1. Jesse Hall
Period 5
March 7,2011
Time Traveller Compare and Contrast Essay
The Vikings and Romans
The Vikings and Romans are two great civilizations. Both of the
civilizations existed at different times, but they are alike in a few ways. The
Viking and Roman civilizations are great in warfare, they have a powerful
government, and conversions in religion.
The Vikings and Romans made some of the greatest achievements in
history. Both of the civilizations invaded large landmasses, however the Vikings
invaded mostly Europe, and the Romans invaded the southern part of Europe,
northern Africa, the Greek Empire, and the Persian Empire. The Vikings way of
warfare differs from the Romans way of warfare by the fact that the Vikings led
unorderly raids on villages using men as the most powerful weapon for
fighting. The Romans, on the other hand, used men and catapults as one of the
best weapons as well as the greek Hoplite Phalanx. In a basic sense, the
Vikings led raids, while the Romans led actual wars against other civilizations,
Because the Vikings fought maybe for a day when the Romans would fight for
years.

2. The Vikings, unlike the Romans, had a vast amount of kings that led their
empire. The Romans however were controlled by aristocrats in the early years
of their civilization, and later the Romans moved to kings, and many of whom
ruled like tyrants. Overtime, the Roman culture developed the sense that to be
a king of Rome was a bad thing, and the term “king” was like a “bad word.” So
the Romans moved to emperors and at sometimes the emperors would declare
themselves dictator over the empire. The Vikings and Romans are some of the
examples of the best rulers in history.
The Vikings were pagans. They believed in many gods. The Vikings
believed in two places for their afterlife. One place was a foggy underworld
called Niflheim. You only went to Niflheim when you didn’t die in battle. The
other place was called Valhalla. Warriors that died in war and not of natural
causes. In this heaven, dead heroes feasted at long tables., and to get to
Valhalla was to die in battle, and to be picked up by the Valkyries, warrior-
maidens that fly through the sky sent by Odin, and they would be brought by
the Valkyries to Valhalla. Some of the Viking Gods were Odin, Frigg, Balder,
Freyja, Freyr, Thor, and Loki. They lived up in a sky world called Asgard. They
had many myths. When the Vikings settled in England during the 900s C.E., the
majority of the Vikings adopted Christianity, while some practiced their old
religion. The Romans to believed in many gods. When the a Roman citizen
died, it was believed that they went to the underworld. The gods that the

3. Romans believed in were like humans but with magical powers. The Roman
gods were part of a family like the Viking gods. The Romans also told myths
about their gods too. A few of the Roman gods were Saturn, Jupiter, Juno,
Neptune, Minerva, Mars, and Venus. Overtime, like the Vikings, the Romans
adopted Christianity as the state religion.
The Vikings and Romans were very much alike, but yet so different.
Unlike the Vikings, the Romans had an organized military, were the first
civilization to have a dictator, and took after the Greeks in ideas. The Vikings
on the other hand were skilled in exploration, and were experts in warfare. The
Viking and Roman civilizations are great in warfare, they have a powerful
government, and conversions in religion.

4. Resources in
MLA Format:
Encyclopedia Britannica. “Roman Empire.” Encyclopedia Britannica,
Inc. 2006:
n.page. SIRS Discoverer. <http://discoverer.prod.sirs.com/
discoweb/
disco/
do/article?urn=urn%3Asirs%3AUS%3BARTICLE
%3BART
%3B0000224603.> March 8, 2011.
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" T h e R o m a n s . " B B C . B B C , 2 8 / M a r / 1 1 . We b . 2 9 M a r 2 0 1 1 . < h t t p : / /
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