Roman Parallels

1. People are forgetting how to be personally social. Obviously, this wasn't a big problem for Rome. It is a problem specifically in our society because we have so many digital devices that we can hide behind that speaking with people face to face isn't as important as it once was. I'm sure the Romans were able to write letters or send messages in ways other that didn't require face to face communication, but it's nowhere as prevalent as it is in the US today.

2. There is a huge divide between differing political parties in the US. "Who but the wealthy get sleep in Rome? There lies the root of the disorder." Although the roles are a little different in this scenario, the principle is the same. Rome was not divided by political party, per say, rather they are divided between wealthy and poor. This quote shows the attitude of the wealthy towards the poor and the poor towards the wealthy. The wealthy are taken care of, the poor are left alone. The wealthy can sleep comfortably, while the poor suffer. "It is no easy matter, anywhere, for a man to rise when poverty stands in the way of his merits: but nowhere is the effort harder than in Rome, where you must pay a big rent for a wretched lodging, a big sum to fill the bellies of your slaves, and buy a frugal dinner for yourself." It is not easy to be poor in Rome.



3.  The family is definitely under attack in the US. I think this problem is illustrated with all of the other quotes used in this post. Conditions in Rome were not ideal. There was a huge divide between wealthy and poor, and families either benefited or suffered because of it. Wealthy families continued in wealth, while poor families were stuck in a cycle of never-ending poverty. I don't think families were purposefully attacked, but the government's policies led to the destruction of a well-off society.

4. The government. "This failing is universal here: we all live in a state of pretentious poverty. To put it shortly, nothing can be had in Rome for nothing." This is a pretty telling statement about the state of affairs in Rome. Obviously the government is failing in aspects of poverty and taking care of it's citizens. I'm not suggesting the government should take full responsibility to fix poverty, but there are cases where the government makes the problem worse. This seems to be one of those cases.

5. Bullying has come to the forefront as a major issue today. "I cannot abide, Quirites, a Rome of Greeks; and yet what fraction of our dregs comes from Greece? The Syrian Orontes has long since poured into the Tiber, bringing with it its lingo and its manners, its flutes and its slanting harp-strings; bringing too the timbrels of the breed, and the trulls who are bidden ply their trade at the Circus." Although Rome did not consider bullying a major problem, bullying the Greeks happened constantly in the empire. The Romans didn't like the Greeks. They did whatever they could to rid the Greek blood from their population. They really did bully them.