Ancient Romans, their heritage, culture and language are considered the foundations of European civilization. As it turns out, in modern societies, one can observe extremely surprising similarities to the “sons of the She-wolf” in everyday, prosaic issues, and sometimes, unfortunately, also not very glorious. Below is a list of the 10 most interesting (in my opinion) and little-known things that do not differ much from the ancient Romans.
I. Hypocrisy in power circles
What certainly upsets many of us is human hypocrisy. There are many examples from the political scene. As it turns out, the power and politics of many people have reevaluated their lives. Going back almost two thousand years, it is worth recalling the figure of Seneca the Younger, who lived in the 1st century CE. He was a famous Roman Stoic, called the “Philosopher”, eulogist of heroic ethics, rejection wealth and anger. Many of his golden sentences have survived to our times:
- “It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor”1
- “The vices of others we have before our eyes, our own are behind our backs”2
- “Man is a sacred thing for man”3
It should be noted, however, that his life, contrary to appearances, was not guided by these beautiful beliefs, especially in the later period. When he became an educator of Emperor Nero in 49 CE, he found himself in the very circle of power in the state. Seneca decided to use it scrupulously, and all crimes and crimes of Nero allowed him to accumulate a significant fortune. After the murder of Britania, son of the deceased Emperor Claudius, his fortune was divided, where his share was presumably just had Seneca.
The writer and philosopher also had numerous estates: not only in Rome but also in Egypt, Spain and southern Italy. Interestingly, his fortune was so large that he was able to grant a loan of 40 million sesterces4to new subjects – the Britons (around 60 CE the province of Britania was established); for comparison, the annual pay of a Roman legionary was about 900 sesterces. The subsequent call for debt only infuriated the Britons, who eventually sparked an uprising.
Seneca, calling for modesty and moderation in wealth, was to privately accumulate a fortune of 300 million sesterces, which mainly came from loans granted in Italy and provinces. The Roman poet Martial, irritated by the sulk and avarice of the Roman aristocracy, referred to him as Seneca praedives, meaning “Seneca the extremely rich”.
Seneca, aware that he did not follow the principles of stoicism, committed the treatise De vita beata (“On Happy Life”), in which he defended himself by claiming that living in wealth is in line with Stoic philosophy. In his opinion, wealth is neither good nor bad, but it is useful in ensuring the comfort of life. Additionally, he states that the sage is served by wealth more than poverty (paupertas), and that money can act as an instrument in attaining virtue. Interestingly, Stoicism made it clear that the most important value in life is the virtue that brings happiness; wealth, health, freedom or social status have no bearing on this. Thus, Seneca was clearly trying to save face, also proving his hypocrisy.
II. Unusual Taxes
As Benjamin Franklin said, “In this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes”. Certainly, many of us will not readily agree to this, because in order for the state to function, it needs money from the citizens. Sometimes, however, the legislator is able to come up with truly unusual taxes, including, inter alia, a tax on sweets (in Chicago) or a tax on gases excreted by cows (Estonia).
As it turns out, a similar approach was used by the ancients, who were able to reach deep into the pockets of citizens. The famous urine tax (urinae vectigal), introduced by Emperor Vespasian, made history in 74 CE. Urine was a valuable commodity in ancient times and many people collected it and then delivered it to fulling mills for a fee, which used it to whiten the material and remove stains. Vespasian, looking for new income, sensed an opportunity to provide the state treasury with additional funds. It is worth emphasizing that Vespasian – as we can guess not without reason – was referred to by the Alexandrians as Cybiosactes, from the nickname “of one of their kings who was scandalously stingy”5. Suetonius is referring to Seleucus VII Kybiosactes. Said nickname comes from Greek and literally refers to “dealer in square pieces of salt fish”, that is, the seller of cheap food for the poor.
Even his son Titus criticized the idea of introducing the tax. Vespasian then:
[…] held a piece of money from the first payment to his son’s nose, asking whether its odour was offensive to him. When Titus said “No,” he replied, “Yet it comes from urine.”
– Suetonius, Vespasian, 23
After Vespasian’s death in 79 CE, Titus withdrew the tax.
Interestingly,