Rome's Lack of Independence

Rome was not known to be an independent culture. Rather, they took and used ideas from other cultures, especially Greece, as their own. “Even after Rome conquered Greece in 146 BCE, Greece could be said to ‘rule’ Rome, at least culturally” (Sayre 180). Rome is thought to have ruled Greece after their conquering, but in fact, Greece ruled by influencing Rome in many different aspects of Roman society. Some of the most influential elements adopted from Greece culture include art and architecture, citizenship and government, education, and mythology.

Roman architecture was a continuation of the legacy left behind by those of Ancient Greece. The Etruscans, which live in what is modern-day Tuscany, served as an intermediary for a few Greek styles of architecture that were later adopted by Rome. The Etruscans adapted the Greek Doric order of building temples and called it the Tuscan order. The Tuscan order is what Rome later modified to build their temples. Although the Romans had some inventions of their own in architecture, such as concrete, the majority of their structures developed from the Greek style.

Roman art, especially sculptures and paintings, was influenced by the Greeks because when Rome conquered Greece, much of Greek art became collectively mixed with that of Rome. Many of the Classical Greek sculptures that were later seen in Rome depicted a naturalistic representation of humans through portrait busts (Sayre 184). While the Greeks influenced Roman realism, Rome took it to a new level in revealing every wrinkle and wart. Paintings were usually created as natural decorations or murals in Greece and later in Rome as well. “Many of the works of Greek art reproduced… are not Greek at all but later Roman copies of Greek or...

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... and tales of the immortals. Although both Greek and Roman mythologies were considered their religions, neither of their gods were designed to worship. Rather, they served as a model for the ideal person by showing humans the difference between right and wrong, and good and evil. This is yet another concept that Rome took from Greece. Although Roman myths were based on Greek mythology, they did show some individuality in the way they interpreted those myths.

Many will agree that Rome was not a very independent culture. Instead, they found it easier and preferred to depend on Greece and a few other cultures and borrow their ideas and ways of doing things and adapt it to fit their lifestyles. Art and architecture, citizenship and government, education, and mythology are only a small portion of the many ways that Romans were influenced by the Ancient Greek culture.