How Did Greek Culture Influence Roman Culture

One of the most well-known cultures throughout all of history belonged to the Greeks. Their heritage was so highly valued that it lived on even after they no longer ruled. The Greeks were some of the most innovative artists of their time and their work was so inherently beautiful that people from future cultures fell in love with it and decided to incorporate it into their own customs. The most famous group known for this was the Romans. After the Romans took over Greece, their love for its customs bloomed which resulted in many recreations of Greek art that are now seen today. However, Greek sculpture art had a hard time making it to the modern day. Most sculptures were made out of bronze and often melted down to be used for other purposes. Any surviving Greek related art is often just a Roman copy. The Romans are famous throughout history for their copies of Greek sculptures, especially relief sculptures. However, they also incorporated other Greek traditions and customs into their lives as well. Romans created separate names to refer to Greek gods and were often found creating and recreating art based on Greek myths. One specific Greek custom adopted by the Romans was the way in which they buried their dead. Romans originally cremated their dead but after the influence of Greek culture, they began burying their dead in large sarcophagi, with Greek myths elaborately sculpted into the sides, similar to the one kept at the Walter 's Art Museum depicting the abduction of

Thesis: The Greek influence of outstanding culture, gods, and their beautiful art to the Romans’ they took this inspiration on to their own creation. Both ancient build devotion to their gods they would bring the most precious things to them temples, however, they would focus on making large empire to rule and to take control of their city-states.

Greece is much accredited for their influence on Roman art. Greek influence spread throughout Sicily and Italy by the end of the 4th century. Greek artists were hired by Romans and ultimately the Romans adopted many of their techniques. Art for the Romans took on a completely new dimension than had for any other culture in the past. Art to them was for decoration. No longer was art a medium to express religion or love for one’s country.

The scope of this report is to investigate how and why the Greeks influenced Roman culture. To achieve this, I will support my discussion with a set of specific examples. Lastly, as I have a personal interest in museum studies, I will briefly answer the question: 'Was it theft? Did the Romans really loot Greek art, and what for? '.

Romans borrowed Greek gods and myths, the Greek alphabet, Greek literature, and Greek architecture and incorporated them into Roman culture.

The first part of culture that the Romans adopted was the Greek art. Scores of Greek paintings were stolen from Greece and imported into the Roman Empire. Roman artists began adopting the Greek style of art, from the emotional intensity to the great detail. “In many cases, it is very difficult to distinguish between Hellenistic

The cultures and traditions of ancient Rome and Greece played a major role in influencing modern day western civilizations, particularly in the practices of art, literature, architecture, philosophy, and especially real-world politics. Today’s impressions on our government as a democratic republic were inspired heavily by both ancient yet fundamental governmental structures. Many of our values such as the inclusion of citizens in the electoral process, as well as a heavily monitored government, stem from both societies, including certain aspects of the judicial system. Our country’s founding fathers have all earned a traditional education. Following America’s independence, they began to formulate their own unique ideas about the new world, all the while learning, adopting, and implementing ancient Roman and Greek ideology. Upon the creation of the United States government, our forefathers included elements of Greek and Roman culture. The country of Greece was originally never a distinct nation, as local cities formed individual political consensuses referred to as city-states. Each one was separated by tumultuous terrains of land and developed their own individual government. Corinth, one of the most powerful cities in Greece, was an oligarchy – a major city-state ruled by powerful political leaders. Some took part in a hybrid form of a republican government, such as Sparta, who at times answered to up to two kings, numerous nobles, and a Spartan assembly consisting of

Art was a big thing for both Greek and Roman culture. There were many sculptures made in both cultures. There were probably more sculptures made in Greek culture than in Roman. The sculptures were made very well. They had excellent shapes and curves in the sculptures. They held up for a very long

Roman sculptors and artists, borrowing upon the techniques of the Greeks, became masters of their craft. The Romans captured prized items while fighting against the Greeks. Much of the

Who were the Romans influenced by? The Romans were clearly heavily influenced by the Greeks. The Romans adopted the Greek style of architecture. For example they borrowed dome architecture from the Greeks, and improved upon it. The Romans also borrowed their intense use of columns from the Greeks. The Romans did not just borrow architecture from the Greeks, but they also heavily borrowed from Greek mythology, and philosophy. The Roman gods and the Greek gods are eerily similar; Jupiter and Zeus

People come and go, but their work of art and ideas can flourish for eternity. Art makes history live forever. It opens up doors to the past and wisdom to the future. Existence in this world currently, no matter if it’s a person or a thing, is all result of the past. Stuff doesn’t just pop out of no where. History is part of everything. Everything is a part of history. One of Rome’s greatest philosopher, Marcus Tullius Cicero once said, “To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history.” Learn from the past and fail less.

Roman patrons and artists maintained Greek art and customs into Early Christian and Byzantine times. So strong in fact that Romans urged to emulate the work of the Greek artists whom came before them, replicating Greek artworks much like the Statue of Hercules. This remarkable Statue of Hercules

The ancient Greeks provided us with the building blocks of Western civilization. Their influences remain with us even in modern times. Western philosophy builds upon the ideas of Greek philosophers, such as Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates. The value we place upon an educated society is an ideal we share with the ancient Greeks. They also brought us the principles of democracy which we employ in our government (Akins). Much of the devices used in our stories and media today were codified by the Greeks, such as the formulas for drama, tragedy and comedy.

Greek art and Roman art both had their influence on the naturalism of the sculptures from Early Christian art. When people speak of the Greeks influence in art, the two periods that come to mind most often are the classical period and the Hellenistic era, so it is no surprise that the Romans continued the Greeks traditions in so many ways and that the Early Christian art had been strongly Hellenized (Robertson 682). This is why many of the Early Christian texts were written in Greek and why the first church fathers had written in Greek. When Christianity became a more dominant religion, the theme may have been Christian but the forms had taken much of their forms from the Greeks (Robertson 682).

The Romans took control over Sicily, a small island close to Italy during their battle with the Carthaginians. The Greeks sided with the Carthaginians and joined them in their battle with the Romans. This made the Romans upset with the Greeks, so they embarked on a mission to conquer and take control of Greece.