Greece in the Roman era

Greece in the Roman era describes the period of Greek history when it was dominated by
the Roman republic, the Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire (collectively, the Roman era). It
began with the Roman victory over the Corinthians, at the Battle of Corinth (146 BC). It continued
with the adoption of the city of Byzantium by the Emperor Constantine the Great as the capital of
the Roman Empire(as Nova Roma, later Constantinople) in AD 330. After this date, the Eastern
Empire became largely Greek speaking.

Contents

 1Early Roman history

 2Early Empire
 3Later Roman Empire
 4References
 5Sources

Early Roman history[edit]

The Greek peninsula first came under Roman rule in 146 BC after the Battle of Corinth
when Macedonia became a Roman province, while southern Greece came under the surveillance of
Macedonia's prefect. However, some Greek poleis managed to maintain partial independence and
avoid taxation. The Kingdom of Pergamon was in principle added to this territory in 133 BC when
King Attalus III left his territories to the Roman people in his will.[1] However, the Romans were slow
in securing their claim and Aristonicus led a revolt with the help of Blossius. This was put down in
129 BC, when Pergamon was divided among Rome, Pontus, and Cappadocia.

This map shows how Rome conquered Macedonia and Greece.

Athens and other Greek cities revolted in 88 BC, and the uprising was crushed by the Roman
general Sulla. The Roman civil wars devastated the land even further, until Augustus organized the
peninsula as the province of Achaea in 27 BC.
Greece, initially economically devastated, began to rise economically after the wars. The Greek
cities of Asia Minor recovered more quickly at first than the cities on the Greek peninsula, which
were heavily damaged by the forces of Sulla. The Romans invested heavily however, and rebuilt
these cities. Corinth became the capital of the new province of Achaea, while Athens prospered as a
center of philosophy and learning.
Early Empire[edit]

Life in Greece continued under the Roman Empire much the same as it had previously. Roman
culture was highly influenced by the Greeks; as Horace said, Graecia capta ferum victorem
cepit ("Captive Greece captured her rude conqueror") [2]. The epics of Homer inspired
the Aeneid of Virgil, and authors such as Seneca the younger wrote using Greek styles. While some
Roman nobles regarded the Greeks as backwards and petty, many others embraced Greek
literature and philosophy. The Greek language became a favorite of the educated and elite in Rome,
such as Scipio Africanus, who tended to study philosophy and regard Greek culture and science as
an example to be followed.
Similarly, most Roman emperors maintained an admiration for things Greek in nature. The Roman
Emperor Nero visited Greece in AD 66, and performed at the Ancient Olympic Games, despite the
rules against non-Greek participation. He was honored with a victory in every contest, and in the
following year he proclaimed the freedom of the Greeks at the Isthmian Games in Corinth, just
as Flamininus had over 200 years previously. Hadrian was also particularly fond of the Greeks;
before he became emperor he served as an eponymous archon of Athens. He also built his Arch of
Hadrian there.
Many temples and public buildings were built in Greece by emperors and wealthy Roman nobility,
especially in Athens. Julius Caesar began construction of the Roman agora in Athens, which was
finished by Augustus. The main gate, Gate of Athena Archegetis, was dedicated to the patron
goddess of Athens, Athena. The Agrippeia was built in the center of the newly built Roman
Agora by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. The Tower of the Winds was built by Andronicus of Cyrrhus in
50 BC, although it may predate the entire Roman section of Athens. The emperor Hadrian was
a philhellene and an ardent admirer of Greece and, seeing himself as an heir to Pericles, made
many contributions to Athens. He built the Library of Hadrian in the city, as well as completing
construction of the Temple of Olympian Zeus, some 638 years after its construction was started by
Athenian tyrants, but ended due to the belief that building on such a scale was hubristic. The
Athenians built the Arch of Hadrian to honor Emperor Hadrian. The side of the arch facing the
Athenian agora and the Acropolis had an inscription stating "This is Athens, the ancient city
of Theseus." The side facing the Roman agora and the new city had an inscription stating "This is
the city of Hadrian, and not of Theseus." Adrianou (Hadrian Street) exists to this day, leading from
the arch to the Roman agora.
The Pax Romana was the longest period of peace in Greek history, and Greece became a major
crossroads of maritime trade between Rome and the Greek speaking eastern half of the empire.
The Greek language served as a lingua franca in the East and in Italy, and many Greek intellectuals
such as Galen would perform most of their work in Rome.
During this time, Greece and much of the rest of the Roman east came under the influence of Early
Christianity. The apostle Paul of Tarsus preached in Philippi, Corinth and Athens, and Greece soon
became one of the most highly Christianized areas of the empire.

