Romans and Greeks

Greeks had settled in Southern Italy and Sicily since the 8th century BC. In this way, Italian tribes came into contact with Greek culture very early on and were influenced by it. The alphabet, weights and measures, coinage, many gods and cults as well as the building of temples were derived from the Greeks.

The Romans came into contact with Greek culture a second time during the conquest of Greece and the "Hellenistic countries" (countries that had been marked by Greek culture and language) in the 2nd and 1st century BC. The Romans, who had defeated Carthage but were still a society of peasants, saw in Hellenistic cities that daily life could be more comfortable than theirs. Formerly sparsely-ornamented houses acquired columns, statues, mosaics on the floors, tapestries and paintings on the walls. One didn't have dinner while sitting anymore, but while reclining, according to Greek custom.

The Romans gained from the Greek influence in other areas: trade, banking, administration, art, literature, philosophy and natural science. In the last century BC it was a must for every rich young man to study in Athens or Rhodes and perfect their knowledge of rhetoric at the large schools of philosophy. It was also a must to speak Greek as well as one's mother tongue in Rome.

There were some who resisted this Greek influence on every aspect of life. For example, Cato the Elder prophesied Rome's demise; he considered everything Greek to be suspect; he even mistrusted Greek doctors, claiming that they only wanted to poison Romans.

Indeed some Greeks might have had every reason to hate the Romans, who had devastated their home, robbed temples and public buildings, decimated the population and brought many Greeks to Rome as slaves. Aemilius Paulus, the victor of the Battle of Pydna in Greece in 168 BC, is said to have sold 150,000 Greeks to Rome as slaves all by himself.

In the imperial age, these events were in the distant past. Romans matched the Greeks in terms of culture, partly because of the Greeks who voluntarily or involuntarily lived in Rome. Greek cities like Ephesus or Athens flourished during the long era of peace (Pax Romana) more than ever. Because of the general prosperity, there was no revolt against Roman rule; quite to the contrary, it was seen as a positive thing. As for the Greek slaves, that had been common amongst Greek cities already.