Page 39 - Reading Success B8

The Roman Republic, the greatest empire of the ancient world, was largely
influenced by Greek culture. From the Greek cities in Southern Italy and Sicily, Rome
had absorbed some aspects of Greek civilization. When Rome also gained control of
the lands in the eastern Mediterranean, Greek influence on the Romans further
increased. The combination of Greek and Roman influences gave rise to what is
called the Greco-Roman culture.

It was around the second century B.C. when Rome’s eastern conquests brought
thousands of Greek intellectuals, merchants, and slaves to Italy. Even libraries and
works of art from Greek cities were shipped to Rome. Greek teachers, poets, and
philosophers were hired or bought as slaves by wealthy Romans to live in their
households and become private tutors to their children. Some Roman parents even
sent their sons to Athens to study. Hence, Greek culture gradually blended with the
Roman way of thinking and life. Greek influences are reflected in Roman
philosophy, literature, science, architecture and art. Following the Greeks’ tradition,
the Romans also preserved and spread the thrust for excellence and the use of
reason. The Greco-Roman age produced two prominent scientists namely Ptolemy
and Galen.
Ptolemy was a mathematician, geographer, and astronomer who is best known for
his model of the universe in which the earth was the center while the sun, moon, and
planets moved around it. Although Ptolemy’s model was mistaken about the center of
the universe, it seemed to account for many of the changes that could be observed in
the skies. Galen was Greek and though his works also contained some errors, they
served as the basis for Western medical knowledge until modern times.
Some elements of Greek laws and legal traditions were also selected and
incorporated into Roman law from which evolved a code of law that was recognized
throughout the Empire. The Romans believed that law should reflect principles of
reason and justice and protect citizens and their property. To this day, Rome’s system
of law and justice is considered one of its greatest contributions to Western
civilization. Some of its provisions particularly those regarding family, private property,
and business agreements served as basis for the law of modern-day Italy, Spain,
France, and Latin America. With the Romans’ distinctive skills in organization,
engineering, governance, and law, Greco-Roman culture quickly spread throughout
the Empire and proved beneficial to people in Roman cities.

Main Idea

What is the main idea of this story?

a. how Greek culture influenced Roman culture and in turn influenced modern
society

b. the most important contributions of Greek culture to modern society
c. why the Roman Republic was the greatest empire in the ancient world

d. the most notable mistakes made by ancient Greco-Roman society

42_Reading Success B 8