How Did Rome Become Good?
In ancient Greece there was a situation where there were multiple city-states in a relatively small area that all had different political ideologies. These City States had highly regarded philosophers that wrote great lengths about them. This gives us a great foundation to try to understand the different systems and how they were based. The goal is to analyze some of the different ideologies and find why they were thought to be so good, and what made them good. To begin there is Pericles’ Funeral Oration written by Thucydides, which documents a speech that Pericles used to address a crowd in Athens, comparing Athens to most notably, Sparta. It is evident that Athenians were certain that Athens was the greatest, “When you realize her greatness,
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then reflect that what made her great was men with a spirit of adventure, men who knew their duty, men who were ashamed to fall below a certain standard.” (Thucydides) The question remains; in the frame of an Athenian, why was adventure, duty and drive the characteristics of a good state? To simplify the question, we must assume that when referring to the state, we are referring to the people that encompass it, and not the political infrastructure itself. Adventure of an Athenian can be assumed to refer to the amount of freedom they had, especially in contrast to a Spartan. One of the main differences is the men of Athens are not owned by Athens and therefore are free men. When it comes to military, they believed in being ready for conflict, their sole purpose of being a citizen was not to protect their state. Pericles noted:
There are certain advantages, I think, in our way of meeting danger voluntarily, with an easy mind, instead of with a laborious training, with natural rather than with state-induced courage. We do not have to spend our time practicing to meet sufferings which are still in the future; and when they are actually upon us we show ourselves just as brave as these others who are always in strict training. (Thucydides)
Being that an Athenian was not devoting so much time to military, they were able to take up occupations, based on what they enjoyed the most, resulting in a higher quality of life for a man. The duty of an Athenian can be viewed quite similarly to what American values use to be. It is the duty of an Athenian to participate in politics, and was such an important aspect of their life that Pericles said, “We do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own business; we say that he has no business here at all”. (Thucydides) This view point is derived from their lifestyle in general. The city-state of Athens was democracy in its purest form, and for democracy to work well, every man that is a citizen is expected to participate. The other main duty of an Athenian man is to participate in the military when war is necessary. Perciles held Athens in very high regard, and it would seem for good reason. Then there is Xenophon and his opinion of Sparta is quite similar. Xenophon believed “that Sparta, though among the most thinly populated of states, was evidently the most powerful and most celebrated city in Greece; and I fell to wondering how this could have happened. But when I considered the institutions of the Spartans, I wondered no longer.” (Xenophon) Consequently, what did Xenophon mean by “The most Powerful and most celebrated city in Greece” (Xenophon) and why did he think that? Perhaps Xenophon was referring to the fact that all citizens of Sparta were equals, and not in the way Perciles meant it. In Sparta even the woman were equal to men. This is because producing a strong child in Sparta is extremely important to them, and you cannot have strong children if the woman is weak. (Xenophon) Spartans were owned by the state and therefore did not have the same freedoms that as Athenian had. As a result they had the same standard of living for all. (Xenophon) This would provide an environment in which the political ideology and moral code to be much different than a “free” state. The state provided all basic needs for its citizens and in return they had total obedience. With men training for battle all their lives when Sparta met an enemy for battle they almost never lost. Woman were left to take care of the economy and essentially ran the state. This style of government led to a very powerful state and in the mindset of a Spartan where monetary wealth was not a personal goal, was extremely beneficial to the state and the citizen. To the Spartan man they knew nothing else but the military, their sole goal was to protect Sparta and to do whatever the state asks of them. As a result it became their way to measure their success, and history does all too well show us how successful the Spartan military was. This seems like an alien concept to some, but if for all your life you were raised to believe that you were superior to others based off of your military accomplishments. Than you too would believe that, the military lifestyle is all that is good. Polybius believed “that every form of government that was unmixed, and rested on one species of power, was unstable; because it was swiftly perverted into that particular form of evil peculiar to it and inherent in its nature.” (Polybius, 1889) This belief led him to conclude that inevitably Sparta and Athens would not be good, his solution was a system he describes as the Roman Republic. Polybius will go on to say that “The result of this power of the several estates for mutual help or harm is a union sufficiently firm for all emergencies, and a constitution than which it is impossible to find a better.” (Polybius, 1889) What made Rome so great that Polybius considered it impossible to find a better constitution? First Rome was essentially divided into three different governing ideologies, a monarchy, an aristocracy, and a democracy.
