Mary Beard: why ancient Rome matters to the modern world

The Guardian ^ | October 2 , 2015 | Mary Beard

[lbryce]

Failure in Iraq, debates about freedom, expenses scandals, sex advice … the Romans seem versions of ourselves. But then there’s the slavery and the babies on rubbish heaps. We need to understand ancient Rome, but should we take lessons from it?

By the late fourth century CE the river Danube had become Rome’s Calais. What we often call the “invasions” into the Roman empire of barbarian hordes (or “swarms”, perhaps) could equally well be described as mass movements of economic migrants or political refugees from northern Europe. The Roman authorities had no better idea of how to deal with this crisis than our own authorities do, and, predictably, they were less humane. On one notorious occasion, uncomfortable even for some Roman observers, they sold dog-meat as food to the asylum-seekers who had managed to get across the river (dog was off limits for human consumption then as now). It was just one stage in a series of standoffs, compromises and military conflicts that eventually destroyed central Roman power in the western part of their empire. And it was exacerbated by the calculating policy of the Romans in the east, who by this era effectively formed a separate state. Their solution to the crisis of migration was to point the migrants firmly westwards, and try to make them someone else’s problem.

It’s tempting to imagine the ancient Romans as some version of ourselves. They launched disastrous military expeditions to those parts of the world where we too have failed. Iraq was as much a graveyard for the Romans as it has been for us. And one of their worst defeats, in 53BCE at the hands of a rival empire in the east, took place near the modern border between Syria and Turkey.

[Paddyboy]

Romans like Gaius Marius and Julius Caesar knew exactly how to handle barbarian invasions. Marius organized a peoples army and annihilated the Germanic hordes and Caesar just went to Gaul and committed a genocide of about 2 million people.

[Cincinatus]

Roman conquest undoubtedly was vicious. Caesar’s conquest of Gaul has not unfairly been compared to genocide, and was criticised by some Romans at the time in those terms. One of Caesar’s political rivals even suggested that he should be put on trial for war crimes, with the jury made up of the tribesmen he had conquered. But Rome expanded into a world not of communities living at peace with one another, but one of endemic violence, rival power bases backed up by military force (there was not really any alternative backing) and mini empires. Most of Rome’s enemies were as militaristic as the Romans, and, in our terms, as sadistic.

After expending 4500 words carefully explaining why we are NOT like the Romans and do not live in their world, Mary Beard proves exactly the opposite.

It's a cruel world, filled with evil and few stand for good. We do. And they hate us for it.

[panzerkamphwageneinz]

“If one is Jewish, and therefore does not believe in the Deity known as Jesus, BC and AD have no meaning, especially AD, as Jesus is not our lord, therefore BCE and CE - Before the common era and common era.

If one is Jewish you can use the Jewish calendar and I will not take offense. Just because you don’t accept Jesus as Lord, doesn’t mean you have to disregard the scientific dating of before and after his death.

It’s a moment in historical time that is a benchmark of Western Civilization. It’s not proselytizing

[Daveinyork]

Those of us who do not accept that Jesus is our Lord will not be acknowledging that he is by using the term “year of our lord” to make date references in the commonly used calendar, and since most of our readers will not understand the Hebrew calendar we will use the commonly used calendar.

You are free to get your nose out of joint.

[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic is from 10/08/2015. Thanks lbryce. I'm takin' over NOW. ;^)

[Pelham]

panzer may not be a Latin student and is thinking that AD means “after death” since BC is short for the English “Before Christ”.

Anno Domini, In the Year of the Lord. Starts with Christ’s birth.