Later Roman Empire[edit]

During the second and third centuries, Greece was divided into provinces
including Achaea, Macedonia, Epirus and Thrace. During the reign of Diocletian in the late 3rd
century, Moesia was organized as a diocese, and was ruled by Galerius. Under Constantine (who
professed Christianity) Greece was part of the prefectures of Macedonia and
Thrace. Theodosius divided the prefecture of Macedonia into the provinces of Creta,
Achaea, Thessalia, Epirus Vetus, Epirus Nova, and Macedonia. The Aegean islands formed the
province of Insulae in the Diocese of Asia.
Greece faced invasions from the Heruli, Goths, and Vandals during the reign of Romulus
Augustulus. Stilicho, who pretented he was a regent for Arcadius, evacuated Thessaly when
the Visigoths invaded in the late 4th century. Arcadius' chief advisor Eutropius allowed Alaric to enter
Greece, and he looted Athens, Corinth and the Peloponnese. Stilicho eventually drove him out
around 397 and Alaric was made magister militum in Illyricum. Eventually, Alaric and the Goths
migrated to Italy, sacked Rome in 410, and built the Visigothic Kingdomin Iberia, which lasted until
711 with the advent of the Arabs.
Greece remained part of the relatively unified eastern half of the empire, which eventually became
the center of the remaining Roman Empire, the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire. Contrary to
outdated visions of Late Antiquity, the Greek peninsula was most likely one of the most prosperous
regions of the Roman Empire. Older scenarios of poverty, depopulation, barbarian destruction and
civil decay have been revised in light of recent archaeological discoveries.[3] In fact the polis, as an
institution, appears to have remained prosperous until at least the sixth century. Contemporary texts
such as Hierokles' Syndekmos affirm that Late antiquity Greece was highly urbanised and contained
approximately 80 cities.[3] This view of extreme prosperity is widely accepted today, and it is
assumed between the 4th and 7th centuries AD, Greece may have been one of the most
economically active regions in the eastern Mediterranean.[3]

References[edit]
1. Jump up^ Livy: Periochae 58
2. Jump up^ "Horace - Wikiquote". en.wikiquote.org. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
3. ^ Jump up to:a b c Rothaus, p. 10. "The question of the continuity of civic institutions and the nature of
the polis in the late antique and early Byzantine world have become a vexed question, for a variety of
reasons. Students of this subject continue to contend with scholars of earlier periods who adhere to a
much-outdated vision of late antiquity as a decadent decline into impoverished fragmentation. The
cities of late-antique Greece displayed a marked degree of continuity. Scenarios of barbarian
destruction, civic decay, and manorialization simply do not fit. In fact, the city as an institution appears
to have prospered in Greece during this period. It was not until the end of the 6th century (and maybe
not even then) that the dissolution of the city became a problem in Greece. If the early sixth
century Syndekmos of Hierokles is taken at face value, late-antique Greece was highly urbanized and
contained approximately eighty cities. This extreme prosperity is born out by recent archaeological
surveys in the Aegean. For late-antique Greece, a paradigm of prosperity and transformation is more
accurate and useful than a paradigm of decline and fall."

Sources[edit]
 Bernhardt, Rainer (1977). "Der Status des 146 v. Chr. unterworfenen Teils Griechenlands bis
zur Einrichtung der Provinz Achaia". Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte (in German). 26 (1):
62–73. JSTOR 4435542.
 Boardman, John The Oxford History of Greece & the Hellenistic World 2nd Edition Oxford
University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-19-280137-6
 Rothaus, Richard M. Corinth: The First City of Greece. Brill, 2000. ISBN 90-04-10922-6