"Jerry J. Haumberger" wrote:
> When and where does the craving for more intense excitement end? What
> ever happened to one of the most common lessons of history, the Fall of
> the Roman Empire? Remember how in the latter days of that empire they
> craved the gory excitement of the Circus where gladiators and helpless
> victims' cruel deaths "entertained" the wealthy classes? The only
> difference today is the medium. The principle remains the same.
Hello Jerry,
Sorry, but the comparison You made is based on wrong assumptions,
because the games of the gladiators are of etruscan descend, thus far
beyond the birth of Christ. The first sure date for a roman game is 264
BC. In early Augustan time (that is the start of the empire) they became
a political instrument (panem et circenses) and were held to please the
plebs, the vast majority of the roman citizens, and not to entertain the
wealthy classes, who had different and more exquisite (or better:
perverted) entertainment. The reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire
were multicausal (the rising of the christian and other monotheistic
sects, heavy problems in the administrative, insecure borders, instable
and corrupt army, etc.)
History isn't repeating itself and the longing for new pleasures is IMHO
a symptom of a complex society, which estranges the individuum from
itself.
Yes, I know, that's really OT, but I couldn't restrain myself.
Bye,
Ioannis
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