| Creation
of the Graeco-Roman World
The period from 31 B.C. until the death
of Marcus Aurelius in A.D. 180 is often referred to as the era of the
Pax Romana, or Roman Peace--a phenomenon that actually occurred only
in the central areas of the empire, including Greece and the Greek
East. The peace and security of the first two centuries A.D. promoted
a cultural flowering and economic growth in the Greek world, as well
as integration of Greeks into the ruling elite of the empire.
Peninsular Greece was divided into two
provinces: Achaia, incorporating central and southern Greece, and
Macedonia, which included Thessaly, Epirus, and Macedonia proper.
Because these provinces were not required to support Roman occupation
forces, their fiscal burdens were relatively modest. Greek cities
became the financial, economic, and administrative core of the eastern
reaches of the empire. The first result of this role was economic
growth and prosperity--Greek cities like Athens, Corinth, Alexandria,
Miletus, Thessaloniki, and Smyrna flourished as both producers and
commercial centers. From this settled prosperity, an urban Greek elite
arose.
Decentralized Roman provincial
administration created spaces for local men to rise in power and
status, and, beginning with the reign of Emperor Vespasian (A.D.
69-78), significant numbers of Greeks even entered the Roman Senate.
At the same time, life in Greek cities incorporated Roman features,
and new generations of "Romanized" Greek citizens appeared.
An example of such new Greek citizens was Herodes Atticus, a
fabulously wealthy financier and landowner from Athens, who rose to be
consul of Rome in A.D. 143, and whose bequests still adorn his home
city.
On the other hand, several Roman
emperors such as Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius actively embraced Greek
culture and traditions, encouraging the hellenization of Roman
culture. Together, Latin and Greek became the dominant languages of
the empire. Literature, art, oratory, rhetoric, education, and
architecture all drew on Hellenic roots from the age of the Greek
polis. During the Pax Romana, Greece and Greek culture were a vital
part of the Roman Empire.
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