Beard on Poverty

[Nathan Ross]

Mary Beard compares attitudes to poverty in ancient Rome and today:

Why the Rich look down on the Poor

Interesting note about the uses of 'plebs'. But the best bit is this:

The Greeks and Romans seem to have been particularly sensitive to odd nasal noises. One pundit in the early 2nd Century - the aptly named Dio the Golden Mouth - gave a whole lecture to the people of the city of Tarsus, urging them to control their snorting. It must count as one of the most curious works of ancient literature to have come down to us.

Very peculiar! Has anyone read this anti-snorting lecture?

[Epictetus]

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Ro...s/33*.html

Bizarre. I would have expected this to be some rhetorical exercise, like praising dust, but all the commentators seem to think he is serious.

[john m roberts]

Maybe they all had that geeky, snorting laugh, like Lily Tomlin's Ernestine the phone operator.

[M. Demetrius]

You're in rare form, John. :lol: