Roman Values and Social Political Decline Ver 13

Narrative:
~13,000 words
Total: ~16,000 words
Pages - 52

O Tempora!
O Mores!
~ Cicero
“The first hundred years of this period were pure and humane and, as
we have said, a golden age, free from vice and crime. … The resources
and wealth thus acquired spoiled the morals of the age and ruined the
State, which was engulfed in its own vices as in a common sewer.”
~ Florus
Roman Values and Social-Political Decline
William H. Denney, Ph.D.
"Both what has gone before and what we have still to discuss are
colored in a thousand ways by the influence of the ancient world.”
~Jacob Burckhardt
W. H. Denney, Roman Values (ver. 13) - 28 February 2020 Page 1 of 52

Abstract
“In Heaven’s name, what has happened to

the customs and the virtus of our ancestors?”
~ Cicero
Most historians rightly associate the collapse of Rome with the increased incursion of
eastern peoples and the pressure of Visigoth and Vandal invading armies, which overcame
Rome’s ability to defend its empire.
But single factor analysis does not explain great historical change. There are many threads
to follow behind the politics and battles. What if one of them was something subtle,
something historians seldom emphasize, something in the background, which was not the
most overt reason for decline, but a contributing reason nonetheless.
There was a concern among observers at the time (over an approximately three century
period) that the decline of Rome (the city and civilization) can in part be attributed to a
significant deterioration of Roman virtus (virtue, values). The decline of personal, social,
and political values resulted in poor leadership, which weakened the Roman constitution
(the mechanisms of government and society) and the ability to manage a large
empire. There are supporting arguments that justify this claim.
This essay looks at what Roman’s themselves thought was happening (from the mid-
Republic to the mid-Empire) and uses Social Science and modern Leadership Theory to
suggest something internal and evolutionary contributed to Rome’s final collapse during
the early to late 5th century CE.
Could Social Entropy over virtus have been a disruptor, a hidden force that helps us
understand Polybius’ view of evolutionary decline?
Does this evolution in Rome tell us anything about ourselves, or human nature in general?
“The increase of disorder or entropy is what distinguishes

the past from the future, giving a direction to time.”
~ Stephen Hawking

“Rome, no one can be safe who is forgetful of you.”
~ Rutilius Claudius Namatianus (written 416 CE)
Sections
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………… 5
Them And Us…………………………………………………………………………. 6
The Use Of History…………………………………………………………………… 7
Questions Driving This Analysis……………………………………………………... 8
Thesis…………………………………………………………………………………. 8
Virtus – Mos Maiorum, Virtue And Values…………………………………………... 9
Thoughts Of Some Ancient Historians And Other Commentators…………………… 12
Anacyclosis – Values And The Constitutional Model………………………………... 18
The Cycle Of Values, Leadership and Decline………………………………………. 22
The Thin Veneer Of Civilization……………………………………………………... 24
The Crisis Of The Third Century And Final Decline………………………………… 25
Proof Of Thesis……………………………………………………………………….. 26
What Changed In Early Rome That Undermined Virtus……………………………... 30
Virtues And Values…………………………………………………………………… 36
Can We Return To The Past……………………………………………………………36
Nota Bene…………………………………………………………………………………….…..37
Sources Consulted……………………………………………………………………. 38
Appendix
Personal Virtues………………………………………………………………. 44
Public Virtues…………………………………………………………………. 45
Rome – Timeline……………………………………………………………… 50

“Character is Destiny”
~ Heraclitus (d.475 BCE)
Figures
1 Gaius Mucius Scaevola………………………………………………………...… 10
2 Quintus Cincinnatus……………………………………………………………… 10
3 Polybius’ Constitutional Sequence………………………………………………. 19
4 Polybius’ Zig Zag of Benign and Malignant Constitutions………………………. 19
5 Polybius - How Values and Behaviors Change Constitutions…………………… 20
6 Erratic Decline – Two Steps Back and One Forward…………………………….. 21
7 The Symbiotic Relationship of Values and Leadership………………………….. 23
8 Map, Height Of The Empire, 117 CE…………………………………………….. 47
9 Map, 3rd Century – A Bad Time To Be Roman…………………………………… 47
10 Map, Breakaway Empires, 271 CE………………………………………………. 48
11 Map, Division Of The Empire, 285 CE………………………………………….. 48
12 Map, Invasion And Collapse, 100-500 CE………………………………………. 49

