300 Spartans, but 7,000 Greeks.

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Rome would of never existed if there was no Greece. Firstly, the Greeks colonized all of Southern Italy. When the Latins met the Greeks their whole culture was influenced. Secondly, all the was Roman, the architecture, the art, science,medicine, belief systems were all Greek. They realized it, historians call Rome the greatest Hellenistic experiment, and the Romans said "we conquered them with our army, but we fell to their culture." If there was no Greece, Rome would be influenced by Persia, or some other culture, so European culture would be different. By the way no Hellenism=no Christianity. No fall of Byzantium=no Renessance.

"You really need to back this one up, because how the hell would this war have affected modern Europe, because really the driving force behind modern Europe was the Roman Empire which occured 400 years after this battle. While I don't totally dispute the point, because the Romans were largely influenced by the Greeks politically and had the Romans invaded Greece which would have been ruled by the Persians then yeah maybe the world would be different. But back up what you're trying to say"

exorcissy72 I have quoted above

Think about it exorcissy - if 250,000 Persians had swamped Greece - who is to say they would not have swamped the rest of Europe and the fledgling Roman civilisation before it kicked off. The Roman model borrowed heavily from the Greek one and if greece was wiped and Persian rule and religion took it over then you basically dont have the sort of model that Rome would have wanted to copy - if it had survived - thus a different Europe would have formed.

Okay, so, I know this post is very old and this is not relevant... BUT.... Hector didn't run around the city... unless of course you count being dragged by Achilles' chariot as a form of running.

without Greece, there would have been no Greek cultural legacy, no Alexander the Great, no Roman Empire, no existing Greek language to spread the Christian Gospels around the "known world"...

Do basic research on history before you post drivel... Even a freshman course at your local community college covers this much...

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Greek language history. ;-)

* Mycenaean Greek: the language of the Mycenaean civilization. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the15th or 14th century BC onwards.
* Classical Greek (also known as Ancient Greek): In its various dialects was the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of Greek civilization. It was widely known throughout the Roman empire. Classical Greek fell into disuse in western Europe in the Middle Ages, but remained officially in use in the Byzantine world, and was reintroduced to the rest of Europe with the Fall of Constantinople and Greek migration to Italy.
* Hellenistic Greek (also known as Koine Greek): The fusion of various ancient Greek dialects with Attic (the dialect of Athens) resulted in the creation of the first common Greek dialect, which became a lingua franca across the Mediterranean region. Koine Greek can be initially traced within the armies and conquered territories of Alexander the Great, but after the Hellenistic colonisation of the known world, it was spoken from Egypt to the fringes of India.
* Medieval Greek: The continuation of Hellenistic Greek during medieval Greek history as the official and vernacular language of the Byzantine Empire, and continued to be used until, and after the fall of that Empire in the 15th century. Also known as Byzantine Greek.
* Modern Greek or Romeika: Stemming independently from Koine Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the late Byzantine period (as early as 11th century).

Two main forms of the language have been in use since the end of the medieval Greek period: Dhimotikí (Δημοτική), the Demotic (vernacular) language, and Katharévusa (Καθαρεύουσα), an imitation of classical Greek, which was used for literary, juridic, administrative and scientific purposes during the 19th and early 20th centuries. This diglossia problem was brought to an end in 1976 (act (νόμος) 306/1976), when Dhimotikí was declared the official language of Greece.

In the meantime, both forms of Greek had naturally converged and Standard Modern Greek (Κοινή Νεοελληνική — Common Modern Greek), the form of Greek used for all official purposes and in education in Greece today, emerged.

It has been claimed that an "educated" speaker of the modern language can understand an ancient text, but this is surely as much a function of education as of the similarity of the languages.

A very interesting read and agree with the points made but apparently patriotism and nationalism are sort of 'eye of the beholder'. Your third point struck an accord with me and as I think about it, its disturbingly true. So it seems.

I love history because an event had taken place and the end result is there to be seen for all. Whether man chooses to learn from it or not can only show in time. Not that I am an expert in history, the love for one's culture, family and country is strong. World cup and Olympics come to mind.

People can't understand the difference between ancient and modern civilizations because sadly, its about the now and not the then. Wars and battles were considered such honorable actions and to risk life so that your fellow man could live free was greatly appreciated. Today its more detested and frowned upon. Sure not all would agree but in modern politics its about power and swaying the people. How that hasn't changed.

American culture has different heroes. Gangsters, cowboys and rock stars and I am sure there are some Americans that read Thomas Hobbs and visit the Philadelphia Pharmacy Museum but in the marketing giant that the world has become, 300 will most likely be the 'true story' and not actually read the true documented stories.

Personally, America is desperate for a hero like Kennedy and the closest was Guiliani.






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