cities is due to the intimacy that the village holds. The standing institutions as can be seen today are the result of numerous interactions between people and people and their environment. By the continued awareness people gained by living in the village, norms were established, traditions born and rules made governing against what is right and wrong and what is socially acceptable and what isn’t. it was easy to relate to each other in the village as everyone always knew everyone else and as such meeting expectations was not as hard as it is in the city. This ease of interaction aided in creating harmonious interactions with any offenders facing outrageous punishment. This bred a culture of law adherence among the village folk.
Question 2
Devotion to the development of our deepest humanity is a noble cause that is pursued by communities or individuals who are interested with the realization of their potential to be complete persons. This environment is present where people are content and guided by a strong sense of responsibility for each other’s welfare. The Hellenistic villages held a strong sense of intimacy and the people devoted their effort towards developing their deepest humanity. This is evident by the amount of art traced to their age. Art being an advanced form of human expression, inference being that Hellenistic villages had reached descent levels of self-realization. In contrast however the rush and squabble over existence between individuals makes them to develop into persons primed for competition and collision over resources, identity and even authority. This is exemplified by the Roman Empire rise and fall covered by Mumford.
Question 3
Communication used to be wholesome and engaging in the past. Word of mouth was the prime media used to communicate even to your fiercest of enemies. It is necessary that you be at close quarters with a person to communicate to them through word of mouth. This closeness nurtures the intimacy of a relationship as emotions are accommodated into the wider meaning of the message. Communication even though much harder to effect, was much richer. Modern times have brought with them an increase in the number of activities that people are involved in and as such, a majority of people cannot hold meaningful conversation between them due to the diversity in their lives. This has led to people retreating into their selves and social media where the intuitive need to communicate expressed
Part two.
Question 1
In alluding that the polis is made of different identities, it is worthy to note that the different individual identities are related by virtue of being one. This is to imply that in their diversity, they are tolerant of each other and are supportive of each individual’s journey towards being a complete person. The polis enjoyed a great deal of diversity in its composition, which led to a rich and enduring manifestation of human social potential through art, literature social services and booming trade in addition. Rome in the other hand was preoccupied with the formal and concrete forms of coexistence such as building great architectural pieces and drafting complex legislations. These aspects only contributed to the nurturing of aesthetic model citizens while they were in fact largely discontent and disillusioned due to the suffocating nature of their environments to their desire to develop into complete persons.
Question 2
In the reference to the ancient Greek social behavior, they were able to build bonds at these social gatherings be it sentencing hearings or even games. Through their interaction, they formed bonds with each other and had the mutual feeling of belonging into their city. In modern day society it nigh to impossible to develop our deepest sense of humanity due to the highly fractured nature of our cities. It is not alien that most neighbors in our modern metropolis know each other let alone care for each other’s welfare. This has arisen since everyone is involved in different activities thus there is little to no room for caring about each other. The modern polis is an illusion and can hardly be achieved let alone be conceived. However many superhero movies tend to do very well since people have that innate need to care for each other and tend to find the all giving all caring super hero characters in the movie appealing. That is the closest we have come at achieving a polis.
Question 3
The size and composition of these cities largely determined their nature and character. Whereas the polis preferred to keep its population small and intimate, Rome was an expansion prowl taking in whomever she subdued. The relative small numbers enjoyed by the polis ensure that they remained acquainted while the roman inhabitants were mainly Romans due to their residence there and falling under the same political authority. City residents, as spectators to the games on offer, exhibited characteristics in line with their own experiences and expectations. The circus in Rome enjoyed success due to the need for synthetic entertainment due to the hollowness of the soul of the city. This is evident with its eventual collapse and emergence of individual acts along the streets. The actual position of Romans enjoying gladiatorial contests shows that they cared not about anyone’s welfare rather than their own.
In sharp contrast however, the polis developed well-regulated games, which were as a form of recreation and socializing. The Olympics have their roots in ancient Greek. This version of competition served as a form of celebrating power without being destructive. The endurance of these games since then has served to prove that they originated from a pure human need to test themselves and get admiration for it.
Part 3
Question 1
The closeness enjoyed by the medieval family was important to them in the sense that they were able to forge strong social ties amongst themselves. The activities of life that they undertook were similar to persons of a particular age group and as such, they were able to know when a member was in a problem and assist them appropriately. The saying a family that prays together stays together stays together is indeed apt as these communities were able to stick together by virtue of having to do all their activities together. The church acted primarily as place for spiritual renewal, but also served another purpose of being a social hub where the members of the society could congregate and interact. This greatly improved the compactness of the medieval society as spiritualism greatly advocates for caring for others needs.
Question 2
The relocation of Rome’s businesses to the hills and more guarded locations was a clear manifestation of the society it had helped nature. The feeling of insecurity felt by the roman traders emanated from the continued emphasis on market capitalization of resources and institution of laws and institutions to the ruin of personal humanity communal morality. The expression by Mumford, ‘Old habits clung fast due to life becoming more seemingly insecure the shop fronts would be bricked in too, for protection, but the older type, fully open to the street’, supports this. The anxiousness felt about insecurity was not universal but among those that had property this is an indication of the class of people Rome had created those that hate the law and have contempt social systems.
Question 3
The monastics are a representation of the general population of Rome, disillusioned, tired and frustrated. They however moved out to form monastic village. They built their villages walled to avoid insecurity, which must have escalated in the day. Some of the disillusioned people who also opted to move out of Rome joined them in their villages, which rapidly grew into settlements. With the monastics vouching a Christian life, the settlements were able to form around them as their axis. Because the people were free, and due to the advanced services, the monastics offered, trade and settlements grew, but the major reason that these rising settlements grew so fast was that there was a worse place from where people were running from. Rome.
