18 ramy The Footprints of Time
by Charles Bancroft
(excerpt from "Section VI. The Roman Republic")
The Romans, more than any other people of ancient times, understood how to establish a well-ordered state. Respect for order and law among
them was very great. The idea of a government with a definite constitution, which the rulers should always respect, and which should be an
adequate protection to the people against oppression, had never occurred to any of the Asiatic nations
... She [Rome] had a genius for producing and preserving a constitution, adding to it by slow degrees, maintaining checks and balances that
preserved the machinery in working order, and rendered it capable of producing the most valuable results that were possible in those times. To
rule was her passion. She was not wanting in intelligence, but it was the homely prudence of common life, the skill to adapt means to ends. Of all
the nations, she was the first to carry organization into every part of her government, and conduct everything by inexorable system and order. If
Rome was resolved to rule others, she was no less resolved to rule herself. The mission of Greece was in the domain of thought, to develop the
intellectual capabilities of mankind. That of Rome also required intelligence, but of a lower and more material kind. She was to teach mankind to
follow an orderly development, to introduce system, to prevent ruinous clashing of interests, to teach respect for law. Greece taught the world to
think to purpose; Rome to govern with effect. Each served an important purpose.
Which statement best expresses the central idea of the passage?
ОА
The Romans were superior to the Greeks in many ways, including government.
The Romans valued organization and order in all parts of the government.
ОВ.
Ос.
The Greeks valued intelligence more than the Romans.
D.
The Greeks valued the intellectual capabilities of people.
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