Times change, culture changes and art often does not reflect past cultures accurately. No Western culture lasted as long or was as widespread in ancient history than Rome. (If you’d asked a Byzantine who he was, he would have told you that he’s “Roman”. The word, “Byzantine” came later. Then there was the Holy Roman Empire, which it is said, was neither holy, Roman or a true Empire.
There are things that we find acceptable today that the Romans did not. Sometimes there are good reasons for the variance and sometimes it was just a different culture with very different values.
1. Lavishing affection on pets was considered to be demeaning and while it may have happened, it was clearly not public behavior in Rome.
2. Treating social inferiors as equals was not done. And you didn’t treat your betters as equals either. Society was very stratified and everyone had a place. If you allowed social inferiors to treat you as an equal, you’d lose your status.
3. Neither men nor women wore underwear. It was considered to be unmanly/unwomanly to do that.
4. Humility was not a virtue.
5. Revering crucified people, and particularly, worshiping crucified Jews was looked down on.
6. Romans did not kiss on the mouth. It was acceptable to receive a kiss from a non-Roman citizen (a slave or a slave/whore), but it was demoting for citizens to kiss, even to kiss their children.
7. The same was true of oral sex (see 6 above).
8. Romans put fermented fish sauce on everything. I’ve only personally seen that in Asia, but in Rome, it was the rule, not the exception. The lack of fermented fish sauce supplied to legions in the field was believed by legionnaires as a crisis.
I wonder what our ancestors will think of our culture. One thing is certain, they will think the people of 2020 to be insane when they watch old CNN broadcasting.
Screw-ups by military people was punishable by killing one in ten of the survivors.
Cowards we re killed by their own fellow troops.
Slaves actually had higher status than just low-income people.
Women were more likely to be named by the number they were born in (ex: Octavia – the 8th child) (So were men, once prime family names were used up.)
Most modern people could not even imagine living in a past society, and the more past the society was, the more unimaginable it will be.
Seriously, post-apocalyptic Mad-Max or Blade Runner is easier for most people to comprehend.
Just the ancient diets would boggle most modern 1st world people's minds. Semi-rotten bird. Mice. Various liquidy fermented fish, or eggs or other things.
Sure, people eat balut and such oddities today, but not normally in 1st world locations, except as a dare.
Thank you for adding to the list, Beans.
Interesting list. #2. #4, and #5 seem to be adopted by the donkeys.
I had to look up balut, Beans. Sorry I did. Ewwwwwwwww
Adrienne, I know people – acquaintances of long standing, that love balut.
Yes, and I don't know (and don't want to know – TMI) whether or not they wear underwear in an effort to be more imperial.
The people that watch CNN are insane.
I don't think that constipation was/(is) a major problem for people eating those foods
As I said before – Ewwwwwwwwwwwww! I'm a visual type person and that looks just gross. As a child I wouldn't eat mushrooms 'cause of the little gills under the cap. My mom didn't push the issue and I outgrew that and love mushrooms now. I also wouldn't eat egg foo young until my mom told me it was actually just an omelet. I also have little quirks like you can't eat chicken and eggs at the same meal. It just seems wrong somehow.
Eating weird foods just to prove my macho is b.s., but for other, knock yourself out.
Receiving oral sex from an inferior was okay. Anal sex was fine so long as the higher-status individual was doing the penetrating. Gender didn't matter much, but being penetrated was definitely the way to lose status.
Taking a dump was a social affair, though not so much as bathing was. A sponge on a stick rinsed in a bucket of water was used by all and sundry to wipe your bum. The past was a very different place. And quite brutal by our standards.
From what I read, immigration cause the decline. Japan is kind of restrictive, that will make them last for many more generations I guess. They also have a culture that keeps them going. Other sivilizations? Do not think so. The US has it all and could be an example for the rest of the world. But innercity people and socialism will make the country slow and helpless. Calexit and a wall closing the border will help. As time goes the bureacracy will tear CA apart.
Japan needs to procreate. Seriously, there's a generation of young men who are asexual at best.
Negative birth rate. Not the way to sustain a culture.
They will need to address this issue soon, before it's too late.
And, yes, the USA has roughly the same issue. But just look at the politics of those who aren't breeding. Look carefully. And conservatives are breeding. Leftists aren't. Within two generations, if this keeps up, leftists will be a lost people, the political version of the Shakers.
Well, as to balut-eaters, every culture has those that eat disgusting nasty food.
In Provincial France even today, there's a recipe for song-bird tarts that has the whole bird in the pastry, with the feet sticking up.
Okay for them, but as Adrienne said, Ewwwwwwww I don't do organ meats except finely ground and added to Dirty Rice or good Cornbread stuffing.
I've found bird's heads, feet, etc. in soup in China. It's gross.
Likely not. And the Romans ate a lot of grain on the march and that may have kept them regular.
Julius Caesar was captured by pirates who held him for ransom. He insisted that they ask for more ransom because he was worth it.
They paid the ransom and as he was leaving, he promised the pirates that he'd come back and crucify them, which he did. But because he had been treated fairly by them, he had their throats cut before they were hoisted up on the cross.
Different countries, different customs.
The Roman Republic did not allow same sex marriage
Same sex unions produced no children and children grew to be needed soldiers.
It was not until the era of the Roman Empire that same sex marriage was allowed.
This led to fewer Romans as troops which led to hiring more non-Roman mercenaries which led to …well you know the rest.
Did you ever think that you have seen this movie before and you did not like the way it ended the last time?
It never ends well.
The Japanese are following the European pattern of internal genetic self-destruction. I don't personally understand it, but it's obvious.
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