Chapter 4 Classical Civilization in the Mediterranean: Greece and Rome I. Introduction A. Mediterranean culture 1. Greece slowed Persian empire, set up a few colonies, but? 2. Rome known for empire 3. New institutions/values that would remain in western culture 4. ?our own? Classical past a. U.S. Constitution b. buildings in the U.S. c. founders of the philosophical tradition d. Socratic method B. Greco-Roman history 1. more dynamic, but less successful * We can clearly recognize the connections and our own debt without adhering to the notion that the Mediterranean world somehow dominated the classical period. 2. Complicated ? passed through two centers a. Rome preserved many of Greek achievements C. Rome vs. Greece