The Influence of Ancient Greece on the Roman Culture

Prompt: It has been said that Roman culture was not very original, only a copy of the Greek. Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

            The culture of Ancient Rome existed for more than 1200 years covering the period of civilization; Ancient Rome refers to the Roman Republic which later became the Roman Empire. Both Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome dominated the Mediterranean area during the classical antiquity (Parkin 30). The era existed between 500 B.C.E to 400 C.E. The statement, “that Roman culture was not very original, only a copy of the Greek,” was coined because the Romans adopted many aspects of their culture from the Greek culture after they conquered Greece and the areas that the Greeks were controlling in Europe. Looking at the different elements of the Roman culture, the influence of the Greece culture can be seen. I agree with the statement that the Roman culture was not very original as the Greece Culture profoundly influenced it.

            One of the aspects of the Greece culture that was copied by the Romans was their deities. Just like Greece, the Romans were religious and believed in supernatural beings, however, as the Roman empire they captured Greece and adopted their gods and goddesses. For instance, the god of war in Ancient Greece was known as Ares while the Roman god of war was known as Mars. The Romans copied the concept of the gods and goddesses; they only changed their names while they represented a similar function. Another aspect of Ancient Greek culture that the Romans copied was their art. The Ancient Greeks were known for making their art using bronze as a medium. The Romans used the same concept of Greeks’ artwork to make the copies of the pieces of art created by Romans using marbles (Lissarrague 123). The Romans had created a perception that the Greek art symbolized a way of life that was desirable, because of this, they reproduced the art that had been created by the Greeks.

            The Romans way of rationally approaching various aspects of earthly life was also influenced by the rational approach which was being used by the Ancient Greeks. The Greeks had made assumptions that there were laws which were consistent and that governed the way different aspects objects in the universe. For instance, the Greeks had developed laws which explained the movement of stars, the materials which made the world, laws of mathematics, physics and geometry (Parkin 32). Later the Romans adopted this way of things and developed different laws that explained the ways of life and the materials that were contained in the universe. The influence of Greece was also experienced during the peak of the Roman Republic and at the infancy of the Roman Empire. Roman Patricians who wanted to study and attain high levels of education attended schools that were located in Greece. This made the Roman scholars get influence from the philosophers in Greece. For instance, Tullius Cicero, one of the leading constitutionalists in Rome studied in Greece; Greece’s political philosophies inspired his actions.

            As it can be seen, most of the aspects in the ancient Roman culture were copied from the ancient Greek culture. The elements ranging such as ways of life, art, and political philosophies were all replicated. Because of this, the statement ”that Roman culture was not very original, only a copy of the Greek,” is valid. Ancient Greece is also said to have helped in the development of the Roman Empire, during the infancy of the empire, soldiers from Greece helped in conquering areas of western Europe. At this time, the Romans copied the culture of the Greeks.

Works Cited

Lissarrague, François. ”Art and images: Feasting in Ancient Greece and Rome.“A Companion to Food in the Ancient World 89 (2015): 123.

Parkin, Tim G. ”Ancient Greek, and Roman Worlds.“(2005): 30-69.