In Perspective

[caldrail]

Yes. Roman society functioned on wealth as a symbol of status. In a very competitive atmosphere this means that people will tend to make money or take financial advantage at any moment. We see this everywhere. Extortionate landlords, caveat emptor, etc. The military would have been no better.

 

I was always struck by a letter from one roman to another, telling him that he shouldn't argue with the legionary who stole his donkey.

[Divi Filius]

In a very competitive atmosphere this means that people will tend to make money or take financial advantage at any moment. We see this everywhere. Extortionate landlords, caveat emptor, etc. The military would have been no better.

 

Much of this info comes down to us from satyric poets and moralists of the Roman times and much of it was very likely true. However we should keep in mind that many of the people who report the curruption of the Roman world usually like to exaggerate for their own purpose. The same moralists today who complain about the degeneracy of the world. Should we generalize and say that this world is nothing but a *or*/sex addicted enron like society?

[Northern Neil]

Should we generalize and say that this world is nothing but a *or*/sex addicted enron like society?

 

No, just the industrialised, affluent half...

[caldrail]

In a very competitive atmosphere this means that people will tend to make money or take financial advantage at any moment. We see this everywhere. Extortionate landlords, caveat emptor, etc. The military would have been no better.

 

Much of this info comes down to us from satyric poets and moralists of the Roman times and much of it was very likely true. However we should keep in mind that many of the people who report the curruption of the Roman world usually like to exaggerate for their own purpose. The same moralists today who complain about the degeneracy of the world. Should we generalize and say that this world is nothing but a *or*/sex addicted enron like society?

 

No. My opinions come from letters written by romans to their friends, or from grafitti left by disillusioned romans. This is the society that charged a tax on going to the toilet for crying out loud. And lets face it, although plenty of romans disliked degeneracy their concept of it was a little different from ours. Prostitutes could rent alcoves at the back of wealthy homes. Landlords charged high rents for rat infested jerry-built condo's. In fact, roman society functioned like a watered down version of the mafia. They left us plenty of evidence for it.