I don't think they were comparing today's standard of living in the US to that in Rome, just saying that people misrepresent poverty, and that poverty is crushi

I don't think they were comparing today's standard of living in the US to that in Rome, just saying that people misrepresent poverty, and that poverty is crushing for a human being. I do think the fact that you decided to counter and declare that the US meets the incredibly low bar of "better living conditions than ancient Rome" is an interesting point to reflect on, and probably relates to the previous poster's point.