Where my ancient history peeps at?
Posted by
con_carne
Oct 2 '14, 11:36
|
So I watched this fantastic revealing documentary on Carthage. It made me think of some things that were secrets to early Rome's success: inclusion of people, a sense of equality, and a robust public life.
The documentary suggested that some things the Carthaginians lacked were such a public life and sense of inclusion. Carthaginians had no institutions (that we know of) like the amphitheater, the temples, public baths, etc. And as an empire, it didn't include the people they conquered like the Romans did. Instead, they would become like a colony/ally. And as usual with such arrangements, they can be be fair weather friends (there is evidence the Sicilian Phoenicians turned their backs on Carthage in favor of the Greeks at critical times).
Contrarily, in Rome, you knew when you were Roman. Even the farthest backwaters of the empire got their amphitheater, their temple, their public baths.
It makes me wonder today, where the heck are our public works? All in the military and overpriced healthcare. In a time of increasing social inequality, how are Americans supposed to feel included like they have a stake in how our Experiment goes?
As the Empire fell, at least the disenfranchised masses had their public life to appease them (and make no mistake: ever increasingly, that's every single one of us). Where's our inclusion? Where's our public life?
|
Responses:
|
