Who did the Romans get most of their ideas from?

A major source of ideas was the Greeks. The

Romans were deeply influenced by them. Greek influence started

early on in the history of the Romans as the Greeks established

settlements in southern Italy and Sicily. In these early days, the

Romans adopted some Greek gods and myths and the book of the

Sibylline of Cumae, who were Greek oracles in Cumae, a Greek city

near Naples. When the Romans conquered the Greek city of Tarentum

in southern Italy, a Greek educator moved to Rome and established

the model for education in Rome. Studying Greek became part of the

education of elite men, who became fluent in this language and used

it often. In this period the Romans also adopted Greek drama and

comedy for theatre plays. This laid the foundations for the

development of Latin literature.

When the Romans got in contact with mainland

Greece, Greek influenced increased further. They adopted Greek

sports and Greek medicine. They also adopted and adapted Greek

Hellenistic sculpture. The two main Greek schools of philosophy,

Stoicism and Epicureanism became popular among the Roman elite. The

Romans were influenced by Greek astronomy and Astrology. They also

adopted Greek siege machines for warfare and developed them to a

more sophisticated level.