8 ms·

> They really weren't into this "treating people humanely" thing. As opposed to all the other ancient empires who were.

LessDmesg 7y ago
Not all, but Romans do stand out. While Greeks were discussing philosophy and building mechanisms like Antikythera, Romans were slaves to the rich, building roads and aqueducts with arthritis and broken bones, and rotten grain for food.
- smogcutter 7y ago
  Oh come on, as if “the Greeks” were sitting around the agora all day chatting with Socrates. That would sure be news to a Spartan helot.
  - watwut 7y ago
    Sparta was enemy of city Socrates lived in. And rich peoples livestyle and philosophy was possible only due to having those lower classes. Which matters.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
- manfredo 7y ago
  "The Greeks" were a diverse group of peoples spanning three continents over the course of most of a millennium with varied cultures and social structures. Many of them, including some of the most iconic Greek societies like Athens and Sparta, were comprised of 40-60% slaves with treatment on par with that of Roman slaves or worse (e.g. Helots in Sparta).
- quickthrowman 7y ago
  Alexander the Great was the greatest general in ancient history (Hannibal is up there though), and also Greek. Greeks wielded power just like the Romans, there were a few hundred years of Greek hegemony in the eastern Mediterranean after Alexander died. What the heck do you have against the Roman people? Making value judgements about long dead ancient cultures is really strange, they saw the world much different than us.
  - cultus 7y ago
    Speaking of cruelty and Alexander, he was also a bloodthirsty, paranoid, alcoholic lunatic. Apart from the standard sackings and such inherent in ancient conquest, he executed many around him on shaky suspicions and killed his close friend Cleitus in a drunken rage. If he were a more recent figure he would be most comparable to Stalin or Hitler.
    - Koshkin 7y ago
      True. So would Gaius “Caesar” Julius, BTW.
      - n0rbwah 7y ago
        So would most people who wielded a comparable amount of power.
      - thaumasiotes 7y ago
        Gaius "Caesar" Julius? Where does that come from? Caesar was his name, Gaius Iulius Caesar.
        Koshkin 7y ago
        No, "Caesar" was his cognomen (i.e. a nickname).
        thaumasiotes 7y ago
        Yes, it was his cognomen. The cognomen is what you as a modern Westerner would think of as a name -- it is the only part of a Roman name that identifies the person. The nomen identifies the person's family, and the praenomen identifies nothing at all -- there are so few praenomina that they are conventionally abbreviated by just their first letter. (Or in the case of a couple that begin with the same letter, two letters.) Imagine if "J. K. Rowling" was, by itself, sufficient information for you to know that the first name was Joanne. The cognomen is unlike the concept referred to by the English word "nickname". It is part of the full formal name. It is fixed. It is like a nickname in that it is not assigned at birth and in that you have the option of referring to someone by cognomen or not.
callmeal 7y ago
Or modern ones for that matter.
- pavlov 7y ago
  Speaking of empires and toilets... A federal judge in Arizona ruled yesterday that the US Customs and Border Protection can’t continue forcing immigrants to sleep on the floor in toilet stalls (that are being simultaneously used of course): https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/02/20/arizona-detention-facilities-unconstitutional/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/02/20/arizona-det...
  - thulecitizen 7y ago
    This.

Not all, but Romans do stand out. While Greeks were discussing philosophy and building mechanisms like Antikythera, Romans were slaves to the rich, building roads and aqueducts with arthritis and broken bones, and rotten grain for food.

smogcutter 7y ago
Oh come on, as if “the Greeks” were sitting around the agora all day chatting with Socrates. That would sure be news to a Spartan helot.
- watwut 7y ago
  Sparta was enemy of city Socrates lived in. And rich peoples livestyle and philosophy was possible only due to having those lower classes. Which matters.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
manfredo 7y ago
"The Greeks" were a diverse group of peoples spanning three continents over the course of most of a millennium with varied cultures and social structures. Many of them, including some of the most iconic Greek societies like Athens and Sparta, were comprised of 40-60% slaves with treatment on par with that of Roman slaves or worse (e.g. Helots in Sparta).
quickthrowman 7y ago
Alexander the Great was the greatest general in ancient history (Hannibal is up there though), and also Greek. Greeks wielded power just like the Romans, there were a few hundred years of Greek hegemony in the eastern Mediterranean after Alexander died. What the heck do you have against the Roman people? Making value judgements about long dead ancient cultures is really strange, they saw the world much different than us.
- cultus 7y ago
  Speaking of cruelty and Alexander, he was also a bloodthirsty, paranoid, alcoholic lunatic. Apart from the standard sackings and such inherent in ancient conquest, he executed many around him on shaky suspicions and killed his close friend Cleitus in a drunken rage. If he were a more recent figure he would be most comparable to Stalin or Hitler.
  - Koshkin 7y ago
    True. So would Gaius “Caesar” Julius, BTW.
    - n0rbwah 7y ago
      So would most people who wielded a comparable amount of power.
    - thaumasiotes 7y ago
      Gaius "Caesar" Julius? Where does that come from? Caesar was his name, Gaius Iulius Caesar.
      - Koshkin 7y ago
        No, "Caesar" was his cognomen (i.e. a nickname).
        thaumasiotes 7y ago
        Yes, it was his cognomen. The cognomen is what you as a modern Westerner would think of as a name -- it is the only part of a Roman name that identifies the person. The nomen identifies the person's family, and the praenomen identifies nothing at all -- there are so few praenomina that they are conventionally abbreviated by just their first letter. (Or in the case of a couple that begin with the same letter, two letters.) Imagine if "J. K. Rowling" was, by itself, sufficient information for you to know that the first name was Joanne. The cognomen is unlike the concept referred to by the English word "nickname". It is part of the full formal name. It is fixed. It is like a nickname in that it is not assigned at birth and in that you have the option of referring to someone by cognomen or not.

callmeal 7y ago

Or modern ones for that matter.

pavlov 7y ago
Speaking of empires and toilets... A federal judge in Arizona ruled yesterday that the US Customs and Border Protection can’t continue forcing immigrants to sleep on the floor in toilet stalls (that are being simultaneously used of course): https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/02/20/arizona-detention-facilities-unconstitutional/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/02/20/arizona-det...
- thulecitizen 7y ago
  This.