Greek Influence On Roman Culture

The Greeks had great influence on Roman culture. The Roman gods were the Roman equivalent of Greek gods and even the mythology mirrored the Greeks. Early Roman culture allowed for minimal education, the father educated the sons, when the Romans met the Greeks, education evolved however. Education became about learning things such as literature, language, philosophy, and humanities. The Romans even taught the Greek language to their students since Rome didn’t have it’s own language. Adapting to Greek culture caused Rome to go from a rural society to an urban one. In the later stages of the republic public education became more formal, though it still only included boys. Upper class girls received an education from private tutors in their homes. The focus of Roman culture was the family, according to Suzanne Dixon so long as two citizens wanted to marry and the legal ability to do so, and had the approval of the paterfamilias, or head of the household, then they could marry. The goal of a marriage was to produce children and those children were ultimately the property of the father. Many things such as inheritance, rank, power, and alliances were based upon marriages and it was a cornerstone of Roman culture. Wifes were also treated better in Roman

The situation of slaves in Rome was very similar to that of Greek slaves, according to Kagan. In Rome however, agriculture was dependent on slaves, and these slaves lives were much harsher than that of other slaves. They were often chained together when they worked and lived in huge underground prisons. They were simply seen as way to get maximum profit from the fields, not as human beings. This harsh treatment lead to huge slave rebellions which are unheard of in other cultures. The gladiator Spartacus lead an army of 70,000 slaves and they beat the Roman army multiple times. This civil war ultimately resulted a lot of unrest and the end of the Roman