Lack Of Justice In Ancient Rome

As the ancient Chinese philosopher and writer, Lao Tzu, said, “Treat those who are good with goodness, and also treat those who are not good with goodness. Thus goodness is attained.” This quote means that you should always treat people kindly no matter how mean or different they are. The Romans treated people who were different to them, foreigners, inhumanely because they were different. Rome treated the Gauls very inhumanely because their culture and way of thinking was different than theirs. Killing or enslaving foreign people because they are viewed as different exemplifies a lack of justice. The Romans showed a lack of justice because they were not kind or fair to the people who were different than them. The Romans killed people who
thought differently than them out of hatred. They killed Strabo, Pompey’s father, in a very inhumane way, “ His body was on its way to the funeral pyre, they dragged it from its bier and heaped insults upon it,” ( Plutarch, The Parallel Lives The Life of Pompey). This states that they killed him and dragged him all the way to the funeral which is a very harsh thing to do. Also, by insulting his body it shows that they killed him purely out of hatred. By doing this the Romans showed a lack of virtue because they did something truly horrible and all of it was just because they thought he was unlike all of them. The Romans showed a lack of virtue and not only by killing foreigners out of hatred, but they also enslaved them. The Romans showed a lack of justice because they did not treat the foreigners the same way they treated their own people.
The Romans enslaved many foreigners and treated them very badly. The slaves were beaten up if they did not behave, “ I do not mind tongue lashings, but I do hate real floggings,” ( Plautus, Menaechmi, Act V, Scene IV). This shows that the slaves were beaten so badly that they were totally fine with being verbally abused. It also shows that their only reason to behave themselves is because they would be afraid to be beaten up. The slaves were worked so hard and they would not get a break, and they had to try to avoid blunders. By doing this the Romans showed that they were lacking the virtue justice because they enslaved many people because they were foreigners and had a completely different culture, and a different way of thinking. Rome treated the foreigners with no respect especially the Gauls. During the Mithridatic Wars the king was deserted by his people and asked the leader of the Gauls, Bituitus, to help him out. He wanted Bituitus to put him out of his misery and he agreed, “ Bituitus, thus appealed to, rendered the king the service that he desired, ” ( Appain, History of Rome: The Mithridatic Wars). The Gauls accommodated Rome and they still treated them badly. Bitutius did the king, Mithridates, a favor even though the favor was to kill him, but he could have said no and leave the king in
misery. The Romans did not show any virtue when they came in contact with foreign people. They did not show justice because they did not treat them fairly or with kindness. The Romans killed people out of hatred because they were different than them. The Romans also enslaved foreign people because they had a different culture and a different way of thinking. Also, they treated the foreigners horribly even if they helped them out. Killing or enslaving foreign people because they are viewed as different exemplifies a lack of justice.