Taking the Measure of the Ancient World thatwecanhopetoknowoftheeighth-centuryMediterraneanisembodied
inasinglefragmentarypot.
Wecome,however,agreatdealclosertoearlyRomewiththekraterofthe
followingcenturyfoundatCaere,ameretwentymilesfromRome,painted
withasceneshowingOdysseusandhiscompanionsblindingPolyphemus;
or,acenturylateragain,withHerodotus’story(,)ofhowaGreekag ̄on
wasinstitutedatCaere(Agylla)ontheinstructionsofDelphi,inexpiation
forthemurderofsomePhocaeancaptives,andwasstillmaintainedinthe
nextcentury.Itisnotmerelythattheearlyevolutionof Rometookplace
withintheorbitofGreekculture,asthatthepreconditionsfortheRomans’
self-perceptionofthemselvesasdescendedfromAeneasexistedalmostfrom
theverybeginning.
Fromthearchaicperiodonwards,wehavetoseeGreekandRomancul-
ture as evolving in parallel. Rome did lag behind, of course. Greek cities
dotted the eastern and western Mediterranean, and the Black Sea, several
centuriesbeforeRomanexpansionbegan.Moreover,andcruciallyforour
knowledge, Roman literature begins some five centuries later than Greek.
Thefactismoresurprisingthanonemightthink.Romeofthelatesixthcen-
turywasalreadyamajorcity,withatleastonemassivetempleontheCapitol.
Andiftheinscription,inanearlyformofLatin,ontheLapisNigerfromthe
Forumisreallyofthemid-sixthcentury,thenitisearlierthananyknown
publicinscriptionfromAthens.WhyaLatinliteraturedidnotdevelopbefore
thethirdcentury..isarealpuzzle.
Themomentwhenthetwolinkedbutseparatehistoriesdoreallystartto
becomeoneisthelatefourthcentury..ForPhilipandAlexander’scon-
quests,carryingMacedonianarmiesintoGreece,andGreek-speakingarmies
allovertheNearEast,Egypt,Babylonia,Persia,andcentralAsia,areexactly
paralleledbysmaller-scale,butevenmoresignificant,developmentsinItaly.
Imeanthebreak-upoftheLatinleaguein..,andthenhalfacenturyof
warsagainstSamnites,Etruscans,Celts,andGreeks.EvenbeforetheRomans
crossedtheStraitsofSicilyin..,alonglistofGreekcitieshadalready
comeunderRomandomination,andRomewasalreadyaknownpoweron
theedgesoftheGreekworld.
WedohavetoacceptthatboththeinterweavingofGreekandRomancul-
tureandhistory,toproduceasingle‘‘Graeco-Roman’’world,andthevastex-
tensionofthatworldwereproducedbyimperialismandcolonisation.How-
evercomplextheaccompanyingfactors,andthemutualreactionsbetween
differentculturalgroups,itwas,quitesimply,imperialismandthedesirefor
conquest which carried Greek culture to Afghanistan and northern India,
andGraeco-RomanculturetoHadrian’sWall.AsIamtryingtostress,we