This resulted in a hybrid system, where if you consider the livelihood of the state, and the happiness of its citizens to be the benchmark of what is good, than Rome would be the best state. Polybius considered it the best state because “the strength which is developed by the State is so extraordinary, that everything required is unfailingly carried out by the eager rivalry shown by all classes to devote their whole minds to the need of the hour, and to secure that any determination come to should not fail for want of promptitude;” (Polybius, 1889) The qualities that he describes as good, come down to the drive and confidence of the Roman citizens. As a result of drive and confidence you get successful men that achieve happiness through the acquisition of material wealth. To the Roman man, they strive all their life to achieve happiness which commonly comes through material wealth. This is somewhat common to Athens, but nowhere near the same qualities as Sparta. Although there are differences between the Roman idea of success and the Athenians’. The Athenians, although they used money would not judge each other on the basis of monetary wealth. So in the Athenians eye, the Romans were more likely to get corrupted by monetary wealth. On the contrast because of the government infrastructure, in Rome the state was less likely to get corrupted by sophists, whereas …show more content…
the Athenian state could. Because of reasons like this, Polyibus considered the Roman state to be the best. Plato had his own ideas on what he thought the perfect state to be. Plato believed that a city would be made up of a government, which recognized multiple communities; communities of woman, children, education, communities in pursuit of war and peace, and its kings must show a great understanding in philosophy and the greatest aptitude in war. (Plato, 2005, p. 127) This was to make up the perfect state. He believed this to be the perfect state because it would be self-sufficient and its occupants would thrive and find happiness, and here are some of its qualities: Every member would have their occupation based off of their nature. (Plato, 2005, p. 42) With having this setup each member of society would be more productive, and would have an easier time achieving happiness. He stated that the guardians of the city would be the best of men, and the best of men are old, wise men, but most importantly me who appear to be remarkable above other men. (Plato, 2005, p. 66) This is thought to be good through the eyes of Plato for multiple reasons. One being that because of his intelligence, he cannot be swayed by sophists into false proclaiming someone to being more remarkable of others. Also he does not conceive this republic to be one on earth, (Plato, 2005, p. 149) assuming that elsewhere the members of this society would not be tricked by witchcraft. With this foundation laid out he believed that it would be a good, perfect state.
Aristotle asks a similar question, in Book 3 of Politics, “What is a state?” (Aristotle) He continues with, “He who has the power to take part in the deliberative or judicial administration of any state is said by us to be a citizens of that state; and, speaking generally, a state is a body of citizens sufficing for the purposes of life.” (Aristotle) He adds in Book 1, “If all communities aim at some good, the state or political community, which is the highest of all, and which embraces all the rest, aims at good in a greater degree than any other, and at the highest good.” (Aristotle) So what does Aristotle consider to be good? In Book 5 Aristotle talks about how the best state is one that uses a constitution style government, with the majority in the middle class. (Aristotle) This is good because the middle class being not rich or poor with make the best decision between two extremes. To elaborate on why that is good, if either extreme was the ruling the class you would have a higher likelihood of corruption. With corruption inevitably leading to the failure of the state. In Book 7 Aristotle goes on to say “that the best life, both for individuals and states, is the life of virtue, when virtue has external goods enough for the performance of good actions.” (Aristotle) This is showing that good was meant to be virtuous, only when it is met with external goods that match the level of virtue. This ideal can be interpreted to mean that, living a life of good actions and virtue, are met with external goods that satisfy you. If by doing good, you satisfy the state and society, and as a result of doing good, you personally benefit. Than why would you choose to not do good, when doing good benefits all. The previous 5 authors gave their opinion on what a good state would be and we were able to interpolate why they thought it was good. So what would be the best state? First we must define what the purpose of the state is. The state should provide basic services to its citizens. Services such as protection, infrastructure.
