The Roman Empire in Greece

A presentation by Rowan Hill

Why?

During the second Punic war Philip V of Macedon (or Macedonia) allied himself with Hannibal leader of the Carthaginians. Philip supported him in battles against Rome. When the Romans won the wars they sought revenge against Macedonia.

Rome’s interest was not in expanding its empire but in but in keeping Macedonia, the Greek city-states, and political leagues carefully divided and so manageable and non-threatening.

When?

The Roman occupation of Greece began after the battle of Corinth in 146 BC when the state of Corinth was sacked by the Romans.

What?The Romans gained a lot from the Greeks; philosophy, economy, politics, science and maths are all things that the Greeks could give. Greek became a lingua franca and some Greek nobles and even emperors admired and treated the Greeks equally. But not all people treated them with the same respect.

When the Romans attacked Syracuse in 211 BC the inventor created ‘death rays’ and catapults to defend the town. But when the Romans finally broke in all were given the same order – find Archimedes but don’t hurt the man!

At last one soldier burst into his house but Archimedes was doing an experiment at the time and didn’t acknowledge the soldier. The Roman was angered how dare this man ignore him?

He one of the most clever men the world has ever known.

Conclusion

We often think of the Greeks as barbaric compared to their Roman conquerors but although In some ways more technologically advanced the romans had their version of Greek entertainment, the Greek boxing was done with leather gloves to soften punches for both receiver and the aggressor the Romans had leather gloves but with vicious spikes on the knuckles to rip people open. The Greeks had plays the Romans had plays in which real people were killed in the performance.