<P> The above seems to ignore the major rivalry between the Greco - Romans, during their period of ascendancy, and the great empire to the east, the Persians . See Xenophon, The Anabasis, or, the March Up Country, the Greco - Persian wars, the famous battles of Marathon and Salamis, the Greek tragedy "The Persians" by Aeschylus, Alexander the Great's defeat of the Persian emperor Darius and conquest of the Persian empire, or, the later Roman generals' difficulties with the Persian armies, such as Pompey the Great, and of Marcus Licinius Crassus (conqueror of the slave general Spartacus), who was defeated in the field by a Persian force, and was beheaded by them . (Ref: Appian, The Civil Wars). </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section does not cite any sources . Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (September 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section does not cite any sources . Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (September 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> In the schools of art, philosophy and rhetoric, the foundations of education were transmitted throughout the lands of Greek and Roman rule . Within its educated class spanning all of the "Greco - Roman" era, the testimony of literary borrowings and influences is overwhelming proof of a mantle of mutual knowledge . For example, several hundred papyrus volumes found in a Roman villa at Herculaneum are in Greek . From the lives of Cicero and Julius Caesar, it is known that Romans frequented the schools in Greece . </P>

What contributions were made by ancient thinkers in the east in the domain of politics