Greek Influence on the Roman Empire
"Do you agree with the following: Rome conquered the Greek empire and its civilization, but Greek culture conquered Rome?" This paper will argue that this statement is true. Furthermore, the Romans were willing co-conspirators, replacing the relatively primitive (and displaced) Etruscan and Latin cultures with the far more nuanced and rich Greek culture.One can regard the Romans as having taken the best of Greek culture and made it their own. Greeks provided architecture, systems of government, the religion of Rome (with Roman names replacing Greek names; Zeux=Jupter, etc.). This does not mean that the Romans admired the Greeks in all things. Rather, as the Spartans judged Athenians to be to 'civilized,' so did the Romans regard the Greeks as civilized, and therefore 'decadent.' Indeed, even those Greek natives who became Roman citizens were generally suspected by Roman leaders:When Demosthenes consulted Hardian about his foundation, the emperor congratulated him and his city not for his service to the Empire, but for the "honorable ambition"... (Braund)
The Greeks certainly lent their love of food to the Romans. Romans borrowed their sculptural and painting styles from the Greeks. In particular, the Romans took over the Greek practice of inviting politicians and business associates to one's domus, or home, in order to conduct business (Kuttner). t Hadrian, like most Romans, respected the learning and culture, but found "ambition" a unique Roman trait, not found in many Greeks. The Athenian idea of democracy is often cited as a precursor to our current democracy. The Greeks supplied the Romans with culture in many ways. In the homes of Antioch, Ephesus and (later) Constantinople, the Roman houses took most of their visual clues from the Greek period-perhaps the first of many "Greek Revival" periods in history. If one goes to the Forum in Rome, one sees the common area with the same Greek architectural ideas. Athenian citizens were free, but their slaves were not. Athenian women, as did Roman women, had the right to buy and hold property, even as they joined their husband's household. They borrowed the elaborate ceremonies and art from the Greeks. Romans took the Greek arts completely, from sculpture to architecture and painting. In short, the Greeks were the center of culture for the Romans, and supplemented the Roman's notions of religion, architectural beauty and even how they ate and the houses they lived in.
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