What If?..

[Paullus Scipio]

Our modern society is arguably just as bloodthirsty in its choice of entertainment as the Romans........you will see more killing, blood and gore ( and often in slow-motion and close-up!! ) in the average Action Movie, than a Roman saw in an afternoon at the Coloseum....... hock:

[MARCVS PETRONIVS MAIVS]

Our modern society is arguably just as bloodthirsty in its choice of entertainment as the Romans........you will see more killing, blood and gore ( and often in slow-motion and close-up!! ) in the average Action Movie, than a Roman saw in an afternoon at the Coloseum....... hock:

Well said!

[Aetius Helvius Merula]

And then there's the Ultimate Fighting Championship...admittedly, not the free for all, semi-pankration it was in the 90s but still pretty brutal. And people eat it up.

[Avatar]

What if Rome was still around, or Alexander conquered ancient china, even the warld?

If Rome was still around, I'd be a legionaire. Simple as that.

Sometimes I think I was born a few centuries too late.

[MARCVS PETRONIVS MAIVS]

What if Rome was still around, or Alexander conquered ancient china, even the warld?

If Rome was still around, I'd be a legionaire. Simple as that.

Sometimes I think I was born a few centuries too late.

Or two millenia

[Avatar]

What if Rome was still around, or Alexander conquered ancient china, even the warld?

If Rome was still around, I'd be a legionaire. Simple as that.

Sometimes I think I was born a few centuries too late.

Or two millenia

Not that many years ago, I could simply have gone off to sea. Only requirement was the willingness to do some hard work. Now you need an education, and with laws being what they are here in Norway, it's cheaper to hire a foreign sailor than hire a Norwegian. :/ Oh well...

[Robert Vermaat]

Our modern society is arguably just as bloodthirsty in its choice of entertainment as the Romans........you will see more killing, blood and gore ( and often in slow-motion and close-up!! ) in the average Action Movie, than a Roman saw in an afternoon at the Coloseum....... hock:

I don't know if that's exactly true.. Most people like to watch that shit because they can decieve themselves by saying it's all fake. If confronted with the real deal most shy away instead of calling for more. I guess life today is not that hard or cheap as it was back then.

[Primvs Pavlvs]

Personally, I do not think we have changed in that regard. Beneath the veneer and façade of modern society, I believe that most are just as likely to commit, or observe violence as our ancestors. Without modern constraints and law enforcement I believe many of us would be more violent in daily life than we are.

[Memmia]

I guess life today is not that hard or cheap as it was back then.

Try living on a sink estate in the UK for a couple of years, you may change your views about that.

[Robert Vermaat]

I guess life today is not that hard or cheap as it was back then.

Try living on a sink estate in the UK for a couple of years, you may change your views about that.

Debt slavery? Slavery, period? Child mortality of 70%? Can a landlord have you flogged to death? Can just about any desease kill you? Are there barbarians just waiting to raid your town?
No doubt estates are rough, but not like it was during the industrial revolution, let alone how it was during Roman times, no.

[Libitina]

Are there barbarians just waiting to raid your town?

We call them "chavs".

[MARCVS PETRONIVS MAIVS]

Are there barbarians just waiting to raid your town?

We call them "chavs".

Damnit! I thought the exact same thing when I read that!

[Libitina]

Are there barbarians just waiting to raid your town?

We call them "chavs".

Damnit! I thought the exact same thing when I read that!

Ah, great minds and all that

[Memmia]

I guess life today is not that hard or cheap as it was back then.

Try living on a sink estate in the UK for a couple of years, you may change your views about that.

Debt slavery? Slavery, period? Child mortality of 70%? Can a landlord have you flogged to death? Can just about any desease kill you? Are there barbarians just waiting to raid your town?
No doubt estates are rough, but not like it was during the industrial revolution, let alone how it was during Roman times, no.

No, today we just have:

Kids gunned down over petty matters, a friend of mine was gunned down years ago over owing someone a pittance, I'll never accept that as long as I live. We all know of many other tragic incidents on the news. Where we see how cheap life can be.
A severe drug and drink problem- kids as young as 6 in casualty through intoxication. Thousands unable to work due to drink or drug related illness.
Up to 70% of kids on estates with a very bleak future, many destined to end up in jail, become prostitutes or end up dead.
Kids aged as young as 5 years old committing suicide or being anorexic due to low self esteem.
Pets stolen as bait for dog fighters- bloodsport is still alive and well- (we got the *******who stole our dog though).
Single mothers aged 13 or even younger.
Scores of people, and more recently newborn babies dying of superbugs in hospital.
AIDS
Mass genocide of civilians with the help of sophisticated weapons- in Europe too, not just Third World countries.
Scores of young girls in Europe forced into prostitution.
Obesity and heart disease on a mass scale- malnutrition on the flip side.
As for barbarians, well apart from those within who make it so that most of us in the UK are too scared to leave our homes at night, for very real reasons, not just moral panic, there are also the threats and incidents of terrorism.
I could go on.....

In fact, I bet a Roman, if shown the future, would shudder. Just as we shudder at their ills.

Maybe the only thing that has changed is our perceptions of certain things. Romans would probably be numbed to and accept certain things that we would find abhorrant, and vice versa.


A case of same drink, different shaped bottle

Or maybe I have just had a more horrible life than most on here :wink:
I'll leave it now before it turns political. :wink:

[Peroni]

Good grief Jo! - Move house mate!