Greek and Roman Influences on Modern Society The Greeks were the first to question the world, and to believe they could understand it. They were the first to study science and philosophy, and carried them quite far. The Romans are credited with much of what we know about law, and even the Constitution was based on their ideas. Democritus is one of the most important Greeks with his Atomic Theory. He believed that all things are made up of atoms and the void. We found that he made some mistakes in his declarations, but his main concept was correct and provides the basis