How did the Arabs get Greek and Roman texts?

Question

I know, from many sources, that Europeans rediscovered Greek and Roman texts because they had been translated and copied by the Arabs, who brought the Arabic versions to Europe. What I am wondering is, how did the Arabs get these texts in the first place? Greece was conquered by Rome in 338 BC (?) and Rome fell in the 5th century, yet Islam arose in the 7th century, and the Muslims conquered all other cultures in the region.

Also, why didn't the Byzantine Empire have the Roman texts? After all, they were once part of Rome, and they survived all the way up to the fall of Constantinople in 1453.

Answer 1

what?
are you reading history or talking fiction? Romans never 'conquered' Greece(no wars i mean), they simply were there, as the Greek civilization was over. Arabs did nothing to translate and copy roman texts..absolutely nothing. Vandals never ruled anything but their own tents. And Islam reached as far as southern Spain and the South-eastern Balcans.
The bizantine empire's name was Roman eastern Empire, they had roman texts because they ever belonged to the Roman empire. At a point in time there were two capitol cities, Rome and Bisantium\Costantinetown the actual Instanbul(present Turkey). And the Bizantine empire was christian, not muslim. Never seen their art works..full of holy Marys and angels and Christs?
Gimme your address, hehe maybe you ll love a good history book..<

Answer 2

Well, it's pretty simple actually, I'll put it easily to you, this is what I basically understood from the AP review book and the AP book itself from world history. The hellenic culture (Greek) was kept by the Arabic Muslims. The Greeks recovered them mostly through little war events and mainly through the Crusades, which eventually, all that encounter with the old things of the Europeans gave rise to the Reinassance and all those things. That's like an overview, it's a lil more complex, but it's like that, i got a 4 on the AP exam

Answer 3

When the Roman Empire crumbled, the Western empire was overrun by Huns, Goths and Vandals, who had no use for written materials, and burnt them along with everything else they couldn't use. The Eastern (Byzantine) empire lasted longer than the Western, and its conquerors, the Muslims, already had a rich culture and respect for knowledge, and so preserved what they found.

Answer 4

There were public and private collections of texts across the Mediterranean, as well as those who could read them. Knowledge of Greek slowly vanished in the West [except for Ireland] but that does not mean that they didn't have Latin texts. They did.

Arabic translations of Greek texts and Greek itself came back into the West at the High Middle Ages through Spain and particularly the Jews [thank you to all who are Jewish!]. Albert Magnus was the first major Greek scholar in the West in a long time.

Early, when the Arabs conquered the Christian lands we now think of as Muslim and imposed with force their cult they did not respect anything except their one book. It was Muslims who burned the library of Alexandria.

Answer 5

The Moors got as far as Spain and were an Arabic tribe...That's how the majority of Arab Texts made their way to Europe. Of course Europeans were trading with the Arabs prior to that and some texts were transmitted in that way also. PEACE!

Answer 6

the entire middle east was part of Alexander the Great's empire and one of his main intentions was to spread Greek knowledge an culture.

Answer 7

I'm from Greece and i shoud have know this...
Plz tell me if u find out...
we r so much bored here of nations copying our culture and civilization...