I love the Romans

[aderam]

"Each person has his own custom, his own practice; the Divine Mind has distributed various guardians to the various cities; as particular souls are given to mortals at birth, so, too, are heavenly geniuses divided among peoples. Utility, which is the clearest proof of the existence of the gods to mortals, adds to this argument. For as all human reason moves about in the dark, whence can knowledge of the gods come better than from the memory and documents of favours done in the past? If the long passage of time lends authority to religion, faith must be kept with so many centuties, and out parents must be followed by us, as they so fortunately followed theirs. ... What does it matter by what rational system the truth is sought? It is not possible to come by one path to so great a truth." (On the Altar of Victory 3.8-9)
- Senator Symmachus in AD 384 writing to ask that Augustus' Altar of Victory (Actium) not be removed.

Comments

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

What does it matter by what rational system the truth is sought? It is not possible to come by one path to so great a truth.

I love this.

[aderam.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Take that exclusive Christianity. Every now and then when I'm thinking thinky thoughts I imagine what the world would be like if monotheism had never been more than a small sect. There's no way that we wouldn't have conflicts, but there's something about religious war that puts my teeth on edge. Territorial acquisition and other politics don't bother me nearly as much.

[jetfx.livejournal.com]

"There's something about religious war that puts my teeth on edge. Territorial acquisition and other politics don't bother me nearly as much."

I feel the same way. Probably because normal imperialism doesn't make exterminating ones enemies a moral imperative. Violence driven by more practical considerations like material gain tends to be more limited and less brutal than violence claimed to be sanctioned by divine mandate.

[sdaha.livejournal.com]

So people have been thinking sensible thoughts for thousands of years and we still have too many idiots on this planet. sigh.

Did they destroy the Altar of Victory?

[aderam.livejournal.com]

I don't know. I'll ask Myles on Wednesday.