The humanities, or the study of what makes us human, are extremely important in one’s cultural education. Learning about subjects such as biology, calculus, or chemistry are important, don’t get me wrong. There is just something of greater necessity in learning about why people act the way they do and learning to discuss important and controversial topics with others.
Without having the ability to discuss and debate with others, we rob ourselves of the insight that comes from other people. There are ideas that we have that we may never have considered without thorough discussion of humanity and life in general.
One thing that I am starting to gain interest in from taking Humanities Core is empire, specifically modern day empire. To outline my views on empire I will look at and go through the history and building of the Empire State Building and how it relates to the building of the Roman Empire. I find this very appropriate as the building itself has been around through the redefining of empire from an ancient and extremely powerful governing power to its modern business applications.
Just as Rome started as a small city in Italy in the eighth century B.C., the Empire state building was once a piece of farmland in the middle of New York back owned by a man named John Thompson in 1799, when it was worth a mere $2,600. The farm was sold in 1825 to Charles Lawton for $10,000 who then sold it 2 years later for $20,500 to John Jacob Astor. In a matter of 28 years, the property value increased drastically.
The first commercial building on the property was not erected until 1897, when Mrs. William Backhouse Astor had the Waldorf Astoria hotel built. In 1828 the hotel was sold to Bethlehem Engineering Corporation for about $20 million. One year later Empire State Inc. came to be.
Construction of the building began in 1930, the framework was built at the rapid rate of 4.5 stories per week! Rome was not built in a day and neither was the Empire State building, but modern empire building is a lot faster than it was in ancient times.
For the purpose of the Roman Empire to Empire State building connection, business deals should be seen as battles and wars, with the Roman Empire gaining land and the Empire State gaining value. From 753-264 B.C. the small city of Rome took over the entire peninsula of Italy through many gruesome battles won through relentless effort. By 146 B.C. Rome expanded into Sicily, much of Spain, Carthage, and Macedonia through the 3 Punic wars and the Macedonian wars.
Rome and the Empire State both went from being small and easily overlooked to huge empires. These are examples of both ancient and modern empires. Rome, an ancient and powerful civilization of people that covered a vast amount of land throughout Europe and parts of Africa and Asia, took centuries to build. The Empire State Building, a building that was originally owned by Empire State Inc. and since has been purchased by various companies and is now owned by Empire State Realty Trust and the offices inside can be leased, was built in a few years and has since changed hands through business deals, increasing its value over decades.
Rome’s construction was basically completed by 117 A.D., 870 years after Rome was originally established. It is known as one of if not the greatest empire in history. Rome is an iconic symbol of ancient empire.
The Empire State Building changed hands several times over the years and is now worth an estimated $550 million. It was once a humble farm and was built into what it is today, 217 years later. It has only been 85 years since the Empire State Building was built. The Empire State Building is an iconic symbol of modern empire.
Modern and ancient empire have many differences and similarities. Ancient empires took centuries to build and grew through gruesome wars. Modern empires are built much more quickly and grow through business and real estate deals. Both ancient and modern empires are extremely powerful and reach people all over the world. Business empires reach them through expansion of companies and ancient empires do so through expanding their borders and making trade deals.
Humanities allow us to discuss and interpret the meanings of words such as empire. The meanings of such words evolve over time and it is important to understand how this happens. It is amazing how the evolution of a word, such as empire, can teach us so much about the world and its history.
*Roman information: http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/ancient-rome
*Empire State Building information: http://www.esbnyc.com/explore/historical-timeline
Empire state of mind 
I’d like to expand on the points you make about the comparison of Roman empire to the Empire State building. You mentioned that the Empire State building is an iconic symbol. The Empire State building being so much up higher compared to other buildings around it is itself a figure of dominance.
I think it really represents the power that comes with a prosperous economy and the hierarchy in the business world, which are ideas that were also very relevant to the Roman empire. Power strengthens the empire and hierarchy brings stability. In both these cases, power and hierarchy supports each other to maintain the empires.
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The comparison between the uprisings of the Roman empire and the Empire State building is a great analysis. I love how you were able to bring something from our modern day world to great consideration in regards to the power of ancient Rome. However, I would like to elaborate on your overall point in this blog post; instead of comparing an ancient world-dominating empire to a powerful modern building, maybe compare an powerful ancient Roman building to the Empire State building? The comparison you’ve made is highly analytical, but I think it would be more deeply meaningful if you compared the Pantheon or the Colosseum to the Empire State building.
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