Introduction
And here they say that a person consists of desires,

and as is his desire, so is his will;
and as is his will, so is his deed;
and whatever deed he does, that he will reap.
— Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Hindu Scripture, 7th Century BCE
This is a narrow, high-level investigation into, and narrative on, an area of personal
interest. Writing is the way I think through complex ideas, so this is a compilation of my
own thoughts. I am grateful for any feedback and clarification.
As Tatum says in his book on Caesar, it is “unencumbered by scholarly apparatus”. I have

taken certain liberties in my approach and style.
There is a sound caveat by Michael Grant in one of his essays on Augustus, “Anyone who
attempts, as I am attempting, yet another general statement, and that within the compass of
a single paper, must hedge himself around with protestations and admissions of what he is
going to leave out”. So here are my admissions.
• There are no footnotes, but a list of sources consulted is provided with some useful
references.
• My focus is very narrow. This analysis does not take into consideration many
important aspects of Roman society, for example, religion, family, martial culture
and the Roman view of liberty – all of which must be considered for an integrated
understanding of such a complex society. Nor do I discuss broad culture,
overextension, invasions and border conflicts.
• Also, at this point my conclusions remain at a high level. Many important details,
observations and explanations that would give more gravitas to my analysis remain
unexplored. A number of ideas are presented that must remain only indicators.
Additional research is needed to fully flesh-out their validity, significance and
impact on Roman society over a period from the height of the Republic to the near
end of the Empire.
• My intention, where possible, is to let the Romans speak for themselves - to let
their voices be heard on this subject and let their argument be my argument. For
emphasis in quotations I chose to italicize their words.
• Finally, a mea culpa. I do this with a personal obsession. There has always been in
my pursuit to understand history, a desire to better understand something about my
own time and myself. I have questions I’m confident only the past can answer. I
see us today at the beginning of a broad, sweeping movement of social, political,
economic change, and I cannot help but wonder about similar circumstances at the
unraveling of Rome. In this, I am not the first student of history with urgent
motives to project the concerns, divisions and conflicts of their own time onto the
life of Rome.

No city, no country, no empire, no group of leaders or people has been studied, analyzed or
speculated on more than ancient Rome. We naturally relate to them. We see ourselves in
them; their leaders, historians and philosophers speak about things we understand and
recognize reflected in ourselves. It seems only natural to wonder if we can learn anything
from them about who we are and where we’re going.
Them And Us
“Small communities grow great through harmony,

great ones fall to pieces through discord.”
~ Sallust (d.35 BCE)
There do seem to be some parallels between our time, and Rome in decline,
• Movements of people escaping local violence or seeking a better life
• A rise of authoritarian figures and ideologues,
• Governmental and social structures breaking down,
• Overextended military operations,
• A citizenry made up of different cultures and religions,
• Rise of violence in politics and society,
• Rise of nationalism and cohesive groups,
• Erosion of virtues, principles, courtesies, common values and social / political
norms,
• Pax Romana collapse - Pax Americana leadership unraveling,
• Cultural fragmentation,
• Fissures of wealth and expected conduct,
• A retreat to tribal group beliefs,
• Internal unrest across the known world,
• Insurrections on multiple fronts
• The decline of educational systems (neglecting governance, history, languages, and
values),
• Many people then as now seemingly ill equipped to perform the basic functions of
citizenship
None of this is really new - history is strewn with tyrants, nationalism, greed and chaos.
But I’m curious whether what happened to them was inevitable or did they bring it on
themselves? Is there something to learn that might guide us in our own time? Or, when
broad change begins, there is nothing you can do to stop it. As Victor Hugo once said,
“You can resist an invading army but you cannot resist an idea whose time has come”.

