Were the Romans Greek or Italians?

To say the Romans became Greek though - that's a bridge too far. There were things about the Romans that never changed. The Greeks loved ideas - the Romans were practical, in what many historians call a "rustic Italian" way. read more

The Romans were not Italian or Greek. More than even most conquest states, they were molded by the Italian, Greek, and Punic civilizations that they fought against. Let's take this chronologically, taking into account genetics, colonization, geography, language, and culture. read more

Beyond them were Celtic tribes as well as the Venetii. In the South of Italy were the Greek city states that made up “Magna Graecia” as the Romans called it. These where the first Greeks the Romans encountered, they used their tribal name, “Graikoi” to refer to all the Hellenes. read more

Italy, as a political entity, did not exist: the standard political unit in the classical world was the city-state. While an Athenian might also think of himself as Greek, as there were many city-states in Greece, a Roman looked down on mere Italians, as Rome was totally dominant in its sphere of Italy. read more

So maybe Romans were not Italians, but all Italians were Roman. At the same time, Rome had absorbed much of the Greek culture. One could say that the Roman elite started to become"Greek" in a gradual process starting in the 3rd century BCE. read more

Italy, as a political entity, did not exist: the standard political unit in the classical world was the city-state. While an Athenian might also think of himself as Greek, as there were many city-states in Greece, a Roman looked down on mere Italians, as Rome was totally dominant in its sphere of Italy. Romans were Italians - end of story. read more