did the roman EMPire get there ideas from the greeks?

Question

did the roman empire copy most of there ideas and took over after greeks and made it look like it was theres.

and roman empire was christian right did they force every body to christianity and those christians still walking on this earth now not knowing their true past.

Answer 1

The Romans liked a lot of the ideas that they picked up from the Greeks - although to begin with they considered the Greeks rather effete. Their art was fine, but other than that they were a bit weak. However, many Romans greatly admired Alexander the Great, so they acknowledged that the Greeks had been pretty impressive in their time. An educated Roman was expected to read and speak Greek, and to be well-versed in Greek literature.

As another answer says, the Romans were happy to adopt anything that *worked*, from any other civilisation.

The adoption of Christianity is a slightly different matter - and don't forget that Christianity was not adopted as the 'official' religion of the Empire until the mid-4th century AD - the equivalent of us adopting the Church of England only now, 450-odd years after Henry VIII broke with Rome! But even then they didn't force everyone to convert to Christianity - that sort of thing came quite a lot later. There were still many religions practised within the Empire (one famous emperor, Julian, turned *back* to paganism half way through his reign) ... but after a while it became clear that, to get anywhere in the government or administration, you had to be a Christian.

Answer 2

The Romans were very much incorporatists--they got ideas from all over and incorporated them into their own society. At first they had little contact with Greeks, they got their Greek ideas through the Etruscans who had a brisk trade with the Greeks. Eventually the Romans swallowed them up, spread throughout the Mediterranean and had direct contact with the Greeks. They also borrowed from the Egyptians and many others. Look at their language--they didn't speak Roman, they Spoke Latin, the Latins were a different tribe that the Romans conquered/incorporated early on as they took over the Italian peninsula. Look at their pantheon of gods--many are borrowed from other cultures--they never discarded a god, they just kept adding them and also equating their own local gods with those they encountered elsewhere--this is why Jupiter and Zeus are considered the same, Ares and Mars, Juno & Hera to name a few. They were less innovators than borrowers, but they were very quick to learn from others.

Answer 3

The Romans were not so keen on theoretical ideas as the Greeks, but were more keen on new good ideas that worked. Hence they were happy to play around with foreign gods, so long as it didn't interfer too much with their sense of being Roman.
But you cannot escape from the fact that they were an amazingly cruel and ruthless lot, who were more than happy to totally eliminate the opposition, man woman and child. Their influence still pervades much of the world, since not only does the Roman Catholic church use many of the more efficient means of control that Rome used (uniformity etc.), but the ideas also spread to schools in Britain and elsewhere, (the famous public school ethos) and from there it spread across the Empire and the world. It still exists in many forms, since it works, but it is very rough on the individual who stands out as being different.

Answer 4

Yes the Romans picked up a good few ideas from the Hellenistic civilization, but they were borrowers from a number of other civilizations too.

The Romans were very practical, what they decided worked, the borrowed.

Christianity is a good example of a late borrowing by the Romans, and was specifically picked by Constantine because the Christians demonstrated a remarkable cohesion at a time when the Empire was very divided.

The Romans also borrowed their distinctive method of execution -- crucifixion -- from another civilization, the Carthaginians.

Answer 5

Ancient Roman culture was a composite of a number of older cultures, including Greek and early Italian (sorry, forgot the precise name). There was heavy influence from that earlier Italian civilisation that they conquered, e.g. early building structures, religion and society. The Romans legal system was based on the Greeks as they sent a number of men over there as scouts to discover the Greek way of thinking.

The ancient Romans identified their gods and goddesses with those of other cultures/civilisations, and yes, they were also influenced by those other cultures too. Mind you, ancient Greece's gods and goddesses were influenced and based on different Asian and Hittite cultures.

The Romans were influenced by Greece's architectural achievements, and they built on that, e.g. developing their patented super hard concrete, domes... etc

The Emperor Constantine, a pagan, made Christianity the state religion when at the start of a critical battle he saw an image of the Cross in the sky. The change in the Empire's religion was made after he won the battle, although he himself didn't convert until he was on his deathbed in 333 CE/AD.

The Empire was never totally Christian -- e.g. Britain was only converted to Christianity in about 900 CE/AD and that was by an Anglo-Saxon Priest, called Wulfstan (I think). It seems they got on fine with a mixture of religions, although to get anywhere in life, Christianity seemed to be the passport.

Answer 6

Dude, everything has been told about Roman and Christians, but you need know that nothing in history is created from nothing. Everythig evolves or is just a copy from ancient cultures.

There is no origin, this is positivis way of thinkling. Why need have point 0? Everything comes from another. do you believe that english is from England or its only a mix of Germanic and Latin languages?

Greek took a lot from Hitites and Phoenicians. Great greeks come from other geografic places, like Africa.

History isn't flat, but holistic. Full of context and meanings. To understand culture, you need understand not only one part, but all.

Answer 7

The Romans would use any ideas thay came across and thought where useful to them and on many occasions would improve on them .

Answer 8

i would think they did if who ever they concoured they would copy then would better them selves