The similarities between Roman and American society as supported by Juvenal's Satire III:
1. Importance of Money - In Roman society, similar to the U.S.A., Juvenal writes that, "the first question asked will be as to his wealth, the last about his character: 'how many slaves does he keep?' 'how many acres does he own?' 'how big and how many are his dessert dishes?' A man's word is believed in exact proportion to the amount of cash which he keeps in his strong-box." This Quotation shows that the value of a man was almost directly tied to the amount of money he owned. Just as in America this could only create a mentality that you must do all you can to get money so that you are able to do the things you want to do.
2. Busy-ness - I could not find any written confirmation of parallels between the U.S.A.'s problem of bussy-ness and a sense of busy-ness in Rome. I think that this could do with the fact that with so many technological advances in this day and age life has become more complicated. In a way we should have more free time but instead we continuously fill that free time up with plans.
3. The ME Attitude - Just like the many people who have gone into debt to satisfy their wants instantly, according to Juvenal, Rome had a similar issue. When he describes the styles of the day he says, "every one dresses smartly, above his means, and sometimes something more than what is enough is taken out of another man's pocket." Appearance was as huge of a deal in Ancient Rome as it is today in the U.S.A. Such placement of values reflects the "Me Attitude" because it shows an importance in vanity.
4. Poverty - Correspondingly, poverty is also rampant in both Rome and the U.S.A.. Juvenal says; "It is no easy matter, anywhere, for a man to rise when poverty stands in the way of his merits: but nowhere is the effort harder than in Rome" Just as I said in my last post the U.S.A. economy creates an endless cycle of poor people who are unable to break from the mold. The same seems to hold true with Rome.
5. Obesity and Unhealthy Lifestyles - Although there was not the same health issues in Ancient Rome as there are today many people still lead unhealthy lifestyles in Rome. Rome was a place "where you must pay a big rent for a wretched lodging, a big sum to fill the bellies of your slaves, and buy a frugal dinner for yourself." "Most sick people here in Rome perish for want of sleep, the illness itself having been produced by food lying undigested on a fevered stomach." Both of these things are not correlated with the nutrients of the food but instead with the place that they lived. They were not able to purchase enough food which is, obviously, unhealthy. So in that way peoples health was still suffering from their lifestyle choices in Rome as it is today in the U.S.A.
1. Importance of Money - In Roman society, similar to the U.S.A., Juvenal writes that, "the first question asked will be as to his wealth, the last about his character: 'how many slaves does he keep?' 'how many acres does he own?' 'how big and how many are his dessert dishes?' A man's word is believed in exact proportion to the amount of cash which he keeps in his strong-box." This Quotation shows that the value of a man was almost directly tied to the amount of money he owned. Just as in America this could only create a mentality that you must do all you can to get money so that you are able to do the things you want to do.
2. Busy-ness - I could not find any written confirmation of parallels between the U.S.A.'s problem of bussy-ness and a sense of busy-ness in Rome. I think that this could do with the fact that with so many technological advances in this day and age life has become more complicated. In a way we should have more free time but instead we continuously fill that free time up with plans.
3. The ME Attitude - Just like the many people who have gone into debt to satisfy their wants instantly, according to Juvenal, Rome had a similar issue. When he describes the styles of the day he says, "every one dresses smartly, above his means, and sometimes something more than what is enough is taken out of another man's pocket." Appearance was as huge of a deal in Ancient Rome as it is today in the U.S.A. Such placement of values reflects the "Me Attitude" because it shows an importance in vanity.
4. Poverty - Correspondingly, poverty is also rampant in both Rome and the U.S.A.. Juvenal says; "It is no easy matter, anywhere, for a man to rise when poverty stands in the way of his merits: but nowhere is the effort harder than in Rome" Just as I said in my last post the U.S.A. economy creates an endless cycle of poor people who are unable to break from the mold. The same seems to hold true with Rome.
5. Obesity and Unhealthy Lifestyles - Although there was not the same health issues in Ancient Rome as there are today many people still lead unhealthy lifestyles in Rome. Rome was a place "where you must pay a big rent for a wretched lodging, a big sum to fill the bellies of your slaves, and buy a frugal dinner for yourself." "Most sick people here in Rome perish for want of sleep, the illness itself having been produced by food lying undigested on a fevered stomach." Both of these things are not correlated with the nutrients of the food but instead with the place that they lived. They were not able to purchase enough food which is, obviously, unhealthy. So in that way peoples health was still suffering from their lifestyle choices in Rome as it is today in the U.S.A.
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