It is a commonplace in western scholarly literature to reserve the theory of Romanization to talk about the social and cultural changes in the West after Roman annexation. Per contra, in the East, they advocate that of Hellenization to account for such a change.1 However, when looking at the reasons behind such an academic view, we will find them include: the belief that Romanization was limited, to the people of the West since those people were the only race who is 'capable of civilization', and that the coming of the Romans into the East did accelerate the processes of Hellenization, not that of Romanization. In this paper, we will examine such an approach critically to see that the Romans tried to Romanize the ancient Near East either by imposing their institutions, or by encouraging Greek institutions cautiously. The conclusion, then, will be drawn where it will be shown that we should use the theory of Hellenization when talking about the cultural contact between the Greeks and the peoples of the east where as using that of Romanization when treating the cultural contact between the Romans and the eastern clutters.