Greco-Roman

Greco-Roman

:"In modern Olympic and amateur wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling is a particular style and variation."

The Greco-Roman period of history refers to the culture of the peoples who were incorporated into the Roman Republic and Roman Empire.

Greco-Roman Culture

In the schools of art, philosophy and rhetoric, the foundations of education were transmitted throughout the lands of Greek and Roman rule. Within its educated class, spanning all of the "Greco-Roman" era, the testimony of literary borrowings and influences is overwhelming proof of a mantle of mutual knowledge. For example, several hundred papyrus volumes found in a Roman villa at Herculaneum are in Greek. From the lives of Cicero and Julius Caesar, it is known that Romans frequented the schools in Greece. The installation both in Greek and Latin of Augustus' monumental eulogy, the Res Gestae, is a proof of official recognition for the dual vehicles of the common culture. The familiarity of figures from Roman legend and history in the "Parallel Lives" composed by Plutarch is one example of the extent to which "universal history" was then synonymous with the accomplishments of famous Latins and Hellenes. Most educated Romans were likely bilingual in Greek and Latin.

Politics

Rome became the superpower of its age in the political and legal spheres, and by its military might, the enormous Roman state created an enduring amalgam of disparate peoples and bestowed relative peace and prosperity on those.

Caesar plundered and enslaved without apology. However, he also invited many Gallic leaders to join him in Rome as members of the Roman Senate. The requirements of manpower in arms meant that citizenship was extended to non-Romans who served in Roman legions. By 211 AD, with Caracalla's edict known as the "Constitutio Antoniniana", the general populace came into possession of citizenship. As a result, even after the city of Rome fell, the people of what remained of the empire (referred to by many historians as the Byzantine Empire) continued to call themselves Romans ("Romaioi" in the Greek language which eventually became the empire's official language).

The imperial Roman state was a vast social experiment in hybridization. Imperial Rome is identified with the cultural legacy of its forebears; it sustained that tradition without innovation, until Constantine broke away from the attenuated religion of the Greco-Roman past and transformed Rome's cultural matrix by embracing Christianity, which was the faith of a persecuted minority. The life of Constantine is arguably a better terminus of the Greco-Roman age than any other; it may equally be considered as the herald of the Middle Ages.

ee also

*Greco-Roman world
*Classical antiquity


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Greco-Roman — [grek΄ō rō′mən, grē′kōrō′mən] adj. of or influenced by both Greece and Rome; CLASSICAL (senses 2 & 3) [Greco Roman art, Greco Roman wrestling] …   English World dictionary

  • Greco-Roman — Gre co Ro man, a. Having characteristics that are partly Greek and partly Roman; as, Greco Roman architecture. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Greco-Roman — /gree koh roh meuhn, grek oh /, adj. 1. of or having both Greek and Roman characteristics: the Greco Roman influence. 2. pertaining to or designating a style of the fine arts developed in Rome or the Roman Empire from the middle of the 1st… …   Universalium

  • Greco-Roman — Gre•co Ro•man [[t]ˌgri koʊˈroʊ mən, ˌgrɛk oʊ [/t]] adj. 1) of or having both Greek and Roman characteristics: the Greco Roman influence[/ex] 2) spo a style of wrestling in which the contestants are forbidden to trip, tackle, or use holds below… …   From formal English to slang

  • Greco-Roman religion — is the collective name given to Greek and Roman pre Christian religions due to the similarity between them. See also : * Greek religion * Roman religion * Greek mythology * Roman mythology * Similarities between Roman, Greek, and Etruscan… …   Wikipedia

  • Greco-Roman wrestling — Infobox martial art imagesize = 150px name = Greco Roman Wrestling aka = focus = Grappling country = flagicon|FRA France creator = Exbroyat parenthood = European styles of folk wrestling; in particular French flat hand wrestling famous pract =… …   Wikipedia

  • Greco-Roman world — The Greco Roman or Graeco Roman World, as understood by medieval and modern scholars, geographers and miscellaneous writers, refers to those geographical regions and countries who were directly, protractedly and intimately influenced by the… …   Wikipedia

  • Greco-Roman mysteries — See Western esotericism for modern mystery religions in the Western cultural sphere. Topics in Greek mythology Gods Primordial gods and Titans Zeus and the Olympians Pan and the nymphs Apollo and Dionysus Sea gods and Earth gods Heroes …   Wikipedia

  • Greco-Roman wrestling — Style of wrestling that prohibits the legs from being used to obtain a fall and in which no holds may be taken below the waist. It originated in France in the early 19th century in imitation of Classical Greek and Roman representations of the… …   Universalium

  • Greco-Roman wrestling — Wrestling Wres tling, n. Act of one who wrestles; specif., the sport consisting of the hand to hand combat between two unarmed contestants who seek to throw each other. Note: The various styles of wrestling differ in their definition of a fall… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”