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>A more useful way to delineate would be to say that Romans lived in a world where "might makes right" was the unquestioned order of the universe. It was the common belief and enshrined in many Roman practices, but it was far from the unquestioned order of the day. Multiple Roman emperors, from Augustus onward created laws that went directly contrary to the idea of might always making right. One notable example of this is an emperor that everyone knows, Marcus Aurelius, but an even better case in point would be his impressive mentor, Titus Antoninus Pius, quite possibly the best and most humane emperor that Rome ever had. He ruled longer than any emperor except for Augustus, up until his own death, but is little known of by the public in modern times, partly, I suspect, due to the sheer calmness of his rule, lacking as it was in major bloody events or notable acts of repression. He also made many sincere efforts to humanize and liberalize legal procedure in favor of ordinary people and even slaves, instead of the opposite. The devil is indeed in the details, or in this case, maybe a few minor angels were found there instead. Also worth noting is that compared to most of the contemporary civilizations that surrounded them, the Romans' society was positively enlightened by the standards of the time. This may not seem like much, but when you compare Roman pretensions to moderate, ordered rule with the brutality of places like northern Europe, it was more than nothing for that time. It wasn't just by violence that Romans were so successful at Romanizing other people, these people themselves often willfully accepted Roman practices. In some ways, it reminds one of charismatic future societies like those of the British Empire and the United States today. |