Rome's greatest achievement was to move beyond the limited political process of city-states and develop a world-state with the various nations of the Mediterranean. In the eighth century BC, the peasant communities as well as the Etruscan towns located south of the Greek cities were absorbed by the Romans. Throughout this century, the Romans acquired architectural styles and skills in road building, sanitation, hydraulic engineering, including underground pipes. In the 6th century, Rome transformed into a republic, landowners, aristocrats and patricians overthrew the Etruscan king, and religion ruled the people, dictated. the laws and legitimized the reign of the patricians. As they evolved, the Romans loosened the grip between religion and politics and gradually implemented a constitutional system similar to that of the Greeks, with rational and secular political and legal interests. The sudden growth of the constitution was the result of a conflict known as the "Struggle of the Orders" between the patricians and the plebeians (commoners). Patricians owned most of the land and controlled the army. There was constant struggle between the plebeians and the patricians over grievances which resulted in slavery and discord with the patricians. However, they knew that Rome could not afford to do without the plebeians due to the constant war on the Italian peninsula. In the 5th century, the plebeians gained the right to form their own assembly and gradually achieved legal equality. Following the Plebeian Revolt, around 450 BC, the first Roman code of laws was written (called the Twelve Tablets). The plebeians enjoyed some protection against the unfair practices of the patricians. However, despite the many reforms, Rome... middle of paper ......17 "Martin Luther" opposed the Catholic Church's practice of selling indulgences. He placed notices on church doors denouncing corrupt practices. He believed that good works alone could not bring salvation. The Reformation spread throughout Northern Europe. The Catholic Church had no choice but to respond to the Protestant Reformation and it did so in the late 1530s through the Spanish reformer “Loyola”. He formed a new religious order, he was the founder of the Society of Jesus, known as the Jesuits, and they became the force of the Catholic Church. This was what we called the Counter-Reformation. It was interesting to read and learn how each civilization had similarities. i.e. Christianity, economic expansion and influential cultures, even till date we can see the influence of the past operating in the 21st century, modifying over time..