Editing Greece (section)

=== Roman province (146 BC – 4th century AD) ===
{{Main|Greece in the Roman era}}
{{See also|Roman Empire}}
[[File:Athen Odeon Herodes Atticus BW 2017-10-09 13-12-44.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|The [[Odeon of Herodes Atticus]] in Athens, built in 161 AD]]
From about 200 BC the [[Ancient Rome|Roman Republic]] became increasingly involved in Greek affairs and engaged in a [[Macedonian Wars|series of wars with Macedon]].<ref name=Flower>{{cite book |title=The Roman Republic |editor-last=Flower |editor-first=Harriet |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-521-00390-2 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgecompani0000unse_s0h2/page/248 248, 258] |publisher=Cambridge University Press |url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgecompani0000unse_s0h2}}</ref> Macedon's defeat at the [[Battle of Pydna]] in 168 BC signalled the end of [[Antigonid dynasty|Antigonid]] power.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Britannica |contribution=Antigonid dynasty |year=2008 |edition=online}}</ref> In 146 BC, Macedonia was annexed as a province by Rome, and the rest of Greece became a Roman protectorate.<ref name=Flower/><ref name=Ward>{{cite book |title=A history of the Roman people |last1=Ward |first1=Allen Mason |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-13-038480-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofromanpe00alle/page/276 276] |publisher=Prentice Hall |display-authors=etal |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofromanpe00alle}}</ref> The process was completed in 27 BC, when emperor [[Augustus]] annexed the rest of Greece and constituted it as the [[senatorial province]] of [[Achaea (Roman province)|Achaea]].<ref name=Ward /> Despite their military superiority, the Romans admired and became [[Greco-Roman world|heavily influenced]] by Greek culture.<ref>{{cite book |title=Ancient Rome: An Introductory History |last=Zoch |first=Paul |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-8061-3287-7 |page=136 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=95bu0O3LLlsC&q=Graecia%20capta%20ferum%20victorem%20cepit&pg=PA136 |access-date=29 April 2012 |archive-date=10 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610020159/https://books.google.com/books?id=95bu0O3LLlsC&q=Graecia%20capta%20ferum%20victorem%20cepit&pg=PA136#v=snippet&q=Graecia%20capta%20ferum%20victorem%20cepit&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref>

Greek-speaking communities of the Hellenised East were instrumental in the spread of Christianity in the 2nd and 3rd centuries,<ref>{{cite book | title = Backgrounds of Early Christianity | last = Ferguson | first = Everett | year = 2003 | isbn = 978-0-8028-2221-5 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3tuKkxU4-ncC&pg=PA617 | pages = 617–18 | publisher = Wm. B. Eerdmans | access-date = 18 May 2022 | archive-date = 10 June 2024 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240610020200/https://books.google.com/books?id=3tuKkxU4-ncC&pg=PA617#v=onepage&q&f=false | url-status = live }}</ref> and Christianity's early leaders and writers were mostly Greek-speaking, though not from Greece itself.<ref>{{cite book | title = Ancient Rome | last = Dunstan | first = William | year = 2011 | isbn = 978-0-7425-6834-1 | page = 500 | publisher = Rowman & Littlefield Publishers | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xkOhwFzz1AkC&q=early%20christian%20leaders%20speak%20greek&pg=PA500 | access-date = 29 April 2012 | archive-date = 10 June 2024 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240610020200/https://books.google.com/books?id=xkOhwFzz1AkC&q=early%20christian%20leaders%20speak%20greek&pg=PA500#v=snippet&q=early%20christian%20leaders%20speak%20greek&f=false | url-status = live }}</ref> The [[New Testament]] was written in Greek, and some sections attest to the importance of churches in Greece in [[early Christianity]]. Nevertheless, much of Greece clung to paganism, and ancient Greek religious practices were still in vogue in the late 4th century AD,<ref>{{cite book |title=Early Christian Art and Architecture |last=Milburn |first=Robert |year=1992 |page=158 |publisher=University of California Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OcRTwsDq_Z4C&q=early%20christianity%20greece&pg=PA158 |access-date=29 April 2012 |isbn=9780520074125 |archive-date=10 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610020204/https://books.google.com/books?id=OcRTwsDq_Z4C&q=early%20christianity%20greece&pg=PA158#v=snippet&q=early%20christianity%20greece&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> when they were outlawed by the Roman emperor [[Theodosius I]] in 391–392.<ref name="FriellWilliams2005">{{cite book|author1=Gerard Friell|author2=Peabody Professor of North American Archaeology and Ethnography Emeritus Stephen Williams|author3=Stephen Williams|title=Theodosius: The Empire at Bay|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I8KRAgAAQBAJ|date=8 August 2005|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-78262-7|page=105|access-date=19 October 2015|archive-date=29 April 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429045345/https://books.google.com/books?id=I8KRAgAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> The last recorded Olympic games were held in 393,<ref name="Perrottet2004">{{cite book|author=Tony Perrottet|title=The Naked Olympics: The True Story of the Ancient Games|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B2VPMUBAxUUC&pg=PA190|access-date=1 April 2013|date=8 June 2004|publisher=Random House Digital, Inc.|isbn=978-1-58836-382-4|pages=190–}}</ref> and many temples were destroyed or damaged in the century that followed.<ref name="Evans2005">{{cite book|author=James Allan Stewart Evans|title=The Emperor Justinian and the Byzantine Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xDNv6qZ_I-IC|date=January 2005|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-32582-3|pages=65–70}}</ref><ref name="Haldon1990">{{cite book|author=J. F. Haldon|title=Byzantium in the Seventh Century: The Transformation of a Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pSHmT1G_5T0C|year=1990|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-31917-1|page=329|access-date=19 October 2015|archive-date=27 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927210555/https://books.google.com/books?id=pSHmT1G_5T0C|url-status=live}}</ref> The closure of the [[Neoplatonism|Neoplatonic]] Academy of Athens by Emperor Justinian in 529 is considered the end of antiquity, although there is evidence that the academy continued.<ref name="Evans2005" /><ref>{{cite book |title=Hellenic Temples and Christian Churches: A Concise History of the Religious Cultures of Greece from Antiquity to the Present |last=Makrides |first=Nikolaos |year=2009 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-0-8147-9568-2 |page=206 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kKOY5NsekfkC&q=10th%20century&pg=PA17 |access-date=29 April 2012 |archive-date=10 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610020750/https://books.google.com/books?id=kKOY5NsekfkC&q=10th%20century&pg=PA17#v=onepage&q=10th%20century&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>