Posted on 05/25/2011 6:25:19 PM PDT by AustralianConservative
Like so many “lost” civilizations, her rollercoaster ride history is hard for politically-correct elites to process. But why ignore or edit her lessons? One clue: Professor Anthony Esolen of Providence College says, “In some ways ancient Rome, especially during the centuries of the Republic, was as politically incorrect a place as you can imagine.”
To Christians, Rome strengthened the church through persecution. That said, not all Romans were bloodthirsty tyrants, and Christians and Jews weren’t always at odds with warring imperialists. Table-turning Christ (no pacifist) openly applauded the Centurion. In the Bible, “righteous pagans” (even turnaround prostitutes) were given credit, where credit was due, and still should, in my view.
When Rome was ordered, fatherhood stood tall, for the father was “central to Roman order.”
Her unapologetic art too often draws our moral eyes, to the importance of wisdom and duty, over narcissistic individualism. In wiser times, superficiality was given the back seat. “The Romans, who mostly looked down upon free men who competed in sports, did not idolize the young athlete. When they finally learned a little bit about sculpture, their tastes did not run to the buff bodies of nude youths, as in Greece. They preferred bald heads and jowls and warts and all, the serious busts of old men.”
Patriarchy wasn’t always bad news. Outside of Israel, the Roman woman enjoyed more freedoms than her sisters in the Mediterranean world. From Cornelia to Portia, positive accounts of noble ladies are easy to find. Moreover, though, “Roman women did not have to endure being shunted aside for second and third wives” (a tradition all too common today): “the Romans were monogamous, and, especially early in their history, they looked down on divorce.”
(Excerpt) Read more at weekendlibertarian.blogspot.com ...
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