Roman Romanisation And How Effective Were They Spread Their Culture

Before answering this question, it is necessary to note that acculturation is only a part of the process commonly known as 'Romanisation'. Romanisation is not a clear-cut process of cultural adoption; it is rather a mix of extents to which Roman culture was adopted or resisted. This essay will discuss the ways in which Romans spread their culture in the Empire and how effective were they.

First of all, it is important to mention that the spread of culture is mainly due to Roman Legions and to the elites. The key feature of Romanisation is that it proceeded from top to down. Initially the elites of the conquered nations adopted some elements of the Roman culture (which is a huge concept in its own way). It took much longer for peasants and people living in the outlying …show more content…
The answer is not straightforward, since it depends on the part of the Empire where we seek to find the answer. Broadly speaking, there were two big parts: the Eastern and the Western part of the Empire. Haverfield (1905) argues that Romanisation was effective in the Western part, where the local peoples usually did not have writing and neither was there a clear central authority; there were mostly war bands and tribes. Therefore, it was relatively easier to exert Roman influence over the Western provinces. On the other hand, there was the Hellenised East: Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, Judea, etc. This part of the world had been greatly influenced by the conquest of Alexander the Great, which left a long shadow over these regions. It is also worthwhile noting that when the Empire was divided into two, Greek Culture and language prevailed in the Eastern Empire. Latin was rarely spoken and the administrative language was Greek. However, the people of the Eastern Empire did regard themselves as Romans. This shows how influential the idea of being Roman was and the success of Romanisation (to some