Mallory Keovilayphone

Business 1050
Edward Engh
My Renaissance

My Renaissance involves the chapter titled, A Very Brief History on Trade. This text was
written by Edward G. Engh, and was published in July 2015. The premise of this chapter is about
how important trade is to an economy, and how quickly it can destroy a powerful civilization
when it is disrupted. Its been a while since I have had to learn about the history of the great
Roman Empire. Hollywood productions movies on Rome are fresher in my memory, which are
very rarely an accurate depiction of the Roman way of life. Reading this chapter made me
ponder on whether or not America could come crashing down like the Roman Empire did.
At the beginning of this text, Engh, discusses the Greeks and how they viewed wealth or
money with great caution. They werent so sure if money was a moral way of life, which I found
interesting. Ive never paused to think of what harm money can do. In my life, I have always
viewed money as great way to obtain something I wanted for happiness. You look around the
world, and you see people killing one another for the sole purpose to gain more money. Although
money is a soulless object, and it does not have any control of what it is used for. It does come
down to man and how they choose to use the money. Reading that statement in the chapter has
made me wonder if the world would be a better place if we did not value money so much.
The Greeks overtime began to not question the morality of money and grew to become a
great empire. Markets sprang up all across Asia, Africa, and Europe. Trade became an influential
proponent in the growth of the Greek empire. Because of trade; technology, philosophy,
mathematics, science, art, medicine, literature, and all other important aspects of civilization
grew. This caused me to rethink the importance of money, without money I, for example, would
not be able to further educate myself. There are free resources out in the world, but to be able to
learn in a college setting can help me achieve greater success in life. Just like the Greek
civilization, they grew to become so great that their ideas were spread across the world. This in
turn made the world a better place, all because of money and trade.
Another great civilization that is spoken about in this chapter is the Roman Empire. They
too grew to become a great civilization and ended up fight many long wars with the Greeks.
Because of their ability to rebuild their armies, colonies, and roads the Romans were able to
defeat the Greeks. Trade is, again, what helped build this new civilization to great power.
I found it interesting where Edward Engh mentioned how slavery was just a common
commodity at the beginning of the Roman Empire. He further elaborated that when the sole
purpose of a society revolves around profits and growth, slavery becomes a common commodity
once again throughout history. This back tracks to my first pondering on the morality of money.
A human life is considered at the same level as a horse is to a farmer to some people in this
world. It is well known slavery still exists, and it has made me wonder if the world has become
obsessed with what profit they can gain for their selves.

Mallory Keovilayphone
Business 1050
Edward Engh
My Renaissance

Not only were the Romans able to build a great trade system, they valued allowing their
citizens to be free to gain wealth for their selves. Slaves were given the option to buy their own
freedom or their masters were allowed to grant their freedom as well. The Romans valued
allowing each man to have his own plot of land, acquire wealth, do business with whom they
wanted to, and to have the right to a trial by jury. The Romans believed in a Republic system that
involved the people of the land. In movies we see the elite few making the laws of the land that
the people of Rome must follow. That was indeed false, because the Romans believed that the
laws of the land were to be derived from the citizens.
It is well documented that the great Roman Empire did crumble over time. This chapter
talks about the author, Edward Gibbon, and his book, The History of the Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire. Gibbons theory of why the Roman Empire fell apart is what influenced my
renaissance. He stated that when Christianity was established as the official religion in the
Roman Empire this was its ultimate demise. I had never heard of such an interesting theory and
had never thought much on how much religion can really effect a civilization.
There are four causes that are talked about in this chapter of why Christianity destroyed
the Roman Empire according to Gibbon. The first one being the commandment of not coveting
wealth. This pulled the citizens focus on gaining wealth in their everyday life because it had now
been made a sin. An economy cannot grow if the people in it no longer are concerned with trade
or gaining money. Second, the laws were no long created by the citizens. The Senate were no
longer elected, they were merely appointed and were heavily influenced by the religion. The
third reason was another commandment that created conflict for the people of Rome. Thou shalt
not killed created a burden on the citizens because they no longer could defend their selves
since it was sin to kill for any reason. Christianity created a monopoly on the economy, which
was the fourth explanation why religion destroyed Rome. Any type of monopoly is always
disastrous on a free market, and Christianity took over all aspects of trade for Rome.
After reading this chapter, my mind was blown away with the idea that a religion could
destroy a civilization as great as Roman Empire. Living in Utah, the LDS religion is often
criticized as being a large influence on the State government. For example, in many states lottery
ticket sales are utilized for the education system of the state. In the LDS religion, gambling is
considered a sin. Utah has one of the lowest rating on our public school systems, so, many
wonder if gambling was to be made legal. We would have the funds to better educate our youth
in Utah. But because many feel the LDS religion is at such great power, gambling will never be
made legal. Knowing now that Christianity was contributor of the downfall of Rome, it makes
me wonder how much good religion really does for a society. It has made me wonder if religion
can cause one to not think rationally.
I thoroughly enjoyed this chapter, it made me critically think of what good and bad
money can do for a civilization. It made me ponder the influence of religion on a society and if it

Mallory Keovilayphone
Business 1050
Edward Engh
My Renaissance

can either destroy or grow a civilization. I never thought religion could apply in business before I
took this class. This chapter and the other readings I have read for this class has opened my mind
to new ideas in business for the future.