then reflect that what made her great was men with a spirit of adventure, men who knew their duty, men who were ashamed to fall below a certain standard.” (Thucydides) The question remains; in the frame of an Athenian, why was adventure, duty and drive the characteristics of a good state? To simplify the question, we must assume that when referring to the state, we are referring to the people that encompass it, and not the political infrastructure itself. Adventure of an Athenian can be assumed to refer to the amount of freedom they had, especially in contrast to a Spartan. One of the main differences is the men of Athens are not owned by Athens and therefore are free men. When it comes to military, they believed in being ready for conflict, their sole purpose of being a citizen was not to protect their state. Pericles noted:
There are certain advantages, I think, in our way of meeting danger voluntarily, with an easy mind, instead of with a laborious training, with natural rather than with state-induced courage. We do not have to spend our time practicing to meet sufferings which are still in the future; and when they are actually upon us we show ourselves just as brave as these others who are always in strict training. (Thucydides)
Being that an Athenian was not devoting so much time to military, they were able to take up occupations, based on what they enjoyed the most, resulting in a higher quality of life for a man. The duty of an Athenian can be viewed quite similarly to what American values use to be. It is the duty of an Athenian to participate in politics, and was such an important aspect of their life that Pericles said, “We do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own business; we say that he has no business here at all”. (Thucydides) This view point is derived from their lifestyle in general. The city-state of Athens was democracy in its purest form, and for democracy to work well, every man that is a citizen is expected to participate. The other main duty of an Athenian man is to participate in the military when war is necessary. Perciles held Athens in very high regard, and it would seem for good reason. Then there is Xenophon and his opinion of Sparta is quite similar. Xenophon believed “that Sparta, though among the most thinly populated of states, was evidently the most powerful and most celebrated city in Greece; and I fell to wondering how this could have happened. But when I considered the institutions of the Spartans, I wondered no longer.” (Xenophon) Consequently, what did Xenophon mean by “The most Powerful and most celebrated city in Greece” (Xenophon) and why did he think that? Perhaps Xenophon was referring to the fact that all citizens of Sparta were equals, and not in the way Perciles meant it. In Sparta even the woman were equal to men. This is because producing a strong child in Sparta is extremely important to them, and you cannot have strong children if the woman is weak. (Xenophon) Spartans were owned by the state and therefore did not have the same freedoms that as Athenian had. As a result they had the same standard of living for all. (Xenophon) This would provide an environment in which the political ideology and moral code to be much different than a “free” state. The state provided all basic needs for its citizens and in return they had total obedience. With men training for battle all their lives when Sparta met an enemy for battle they almost never lost. Woman were left to take care of the economy and essentially ran the state. This style of government led to a very powerful state and in the mindset of a Spartan where monetary wealth was not a personal goal, was extremely beneficial to the state and the citizen. To the Spartan man they knew nothing else but the military, their sole goal was to protect Sparta and to do whatever the state asks of them. As a result it became their way to measure their success, and history does all too well show us how successful the Spartan military was. This seems like an alien concept to some, but if for all your life you were raised to believe that you were superior to others based off of your military accomplishments. Than you too would believe that, the military lifestyle is all that is good. Polybius believed “that every form of government that was unmixed, and rested on one species of power, was unstable; because it was swiftly perverted into that particular form of evil peculiar to it and inherent in its nature.” (Polybius, 1889) This belief led him to conclude that inevitably Sparta and Athens would not be good, his solution was a system he describes as the Roman Republic. Polybius will go on to say that “The result of this power of the several estates for mutual help or harm is a union sufficiently firm for all emergencies, and a constitution than which it is impossible to find a better.” (Polybius, 1889) What made Rome so great that Polybius considered it impossible to find a better constitution? First Rome was essentially divided into three different governing ideologies, a monarchy, an aristocracy, and a democracy.
