Though during the ancient period the Romans despised Greek, they borrowed heavily from them, and it resulted in making many aspects of Roman existence Hellenic. Before the expansion of Roman Empire, Romans adopted various things from the Greek culture and adapted their form of governance. Greece was the first country to introduce polises – the state-cities – with unprecedented strength and absolutely different governmental and political structure.

The ways of living in the 8th century B.C. in ancient Greece greatly differed from the Roman’s in their sophistication, intelligence, and cultural education. Greek civilization was the first to develop democracy – dēmokratia – the practice of “collective self-determination” (Arnason, Raaflaub, & Wagner, 2013, p. 1-2) through polises. The concept of democracy was taken by the Romans, and after specific transformations and re-interpretations it was applied in the Roman Empire. Furthermore, Romans borrowed many items from the Greek culture, like art, society, clothing, language, and architecture, etc. Romans borrowed Greek ways of clothing leaving the same nomination for togas, chitons, and tunics, and there were almost no changes within their presentation.

Greek became the second language after Latin, and was taught to Roman children. Besides, societal changes occurred, for example, Roman citizenship equaled political status, while Greek citizenship symbolized social and cultural status of its holder. Accuracy with no details, featured by the Greek sculptors, was adopted by the Romans, while Greek columns became widely present in the important Roman buildings. Greek temple of gods was appropriated by the Romans, but equivalents were quite recognizable after adaptation. Such emulation of Greek culture and government did not imply any complications for the Roman society. Borrowings from Greek and other cultures did not have any negative impact on the Romans, and instead it caused its development and progress.

Progress of the Roman society and its development was positively affected by the borrowings and adoptions made from the other cultures (mainly from the Greek). Such emulation of art, culture, religion, society, and government from other countries ensured positive changes in the underdeveloped Rome. Society and culture would hardly properly evolve in isolation and with lack of connections with other peoples. Thus, the practice of partial cultural, political, etc. borrowings among societies is regarded as common practice. In case of major borrowings and underdevelopment of national society, culture, and government, potential threat of extinction of the state or its parts might occur.