tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-649431201703508681.post8467671029528923559..comments2023-11-02T10:22:20.717-04:00Comments on Mike Anderson's Ancient History Blog: The Psychology of the RomansMike Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02072553719998549925noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-649431201703508681.post-18605037117961644902014-03-13T08:12:45.648-04:002014-03-13T08:12:45.648-04:00It should be added that within the Roman pyscholog...It should be added that within the Roman pyschology was a strong streak of cruelty. Roman law, particularly with regard to debt, could be savage. In the early Republic, creditors had the legal right to draw and quarter those who failed to make good on loans. Or the entire family could be forced into slavery.<br /><br />Then there was the Roman Colisseum with its bloody gladiatorial combats and ghastly executions. The average Roman had no moral objection.<br /><br />The origin of the Roman character was largely shaped by the ruling Patrician order, a land-owning military aristocracy. Like the military classes of the Middle Ages, they were greedy, ruthless and determined to monopolize their grip on government and the military. The lower Plebian classes were regarded as social inferiors, to be exploited and used as they saw fit.<br /><br />In the beginning, the Plebians had no choice but to knuckle under. But as their numbers grew and they gained military experience, they gradually were able to assert themselves. But not before a certain degree of bloodshed and violence. And this left some stamp on the Roman character as well.<br /><br />The Romans were also extremely warlike. War was seen as an opportunity to demonstrate bravery, gain territory and slaves. And the upper class Roman senators of the Republic were not shy about going to war on the basis of "honor" or some imagined slight.<br /><br />Finally, there was Rome's slave population. Slave labor was a massive part of the economy. The treatment of unskilled slave labor in places like mills, the mines and farms could be brutal. Sexual exploitation of female slaves was acceptable. In general, slaves were mere property with no rights as human beings.<br /><br />All things considered, for all their military and engineering accomplishments and contribution to the arts, the Roman character was essentially brutal.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com