align=center> In ancient Greece wrestling occupied a prominent place in legend and literature; wrestling competition, brutal in many aspects, served as the focal sport of the ancient Olympic Games. The ancient Romans borrowed heavily from Greek wrestling, but eliminated much of its brutality.Greek wrestling was a popular form of martial art, at least in Ancient Greece (about 1100 to 146 BC)After the Roman conquest of the Greeks, Greek wrestling was absorbed by the Roman culture and became Roman wrestling during the period of the Roman Empire (510 BC to AD 500).The name "Greco-Roman" was applied to this style of wrestling as a way of pushing it to be similar to the wrestling formerly found in the ancient civilizations surrounding the Mediterranean Sea especially at ancient Greek olympics. It is speculated that many styles of European folk wrestling may have spawned the origins of Greco-Roman wrestling.