The Use of History
“History allows us to see patterns and make judgments. It reveals moments, each one of
them different, none entirely unique. To understand one moment is to see the possibility of
being the co-creator of another. History permits us to be responsible;
not for everything, but for something.”
~Timothy Snyder, Professor of History, Yale University
The risk of a backward-looking theory is we tend to find what we want to find. The
trained historian knows to go back as far as possible and follow a thread forward to better
understand the evolving circumstances that create an event. As James Burke (An
Alternative View of Change) suggested, we must follow the ‘connections’ - the web of
interconnected events that leads us to a conclusion. Winston Churchill said, “The farther
back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.”

History also shows we are uniquely conditioned by the society, culture and circumstances
within which we live. This is Chris Wickham’s view (The Inheritance of Rome.
Illuminating the Dark Ages, 400-1000) - "… every period in history has its own identity
and legitimacy, which must be seen without hindsight”. This seems to tell us - Don’t read
too much into what happened – it just is what it is.
From another perspective (i.e.: History repeats itself), Santayana, and others suggest there
are lessons from the past that apply in the future ("Those who do not learn history are
doomed to repeat it.”). Recurrence theory begins with Polybius and figures in the writing
of many historians, theologians and philosophers from antiquity onward. But recurrence
isn’t the focus of this analysis. History may not exactly repeat, but I suggest it can instruct.
We might learn something that applies to us. Piotr Cywinski, the director of the
Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, warns, “More and more we seem to be having trouble
connecting our historical knowledge with our moral choices. I can imagine a society that
understands history very well but does not draw any conclusion from this knowledge.”
Historical knowledge isn’t enough. Cambridge classicist Mary Beard, has said, “History
isn’t simply about uncovering the past, seeing what’s there, taking a look and then moving
on. History at its best is some kind of conversation you have with the past and the
different questions succeeding generations want to raise with the past, that produces all
kinds of different answers through different dialogs that speak to us.” This would require
we ask the right questions and listen to the answers.
All that said, in studying history we have an obligation to get above the ground clutter - get
out of the weeds of minutiae about who did what when. By getting caught up in details
and facts we risk missing important messages from the broad sweep of history. So if we
see them, I don’t think we should be afraid to make bold connections between the past and
the present. From a greater distance we may recognize larger issues about humanity itself.

Questions Driving This Analysis
“It is only in the ideal or perfect state

that the virtues of the good citizen and the good man are identical.”
~ Aristotle (d. 322 BCE)
This essay is an exploration of one element of how I think Rome evolved from one point to
another - from the height of the much lauded virtues of Marcus Porcius Cato (d.149
BCE) and the ideal Roman Constitution described by Polybius (d. 118 BCE), to the, ‘What
the heck happened?’ chaos and frustration chronicled by the soldier-historian Ammianus
Marcellinus (d. 400 CE), when it was all disintegrating. (See p.26)
This begins as a reflection on two questions, (1) Can we learn something important about
how decline happened to Rome beyond overextension and invasions (was there something
else important happening in the background that is seldom discussed? (2) Is there
something at play here that is uniquely human nature, which transcends place and time?
Humanity is too complex for single-factor analysis. Many circumstances help us

understand the decline of Rome, but we can only appreciate everything by studying one
thread at a time and then determining how multiple issues come together to provide a more
comprehensive perspective.
My assumptions in historical research are - everything is more complicated than you think,
you don’t know what you don’t know, and what you think you know may be hiding reality.
What I’m doing here is akin to looking at one cell in the human body with a microscope
while 37 trillion other cells are doing many different things. Roman history is a vast ocean
of people and ideas. You can easily drown if you take yourself too seriously.
Thesis
“Do not think that our ancestors turned the Republic from small to
great by arms. . . . But there are other things that made them great
that are missing in us: diligence at home, lawful rule abroad, in
council a free mind subject to wrongdoing nor desire.”
~ Marcus Porcius Cato (d.149 BCE)
There was a concern among observers at the time (over an approximately three century
period) that the decline of Rome (the city and civilization) can in part be attributed to a
significant deterioration of Roman virtus (virtue, values). The decline of personal, social,
and political values resulted in poor leadership, which weakened the Roman constitution
(the mechanisms of government and society) and the ability to manage a large empire.
There are supporting arguments that give validity to this claim.
When and why this concern began and what caused it is a separate subject. (See p.30)

