Just prior to his assassination, Julius Caesar was asked what was the best death, and he said the best death was the unexpected one.
Category: Romans
Urine
The Romans washed their clothes with urine. It was actually a respected profession — people who washed clothes with urine.
Sulla
Had there been no Sulla, the Romans would not have experienced Caesar and the ensuing civil war. Because of Sulla, the Senate was afraid that Caesar would take control of Rome with his army from Gaul — he would cross the Rubicon (an illegal action) and advance on Rome — as in fact he did.
But also the senators and the aristocratic class as a whole were well aware of the precedent set by Sulla of drawing up a list of his enemies to be summarily executed. So with Caesar, the senators would have feared for their lives as well.
Ironically, Caesar’s actual bent was to show clemency toward his enemies, but the Senators could not have known this.
Two Roman Standards
Two Roman standards that are worth considering: carpe diem and amor fati. Carpe diem is the easy one, amor fati the difficult one.
Roman Triumphs
The Romans used to have these so-called “triumphs,” granted by the Senate, where a celebrated person, usually a recently successful general, would lead a procession on a chariot through the streets of Rome to the Forum. The entire city would turn out for these occasions in celebration — think a Saint Patrick’s Day parade on steroids.
Accompanying the celebrated person would be an inconspicuous individual directly behind him on the chariot, whispering into his ear the refrain, “You are NOT a god.”
Ancient Rome All Over Again
What happened in the Roman Empire was that, at a certain point, rich land owners bought out small farmers throughout Italy, and these ex-farmers moved to Rome to become the first urban proletariat that the Roman state had to support with the grain dole. In effect, you had a huge number of people who were no longer able to support themselves.
We are now witnessing the modern version of this with the US government providing everyone who makes less than 75k with “free” money. Unfortunately, nothing is really free. There will be consequences.
Romans and the Plague
Have been reading about the reign of Marcus Aurelius in the 2nd century AD. During his reign, the plague came to Rome from the East, brought back by Roman soldiers. It was devastating to the city. But it didn’t just go away after a year. The ominous note that I read was that it lingered for many years, and now and then came back with a vengeance.
I wonder if that’s going to be our fate as well? It’s a bit of an assumption that this virus doesn’t have staying power.
Ancient Rome
The Roman Empire perhaps reached its zenith under Marcus Aurelius in the 2nd century AD, but then the plague came.
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