Rome and the Greek World: Political Conquests & Cultural Legacy

Rome lay at the fringes of the Greek world until the era after Alexander the Great. While not directly involved with Greece and its politics during the Classical Age, this city had commercial contacts not only with the Greek colonies in southern Italy and Sicily, but with the Greek mainland. This commercial connection can be seen through the finds of pottery in Italy and around Rome.

Roman history began during the Bronze Age, but it was in the Archaic period (beginning about 750) that the legendary foundation of the city occurred. Its first king, Romulus, had picked the site of the city on the Tiber River, and during the next two and half centuries, the city was ruled by a series of kings, traditionally numbering seven, elected by the leading families with hereditary influence. The Etruscans in the north ultimately gained oversight of the city and had established themselves as the controlling faction by 600. In 509, the leading Roman families ousted the last king, Tarquinius the Proud, and established a republic led by the leading families. Coincidentally, this occurred at the same time that Cleisthenes had established the Athenian democracy after Athens had outed the tyrant Hippias.

Ruins of a Roman forum, the center of ancient Rome

During the next century, Rome established itself in central Italy by fighting the Etruscans to the north and the Sabines in the central mountains. At the same time, the Etruscans had more contact with Greece and its colonies, and it was probably through them that Rome received its contacts. The government of Rome during this time advanced continually with a struggle between the aristocracy, the Patricians, and the lower classes, the plebs. These struggles over the next century (450-350) were analogous to many of the issues that Greece had faced previously, especially during the late Archaic period. One of the most important accomplishments was the victory of the plebs by requiring that the laws be written down in the Twelve Tables, where according to legend (although some deny this happened), the Romans sent representatives to Athens and other Greek cities to study their laws.

The Greek idea of lawmakers was well known and clearly helped established the precedent for Rome. Another victory by the plebs was the establishment of the tribune, an individual who protected the rights of the plebs over the patricians. Although there was no direct equivalent to this in Greece, it was akin to the rise of the tyrants, who often proclaimed that they were acting on behalf of the poor against the oppression of the aristocracy.

During the fifth century, the Roman magistrate advanced via the creation of two consuls and of a republic, wherein the consuls could stop each other by use of a veto; a collection of other magistrates to help the consuls arose gradually; a senate that advised the consuls, composed of the leading family; and the popular assembly. Unlike Athens, where the voting system was one man, one vote, the assembly in Rome voted in tribes, controlled overall by the patricians. After the ouster of its king, Rome did not see the same type of development as Greece, with the rise of tyrants.

As the fifth century progressed, the Romans not only engaged in a series of wars against their neighbors, but also formed alliances such as the Latin League, in which Rome, although recognized as one of the leaders, was merely a component of the league. In 390, this growth and sets of alliances were shattered when the Goths, led by Brennas, arrived. The Goths successfully defeated the Latin League, destroying the alliance, capturing the city of Rome, and forcing its citizens to pay an indemnity.

During the next few years, Rome was forced to fight the Goths and many of its former allies to regain its position and strength. By the mid-fourth century, Rome had not only regained its former position, but had begun to move south toward the Samnites in southern Italy. Rome would fight a series of wars against them, often in cooperation with the Greek cities along the southern Italian coastline. It was through these wars that Rome came into more and more direct contact with the Greek colonies, especially Tarentum and those around the Bay of Naples. It was these interactions that would later lead Rome and the Greek colonies to war, such as during the 280s, with the war against Pyrrhus from Epirus.

The interactions of Rome and the Greeks down to the war against Pyrrhus were mainly tangential to both Roman and Greek political life but do provide an example of cultural and trade exchange. After Rome began to come into contact with the Greek cities in the south, their political and cultural interactions increased to the point of often becoming contentious. Although outside the period under discussion, Rome would ultimately interfere directly in Greek affairs and by 146 had even taken over Greece.

More important than the political-military conquests were the cultural interactions. Traditionally, Rome viewed the Greeks as superior in the arts. This may be seen through the numerous copies of Greek art and appropriation of the Classical style by the Romans. With the conquest of Greece, Rome also ransacked many of Greece’s art treasures, bringing them to Rome; this prompted one ancient author to quip that the conquered (Greece) had beaten the victor (Rome). In addition, Rome benefited from the influence of Greek philosophy, which set the standard for intellectual achievement. Most respectable Romans would learn Greek, which became the language of philosophy, history, and even literature. Wealthy Romans would buy educated Greeks as slaves to teach their children and have Greek doctors to care for their sick. In all of these instances, the superiority of the Greek culture was recognized.

When Rome defeated the successors to Alexander the Great in Macedon and arrived in Greece in 200, the victorious general Flaminius declared freedom for the Greeks. This statement showed the innate differences between the Greeks and Romans. To the Greeks, it meant that they could continue their internecine fighting among each other and their cities. For the Romans, it meant that they would be free from foreign domination (i.e., by Macedon and Syria), but they were not free to do whatever they wanted. The Romans meant for the Greeks to live under Roman protection and influence.

The influence of Greek on Rome was immense, and Rome would become the avenue wherein Greek culture became the dominate form of Western civilization.