Ancient Greece is located in the northeast of the Mediterranean, which is roughly equivalent to Greece now. Its political, economic and cultural influence extends to Asia Minor and Syria in the east, Egypt and North Africa in the south, southern Italy and Sicily in the west, and the Black Sea in the north. The Roman city-state is equivalent to Rome now. During the imperial period, the widest border was from Britain and the Rhine to the Black Sea in the north, including Mesopotamia and Syria in the east, the whole of North Africa in the south, Portugal and Spain in the west, and now Italy.
Both ancient Greece and Rome entered slave society from primitive commune, and experienced various stages of slave society from prosperity to decline. Greece was still in a primitive society before the eighth century BC, and the slave society gradually formed in the eighth and sixth centuries BC. The fifth and fourth centuries BC entered the heyday of Greek history, and gradually declined after the end of the fourth century BC, which is called the "Hellenistic" period. Rome also gradually disintegrated in the eighth and sixth centuries BC. After the development of slavery in the fifth and first centuries BC, that is, the Republic of China, it reached the peak of slavery in the first and second centuries A.D., that is, the peak of the empire. After the third century AD, the Roman slave countries declined and perished. Ancient Greece and Rome developed in parallel for a long time, and it was not until the middle of the second century BC that Rome finally replaced Greece's dominant position in the Mediterranean.
Both ancient Greece and Rome are the cradles of European culture. When most parts of Europe were still in barbarism, ancient Greece and Rome already had highly developed cultures. The culture of ancient Greece and Rome was based on the slave society. Engels said: "Only slavery can make a greater division of labor between agriculture and industry possible, thus creating conditions for the prosperity of ancient culture, that is, for the prosperity of Greek culture. Without slavery, there would be no Greek state, no Greek art and science; Without slavery, there would be no Roman Empire. Without the foundation laid by Greek culture and the Roman Empire, there would be no modern Europe. " In terms of ideology, national system, science and culture, modern Europe has countless inheritance relations with ancient Greece and Rome.
Ancient Greek and Roman culture is the product of ancient Greek and Roman society, but it developed under the influence of West Asian countries and Egypt, which developed earlier in culture. The influence of Egypt, Babylon and other countries can be seen in religion, science and philosophy. Even the Greek alphabet was formed on the basis of the Phoenician alphabet. When the culture of ancient Greece and Rome developed, it also influenced these countries in turn.
After entering the class society, ancient Greek and Roman culture reflected the class struggle at that time. The basic contradiction in slave society is the contradiction between slaves and slave owners, and there are also contradictions between superiors and subordinates within slave owners. Slaves are the main creators of social wealth, but they are in an absolutely powerless position and are not even treated as human beings. Their wishes and ideals can only be expressed in a tortuous and indirect way in culture. The dominant culture at that time was the slave owner culture. There are also two different tendencies within the slave owner culture, one is to represent the interests of the slave owners' nobles, and the other is to represent the interests of the slave owners' lower classes and sometimes slaves. This situation is clearly reflected in the struggle between materialism and idealism in philosophy. The materialistic philosophy of Greek philosophers democritus, Epicurus and Roman philosopher Lucretius represented the thoughts of slave owners' democrats, while Socrates, Plato, Stoicism, Neo-Platonists and their Roman representatives in Greece reflected the thoughts of slave owners' nobles. Some philosophers have both materialism and idealism, such as Aristotle.
There are many similarities between Greek and Roman cultures, but there are also differences. This is mainly determined by the respective characteristics of the slave society in Greece and Rome. The slave country in Greece is an independent city-state. In Athens, the most developed economy and culture, the internal democracy of slave owners is relatively sufficient. Rome, on the other hand, developed from a city-state into a huge slave empire, with stricter state apparatus and weaker democratic atmosphere. In addition, Greek industry and commerce are relatively developed, while Italy is suitable for agriculture, using slaves on a large scale and implementing a large farm system. Based on the above reasons and other factors, in Greece, especially in Athens, the field of philosophy has flourished; Literature becomes a part of active political life; On the basis of the development of literature and philosophy, literary theory has made great achievements; Science and art are very prosperous. In addition, Greek slave owners advocated the all-round development of spirit and body, full of wit and creativity. Rome, on the other hand, has made higher achievements in national concept, ruling technology, law, military technology and engineering. Advocating ethics such as perseverance, obedience and responsibility among citizens; In the field of philosophy, it takes what it needs from the ready-made Greek system and develops it, such as Epicurus, Stoicism, eclecticism and mysterious idealism in the Hellenistic period; In the field of literature, Rome followed the form of Greek literature and produced literature reflecting Roman characteristics; In addition, the parasitism of Roman slave owner culture is more prominent.
The Romans imitated and inherited Greek culture for the following reasons. When Rome was powerful in the third century BC, Greece had already experienced the heyday of culture (around the fifth century BC), when Greek culture was higher than Roman culture. Greece and Rome are geographically adjacent. Greece immigrated to Italy very early, and Rome later conquered Greece. Greece and Rome have the same social system. But when Rome became strong, Greek culture had entered a period of decline, and a large part of the influence Rome gained from Greece belonged to this period. More importantly, Roman culture, after all, is the product of Roman slavery society and cannot be regarded as a simple repetition of Greek culture.
As far as Greek literature and Roman literature are concerned, the former has a great influence on the latter, but they also have their own characteristics. Marx pointed out that Greek myths and epics are the products of the most perfect childhood of mankind and have permanent charm. Myths and epics are the creations of all Greek people. After hundreds of years of tempering among the people, it has made unique achievements in many aspects. After Homer, Greece produced a series of outstanding writers, such as lyric poets Sappho, Anacreon, Pindar, fable writer Aesop, tragic writers Aesop, Sophocles, euripides, comedian aristophanes, philosophers and literary theorists Plato and Aristotle, as well as speakers and historians. Tragedy and comedy writers, in particular, are closely integrated with Greek slavery democracy and work enthusiastically for the cause of democracy. Their works have profound ideological content. Based on folk literature, they boldly inherited and innovated and made great achievements, forming the classical period of Greek literature. Aristotle formed a complete set of literary theories in the 4th century BC, especially the theory about tragedy, which had a far-reaching influence on the later development of European literary theories. Ancient Greek literature is original in thought and art, and the realism and romanticism methods in the later period of Europe can be traced back to Greece. The main genres of European literature, such as epics, Oracle poems, lyric poems, pastoral poems, tragedies and comedies in plays, as well as history, speeches, philosophical papers, dialogues, literary criticism, biographies, legends and fables in prose, all originated in Greece.
Although the overall achievement of Roman literature is not as good as that of Greece, it serves as a link between the past and the future and serves as an intermediary between Greek and later European literature. Roman literature had a great influence on Renaissance, classicism and18th century European literature. Through Roman literature, people can see the face of some lost Greek works. Roman literature developed Greek literature in some aspects and was original in some aspects. For example, Virgil's epic shaped the epic in ancient European literature. Cicero's speech reached the highest level of ancient eloquence in skills; Lucretius's philosophical poems occupy a unique position in ancient literature; Plautus's comedies were closely combined with Roman life and made some achievements. Satire is more developed in Roman literature; In addition, epigrams and novels in Roman literature are also prominent in ancient literature; In terms of literary theory, Horace put forward the dual functions of education and entertainment of literature and art for the first time. However, due to the obvious parasitism and decay of Roman slave owners, under the influence of late Greek literature, Roman literature tends to be decadent.