Quote from: minor-transgression on June 12, 2016, 10:00:42 PM

There is a topic related to Imperial Rome that I still puzzle
over. Now, within the US Presidential campaigns, I may have found
a new perspective on the outcomes. The two quotes below are
enlightening:

Trump "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters,"
Clinton "Like with a cloth or something?"

Short on policy, long on Entertainment. Imperial Rome was famous
for its "Bread and Circuses" - just the sort of nebulous concept
that defies the ability to attach numbers. This made the true
importance and impact of this policy difficult to grasp, and
allowed it to escape its proper inspection.

Bread and Circuses flows from context: With the defeat of Antony
and Cleopatra, Rome's wealth and survival were assured. Uncertainty
was reduced to storms and floods and to political infighting. One
form of instability leads, I suggest, to a form of stability.

Thus Rome moved from a Republic to an Empire. But with Wars, and
Rumours of Wars gone as a topic of conversation, and little new
in the way of weather, and even political and religious structures
set in stone, what were the plebs, the Roman Mob, to do for
Entertainment?

The last thing an Emperor wanted was his policies on taxation and
welfare debated on the streets of Rome by a knowledgeable population.
Thus was born a social contract - "Bread and Circuses" - the plebs
were provided with sufficient bread and entertainment and would
leave the running of the Empire to the Elite. For the bulk of the
population, the marginal economic utility of education fell to zero.

With these thoughts in mind, I can again ask myself these questions:
What was the real story behind Caligula?
Who was Catiline?

Whoever wrote that opinion about ancient Rome had a lot of anti-Roman biases. Bread and circuses weren't the trivial things he suggests. Those things began with the Roman republic, not Imperial Rome.

Bread refers to wheat. It's important to understand that food was expensive for the masses. The Roman government sold discount wheat to the poor, and provided a free ration of corn to a lot of people too. They could make cereals and bread out of wheat, and use corn for different meals and even to feed livestock. Think of all of that as the first food stamps program.

Circuses refers to different forms of entertainment that some Roman politicians provided for the public. There was no internet or video games. Races, sports, gladiator fights, public executions of criminals by lions all provided entertainment. But those were also civic events to stimulate pride and harmony.

Whoever wrote that quote seems to think erroneously that during Imperial Rome society was dumbed down. That's unbelievable rubbish. The wealth allowed the arts and poetry to flourish. "Education fell to zero"? Really? Then how did they develop a civil service to run a growing empire?

Caligula was a psycho emperor. Catiline was a politician who organized a failed coup while Cicero was consul. Cicero spent the rest of his life bragging to everyone who would listen that he suppressed the Catiline conspiracy. Good times.