Athens, among many Greek cities, reflects an ancient Greek influence. One of the most apparent ways Athens reflects this is through the ruins of the city that still remain from ancient times.
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The Romans did not inherit their culture, religion and way of life from anyone. They had their culture, religion and way of life right from the start. In the early days there was an influence by their Sabine and Etruscan neighbours. Greek influence was also present form the early days and increased from the 3rd century B.C. when Rome took over Tarentum, the biggest Greek city in mainland Italy.
the last of the (major) greek city-states come under roman rule in 130b.c.
It was Greek culture. Greek civilisation started earlier than that of the Italics (peoples of ancient Italy) and, being more advanced, it exerted a great influence on them when Greek colonies were established in Italy. Moreover, Alexander the Great's conquest of the Middle East, Central Asia and Egypt, the Greeks deeply influenced these areas, too, creating what has been called the Hellenistic cultural period. The Romans' conquest of Greece and the Middle East, took over the Hellenistic world. Greek influence deepened further. This created a post-Hellenistic period where, as Horace put it, 'conquered Greece has conquered the brute victor and brought her arts into rustic Latium.' Roman art and literature followed Greek models. The Roman elite spoke and wrote in Greek.
A major source of ideas was the Greeks. The Romans were deeply influenced by them. Greek influence started early on in the history of the Romans as the Greeks established settlements in southern Italy and Sicily. In these early days, the Romans adopted some Greek gods and myths and the book of the Sibylline of Cumae, who were Greek oracles in Cumae, a Greek city near Naples. When the Romans conquered the Greek city of Tarentum in southern Italy, a Greek educator moved to Rome and established the model for education in Rome. Studying Greek became part of the education of elite men, who became fluent in this language and used it often. In this period the Romans also adopted Greek drama and comedy for theatre plays. This laid the foundations for the development of Latin literature. When the Romans got in contact with mainland Greece, Greek influenced increased further. They adopted Greek sports and Greek medicine. They also adopted and adapted Greek Hellenistic sculpture. The two main Greek schools of philosophy, Stoicism and Epicureanism became popular among the Roman elite. The Romans were influenced by Greek astronomy and astrology. They also adopted Greek siege machines for warfare and developed them to a more sophisticated level.
They were neighbour nations. All of south Italy and Sicily were greek colonies. Eventually Romans conquered the greek city-states, the last major battle taken place in 146 BC with the battle of Corinth.