This resulted in a hybrid system, where if you consider the livelihood of the state, and the happiness of its citizens to be the benchmark of what is good, than Rome would be the best state. Polybius considered it the best state because “the strength which is developed by the State is so extraordinary, that everything required is unfailingly carried out by the eager rivalry shown by all classes to devote their whole minds to the need of the hour, and to secure that any determination come to should not fail for want of promptitude;” (Polybius, 1889) The qualities that he describes as good, come down to the drive and confidence of the Roman citizens. As a result of drive and confidence you get successful men that achieve happiness through the acquisition of material wealth. To the Roman man, they strive all their life to achieve happiness which commonly comes through material wealth. This is somewhat common to Athens, but nowhere near the same qualities as Sparta. Although there are differences between the Roman idea of success and the Athenians’. The Athenians, although they used money would not judge each other on the basis of monetary wealth. So in the Athenians eye, the Romans were more likely to get corrupted by monetary wealth. On the contrast because of the government infrastructure, in Rome the state was less likely to get corrupted by sophists, whereas …show more content…
the Athenian state could. Because of reasons like this, Polyibus considered the Roman state to be the best. Plato had his own ideas on what he thought the perfect state to be. Plato believed that a city would be made up of a government, which recognized multiple communities; communities of woman, children, education, communities in pursuit of war and peace, and its kings must show a great understanding in philosophy and the greatest aptitude in war. (Plato, 2005, p. 127) This was to make up the perfect state. He believed this to be the perfect state because it would be self-sufficient and its occupants would thrive and find happiness, and here are some of its qualities: Every member would have their occupation based off of their nature. (Plato, 2005, p. 42) With having this setup each member of society would be more productive, and would have an easier time achieving happiness. He stated that the guardians of the city would be the best of men, and the best of men are old, wise men, but most importantly me who appear to be remarkable above other men. (Plato, 2005, p. 66) This is thought to be good through the eyes of Plato for multiple reasons. One being that because of his intelligence, he cannot be swayed by sophists into false proclaiming someone to being more remarkable of others. Also he does not conceive this republic to be one on earth, (Plato, 2005, p. 149) assuming that elsewhere the members of this society would not be tricked by witchcraft. With this foundation laid out he believed that it would be a good, perfect state.
Aristotle asks a similar question, in Book 3 of Politics, “What is a state?” (Aristotle) He continues with, “He who has the power to take part in the deliberative or judicial administration of any state is said by us to be a citizens of that state; and, speaking generally, a state is a body of citizens sufficing for the purposes of life.” (Aristotle) He adds in Book 1, “If all communities aim at some good, the state or political community, which is the highest of all, and which embraces all the rest, aims at good in a greater degree than any other, and at the highest good.” (Aristotle) So what does Aristotle consider to be good? In Book 5 Aristotle talks about how the best state is one that uses a constitution style government, with the majority in the middle class. (Aristotle) This is good because the middle class being not rich or poor with make the best decision between two extremes. To elaborate on why that is good, if either extreme was the ruling the class you would have a higher likelihood of corruption. With corruption inevitably leading to the failure of the state. In Book 7 Aristotle goes on to say “that the best life, both for individuals and states, is the life of virtue, when virtue has external goods enough for the performance of good actions.” (Aristotle) This is showing that good was meant to be virtuous, only when it is met with external goods that match the level of virtue. This ideal can be interpreted to mean that, living a life of good actions and virtue, are met with external goods that satisfy you. If by doing good, you satisfy the state and society, and as a result of doing good, you personally benefit. Than why would you choose to not do good, when doing good benefits all. The previous 5 authors gave their opinion on what a good state would be and we were able to interpolate why they thought it was good. So what would be the best state? First we must define what the purpose of the state is. The state should provide basic services to its citizens. Services such as protection, infrastructure.