But, the decline of which Rome? The usual dates associated with Roman civilization are,
founded in 753 BCE and collapse in 410 CE. Between those dates there was a monarchy,
republic and empire.
In this analysis I am not concerned with historical segmentation or periodization. The

subject of my inquiry, Roman virtus (virtue, values), is looked at in a shorter period and
from a broader perspective. Plutarch tells us virtue was a core concept throughout the
ancient world. This discussion of Roman virtue extends from approximately the mid-late
Republic to approximately the mid-late Empire (approximately the beginning of the third
century CE). While there was both sharp social-political change and continuity spanning
this period, virtue was an evolving concept. In the early republic virtus was a positive
influence on individuals and society. By the third century, virtue was somewhat irrelevant
and what the future held for Rome became predictable.
I have pinpointed no person, event or date to identify the beginning of decline. Dates are
arbitrary when assessing several hundred years of history. But, by the end of the Republic
Rome was already on a trajectory of decline. By the third century, the end was inevitable.
Virtus – Mos Maiorum, Virtue And Values
“Although all other things are uncertain, fleeting, transitory; virtue alone is planted firm
with very deep roots; it can not be undermined by any violence;
it can never be moved from its position.”
~ Cicero (d. 43 BCE)
It is noteworthy; in this essay I have put emphasis on values, and avoided the often-used
emotional terminology of ethics (externally imposed social guidelines) and morals
(personal beliefs about right and wrong). These words elicit exaggerated emotions and
personal assessments that are complicated and difficult to understand in an ancient society.
That is not to say Romans didn’t have morals. Modern neuroscience tells us it is human to
be born with moral tendencies. But ethics and morals are not what the Romans expressed
concern about. I did retain these words if quoted in a translation of an ancient author.
However, in these cases, I believe we cannot be certain what the ancient author really
meant or why a translator used the word. From the frenzied search for Roman documents
in the time of Petrarch to our own, translations of translations of copied documents have
passed through many hands to whom ethics and morals had different meanings. For this
reason, it’s best to explore the main object of their frustration - values.
What early Romans spoke of was virtus. All the ancients spoke of virtues. I will interpret
both of these generally as values (personal and social) and will use all three terms
interchangeably unless quoting them directly. (See Roman virtues/values pp44-46)
Today, a fairly common definition of values goes something like this - Values are basic
and fundamental beliefs that guide or motivate attitudes or actions. They help us determine
what is important. Values describe the personal qualities we choose to embody to guide

our actions; the sort of person we want to be, the manner in which we treat ourselves and
others, and our interaction with the world around us. They provide the general guidelines
for conduct. Values are the motive behind purposeful action. Personal values represent
personal beliefs about doing the right thing. Cultural / social values are values accepted by
societies that reflect what is important to a group at a moment in time.
So what did it mean to the Romans?
Mos maiorum
There is a backdrop to the concept of values for the early Romans worth understanding.
In a sense, Roman values evolve from a belief in doing the right thing - Mos maiorum
(ancestral custom). This was an unwritten code of traditional conduct that represents the
core values of ancient Rome, from which Romans derived their social norms through the
prestige of their ancestors.
The Roman poet, Quintus Ennius (d.169 BCE), wrote, “The Roman state stands on ancient
customs and heroes.”
We see this in stories about men like Gaius Mucius Scaevola (Figure 1), who during a war
in 508 BCE, when in the camp of the enemy, to prove the bravery of Romans, he thrust his
hand into a fire, and Quintius Cincinnatus (Figure 2), who (according to tradition) when
asked in 458 BCE to lead and defend his country, literally left the plow on his farm to
answer the call.
Figure 1 Figure 2
Stories like these could be myths, but they were very real to Romans and they represent
time-honored values, behavioral models and social practices of bravery, courage, integrity
and love of country that affected every aspect of life in ancient Rome.

