The Roman Debt to Greece

[Ghostmojo]

I thought I was going mad when I couldn't find this thread where I originally placed it! How can you lose a thread I thought ... anyway here it is in the Ancient Civ (Civic?) Talk section!!! hock: :?

Thanks to all those that have responded.

Of course I recognise that Rome had its own aspects of culture that were entirely original and indigenous (or as indigenous as is possible) and that geographically it was going to be influenced from the north as well as the south. Many have commented upon the religious aspects. Well, it is true that there are dimensions of this that do not correspond (in both cultures) because the spiritual worlds were complicated and expansive with hosts of minor deities, cults and regional and local rites. However, there does seem to be some correspondence between the major 'Olympian' figures (Zeus=Jupiter/Poseidon=Neptune etc.) and of course the Romans embraced the Olympic Games and Delphic oracle and a whole host of other Hellenic and Hellenistic practices and occasions.

When the Roman Empire split you had of course the Latin-speaking Roman west and the Greek-speaking Byzantine east halves. Greek had been the Lingua Franca in much of the eastern Mediterranean for a long time anyway - and further afield due to Alexander and his successors. I think Greek culture was endemic throughout the ancient world. They were unmatched when it came to colonisation and they ended up pretty much everywhere! Constantinople itself was a Greek city (Byzantion/Byzantium).

Nobody has made much mention yet of either architecture (which seems a pretty closed case really) nor the early military formations and equipment.