The greatest empire in world history by Miyu.O

              In world history, there are various empires. The Mongol Empire (Yehe Mongghol Ulus) was the largest contiguous land empire in human history. China is the world's most populous country. They were great empires. In my opinion, the greatest empire was the Roman Republic. There are two main reasons for this. First, it had a strong army. Second, it had a good constitution.

              First, the Roman Republic had a very strong and orderly army. It had so many rules from how to make a battle formation to how to make camp. It was said that people in neighboring areas ware often surprised and feared Roman soldiers for their orderliness and bravery. In fact, most of the territory of Ancient Rome was gained when it was republican constitution, not the imperial constitution. For example, The Italian Peninsula, Iberian Peninsula, Sicilia, and so on, were gained when Rome was a Republic.

              The second reason why I think the Roman Republic was the greatest empire is that it had a good constitution. Many people could take part in politics and they had chances to make a success of life. Its constitution consisted of the Senate (assembly of the noble class of people), the Comitia (assembly of citizens) and some magistrates (elected officials). The Comitia had strong power to be able to make a law without the Senate. All Roman citizens could magistrates by election, regardless of their birth. What’s more, a citizen with experience being a magistrate could get qualifications to join the Senate. In this empire the door of politics was open to anyone. I think suffrage is very important for a nation.

To conclude, the Roman Republic was quite excellent in strength and political constitution. It was a republic from 509 B.C. to 27 B.C., then it became the Roman Empire, and the eastern half (the Byzantine Empire) continued till 1453 A.D. I think it is surprising that a small city state expanded so largely and continued so long. So this is a suitable empire to call the greatest empire.

My life at the University of Tsukuba by Miyu O.

My life at the University of Tsukuba is wonderful. I am a member of the mixed chorus club of Tsukuba University, Tsukuba Daigaku Konsei Gassyoudan. In this club, I can meet many people of various majors. All of them are unique and interesting! Their ideas act as an encouragement to me. I always enjoy singing and talking with these unique friends. Almost all of them live in Tsukuba, so I can see them anytime. We often go shopping, eat out, and go to karaoke, and so on. These times are very nice. And, I serve as sub-leader in this club. I have many tasks and responsibilities, but I think they are rewarding activities for me. I want to make this club better and more enjoyable. Then, I enjoy classes at the university, too. I am majoring in humanities, especially ancient European history. So I take many classes about history. In addition, I take classes about philosophy, archaeology, and the Science of Religion this term. They have some important relations with history and I am interested in them. The contents of these classes are difficult for me, but I think they can help my study greatly. My student life at Tsukuba is so great and happy.