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Greece and Rome:. Who Conquered Whom?. Greece Before Roman Conquest.
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Greece and Rome: Who Conquered Whom?
Greece Before Roman Conquest • “Think, always, then that you have been sent to the province of Achaia - Greece true and pure - the land in which civilization, writing, even agriculture are held to have been invented”-Pliny the Younger- Letters 8.24 • “Others may fashion more smoothly images of bronze (I for one believe it), evoke living faces from marble, plead causes better, trace with a wand the wanderings of the heavens and foretell the rising of stars”-Vergil-Aeneid
Greece Before Roman ConquestGovernment • Numerous “poleis” -city states- organized around settled centers and surrounding countryside • Different modes of governing- Democracy, Oligarchy, Kings • Sometimes organized into leagues for common defense(i.e. Delian League, Achaean League) • Mostly local loyalty • Conflict among city states, Peloponnesian war 431-404
Greece Before Roman ConquestCulture and Thought • Philosophy- Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Zeno, etc. • Math and Science-Pythagoras, Euclid, Archimedes • Literature and Arts-Sophocles, Homer
Rome Gets Involved • Rome drawn into East and Greece area through fighting with Macedon • 1st Macedonian War(215-205), largely due to Phillip V of Macedon helping Hannibal out • 2nd Macedonian War(200-196) • Declaration of Greek freedom by consul Flaminius after victory • Romans didn’t seem to plan to permanently militarily occupy Greece. • 3rd Macedonian War (171-168) ended Macedonian monarchy • 168-Battle of Pydna • One more time. 4th Macedonian War(150-148), Macedonia becomes assigned as a province • Senate tells Achaean League, which had fought with Rome against Macedon, to grant independence to some of the states under its control, they say no • Leads to war in 148 • Lucius Mummius in 146 wins, completely razes Corinth, one of the richest and well known cities in Greece, sells citizens into slavery • End of Greek independence from Rome
Greece Under Rome • A little rocky at first • Fighting with Mithridates in Greece • Civil Wars waged largely in Greece. Decisive battles (Pharsalus, Actium) in both struggles took place in Greece • Becomes more stable after Augustus takes over
Greece Under RomeEconomic Issues • Copper, lead, bronze, and silver mines in Achaea, but not as rich as areas in Spain • Other exports: marble, olive oil, furniture, pottery • Greece mountainous mainland and largely infertile land • In the early empire there was economic stagnation and depopulation in parts of Greece • Increase in trade led to import of wines and oil which were cheaper than local products • Greece was an “economic backwater“(Goodman,231) because it became strategically unimportant during the empire. • Didn’t receive economic support for army which drove economies in other regions
Greece Under RomeEconomic Issues • Patronage from Roman emperors mostly went to cities • Peasants could face starvation in hard times as food reserved and stored for city dwellers • According to writer Galen, peasants ”had to fall back on unhealthy foods… they ate twigs, shoots of trees, and bushes… and cooked fresh grass” • Result: Cities flourished, but land concentrated into hands of few rich men and regions away from cities saw population and economic shrinkage
Greece Under RomeAssimilation • Romans relied on rich to help them control and rule Greece • Greek aristocrats slow to join with elite of rest of empire • Held together by continuity of Greek culture traditions, education • For elite, tension between being Greek and partaking in advantages of joining Roman politics, access to more power • Local patriotism wore away some as time went on • Number of Greek senators growing quickly by mid 2ndcentury • Still some ambivalence, • On looking back at 200 years before Nero, Pausinias writes, “Greece was struck with universal and utter prostration.”
Rome Under Greece(?) • “Graecia captaferumvictoremcepit”-Horace • Greek culture had a profound impact on Rome • Love for Greek culture, picked up mid 3rd century BC, desire for art, culture, etc. • Mid first century BC quite common for Italian aristocrats to go to Athens to get cultural education • Adoption of Greek language by much of Roman aristocracy as sign of high education. Not the other way around.
Rome Under Greece(?) • Great Latin writers and speakers, men like Vergil and Cicero, heavily influenced by Greeks • Cato’s son had a Greek tutor for a while and Greek slaves often tutored Roman children • Emperors even adopted Greek customs, gave lots of money to build up Greece • 67-Nero in Olympics. Wins every event. • Hadrian had a Greek beard apparently and also gave a lot of money for building in Athens
Greece After Rome • Difficult to say exactly when Greece leaves Rome • In late 300s empire splits east, west • Greek culture has strong influence in east, what becomes the Byzantine Empire • Greece becomes official language of Byzantine Empire • Outlasts Western Empire which falls around 476 • 1400s, Ottomans conquer Greece • Greece wins Independence in 1830 • Hosts Olympic games 2004 • Recent economic crisis
Greece’s Spot Among Provinces • Unlike Egypt, Greece was not vital to Empire’s economy • Unlike Gaul, Britain, Greece was not totally Latinized. In fact more the opposite. • Greece unique due to the strength and pervasiveness of the impact it had on Rome
Come to Greece! • Greece: What happens here, not only does not stay here, but goes on to form the foundation for much of Western civilization and thought.
Bibliography • Boatwright, Mary Taliaferro, Daniel J. Gargola, and Richard J. A. Talbert. A brief history of the Romans . New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. Print. • Goodman, Martin, and Jane Sherwood. The Roman World, 44 Bc-ad 180. London: Routledge, 1997. • Goldhill, Simon. Being Greek Under Rome : Cultural Identity, the Second Sophistic, and the Development of Empire. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2001. • Gruen, Erich S. The Hellenistic World and the Coming of Rome. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984. • Mandelbaum, Allen. The Aeneid of Virgil . New York: Bantam Classic, 1981. Print. • Wikipedia contributors. "Roman Greece." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia., n.d. Web. 1 May 2011. <en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Roman_Greece&oldid=425639994> • Woolf, Greg . "Roman Attitudes to Greeks." Roman Attitudes to Greeks. NIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREWS, n.d. Web. 1 May 2011. <www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~gdw2/lecture2.pdf>. • Pictures • Parthenon: http://www.eurograduate.com/arch_article.asp?id=2149 • School of Athens:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sanzio_01.jpg-school • Map of Greece:http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/corinthians/maps.stm-map • Michael Phelps:http://philippinesgoforgold.blogspot.com/2011/04/michael-phelps-8-gold-medals-2008.html • Emperor Hadrian:http://www.harris-greenwell.com/HGS/TheDyingSuitor • Right Triangle:http://www.onemathematicalcat.org/algebra_book/online_problems/Pythagorean_Theorem.htm- • Temple at Delphi: http://www.ancient-greece.org/images/ancient-sites/delphi/apollo-temple02.jpg • Greek Art:http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/14.130.12