The Spread of Greek Culture Essay Example

Romans could not resist overrunning Greece on their own, beginning with the Battle of Corinth in 146 BC. This is taken to be the beginning of the Hellenic Age, marked by a strong influx of Greek culture into Rome, and indeed all parts of the Roman Empire. In the beginning Greek slaves were hired as tutors to prominent Romans, and very soon Greek language and culture became the norm amongst the Roman nobility, delegating Latin to be language of the plebeians.But even the masses were subject to Greek culture, mainly through the theatre, which aped Greek examples and promoted Greek ideas.

The Romans contributed little of their own to the Greek heritage. So in the end they serve as the transmitters of the culture to the modern world. The Romans have transmitted Greek culture into the modern world in two ways. The first is the direct and the obvious way. The great expanse of the Roman Empire made sure that Greek ideas traveled wide and pitched lasting roots.

One of the consequences of this was that the Moslems nurtured and preserved Greek ideas when they were lost in Europe itself, during the Dark Ages, and gave them back to the West during the Crusades. The Renaissance is characterized by the rediscovery of the Greek heritage, and this would not have been possible without the Roman adoption of Greek culture. But this culture has also come down to us in an indirect and subtle way, which is through Christianity.Though not philosophically bent, the Romans took to certain Greek philosophical ideas, such as Platonism and Stoicism. Recently scholars have determined that these two philosophies were instrumental in the

formation of Christianity, and that Greek ideas have found fruition in the latter. So, even with the triumph of Christianity, after the downfall of the Roman empire, we see the persistence of Greek influence.