Rome: Reverence and Resentment in the Greek East

Abstract

The years between 229 BC and 146 BC saw a massive transformation of the relationship between Rome and her Greek neighbors. From antiquarian curiosity concerning Roman origins to hopeful approval and bitter opposition, the catalog of Greek attitudes toward Romans is lengthy. This thesis shall investigate the ways in which Greeks dealt with Romans in political interactions and portrayed them in literature from the time of their first appearance up to the loss of Greek political autonomy. Beginning with the earliest Greek discussions of Rome's Trojan or Greek ancestry and moving through the subsequent military and political history of Rome's involvement in Greece, I will elucidate the Greek views which underlie their policies toward the Romans, and trace the development of those views through the course of their exchanges.