11-28-2007, 11:42 AM
Quote:Only IMHO.
Yep, I think that's what we're basing a lot of this on to be fair. As I've said, I've only got the one source here and because of that, I'm not in a position to say "this is the fact." Poliakoff knows his stuff, but there are bound to be others out there that will disagree, but I don't have those sources on the bookshelf.
You make some really interesting points about the difference between Greeks and Romans, which I think are pretty much spot on. Paradoxically, upper-class Romans spoke Greek, read Greek literature and employed Greek teachers to educate their children. Caesar famously wept at the foot of Alexander's statue (OK, he was Macedonian but the sentiment is the same) yet still the Romans looked down on the Hellenes. Despite the fact that their culture was largely derived from Greece. I imagine that the Greeks at the time thought that Rome was some sort of crass upstart that would get their come-uppance sooner or later! It never did happen that way though - Rome endured and the Hellenic empire did not.
