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Influence of the Greeks to the Romans

In: Social Issues

Submitted By tamms001
Words 1964
Pages 8
Aristotle once said “Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives - choice, not chance, and determines your destiny.” The Romans inherited a cornucopia of knowledge from the Greeks and Hellenistic cultures in the Mediterranean, such as architecture, strategies of war, politics and the humanities to name a few. However what the Romans had that the Greeks didn’t was extreme self-discipline and organizational skills and when they opened their minds and allowed themselves to be less dogmatic, more artistic and more inclusive they were able to conquer the world. Since we have limited space in which to make our point, we will use religion, philosophy, politics and art in which to illustrate the magnitude of the influence of the Greeks and the Hellenistic cultures on the Romans. The Hellenistic times were a period of questioning our purpose in this world, why things happen, and what transpires after death. Consequently philosophers from many perspectives became popular and presented people with answers and a multitude of options that were being derived from all the Hellenistic societies surrounding the Romans. The political systems inherited from the Greeks became the inspiration for the Roman Empire’s republic and has become the cornerstone of democracies around the world today. Greek and Hellenistic art became the largest influence on every single aspect of Roman life, including their weapons, fashion and home decor. Professor Weber clearly gives the impression that the Romans “conspicuous consumption” was not a positive after effect of the Roman conquests because it changed the people of Rome from conservative, loyal and disciplined people to a spoiled rich populace whose main objective was partying, drinking, eating and wasting money. The book

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