The point here is, Rome begins on a sold ground with principles of personal and social
values, and as Polybius describes, with an ideal constitution (governance structure - a
republic) combining monarchy (a leader – consuls), aristocracy (a senate), and democracy
(direct election to positions of authority). This was the Senātus Populusque Rōmānus (The
Senate and People of Rome – SPQR). It is from this great height that decline begins.
Virtus
(In this section I rely on Balmaceda and McDonnell for background (See Sources
Consulted, pp39-44)).
In its early use, virtus meant valor, manliness – primarily martial courage. Initially it stood
as a separate virtue. But, as McDonnell says, “The central ideals of a society are seldom
static”, so from the mid-Republic on, virtus evolved to cover a wide range of meanings
representing a general virtuous ideal. No longer did virtus mean a person was a brave
warrior, rather as Balmaceda says, it meant he was a good person, someone who did the
right thing. Virilis-virtus (courage) became humana-virtus (virtue), or more appropriately,
virtus is seen as personal excellence and encompasses multiple virtues or values. In this
sense, virtus is knowing what is right, good and useful for a person and what is useless or
shamefully dishonorable. So to have virtus (virtue, values), one must hate bad people and
bad habits and on the other hand defend people of good habits.
“Virtus could be found everywhere and under any circumstance: it was what
everybody claimed, an aim for life, a means to achieve gloria, a criterion by
which to judge people, a spur to action, the courage to undertake brave
deeds, the essence of manliness, the moral code of the maiores [Patricians] . .
. . . For the Romans it was difficult to approach any important topic without
referring to virtus.” (Balmaceda)
Virtus came to embrace a broad range of virtues in which Romans took great pride. (See a
list of Roman virtues/values pp.44-46)
“Virtus is an inalienable possession of the Roman race and name.”

~ Cicero
This sets a clear expectation for individuals, but also for public life, as values and politics
were closely connected in Rome. The distinction between personal virtues and social
values was blurred.
The view was, life and happiness depended heavily on the attainment of virtues, which
were indispensible for an individual as a member of society. Although there were many
virtues, living by them was not thought difficult as they were all connected.

The Important Relevance of Virtue
Roman’s saw all change and causation (good and bad) as a fundamental values question.
So understanding an individual’s success or failure demanded understanding a person’s
character, qualities, vices, customs, habits and ways of being. Individual values are deeply
connected with and oriented toward the community. If individual values fail, the
community is impacted.
Thoughts Of Some Historians And Other Commentators
“For who does not know history’s first law to be

that an author must not dare to tell anything false.”
~Cicero
“Analyzing and tracing the role of virtus in the works of the historians of this period takes
us to the very heart of their appraisal of both political change and Roman identity.”
(Balmaceda)
Polybius 200-118 BCE

A Greek historian living in Rome.
Historians, ancient and modern, have attempted to pinpoint the moment of decline in the
Republic and Empire. Sallust said it was the Catiline Conspiracy (63 BCE), which
demonstrated the contrast in what virtue came to mean in the late Republic compared to
what it had been. Or, perhaps it was the death of Tiberius Gracchus (133 BCE) (Flower),
which introduced violence into politics. Others point to the end of the Republic itself (27
BCE), or the corruption, greed and dearth of ancient values in emperors like Caligula (d.
41 CE), Nero (d. 68 CE), Commodus (d. 192 CE), and others.
Polybius probably would have found all this speculation amusing.
He much admired Rome for its ancient virtues and constitution of government (with its
three elements of monarchy, aristocracy, democracy), to which he attributed their success.
“For it is plain that we must regard as the best constitution that which partakes of all these
three elements.”
A key theme of his Histories is the good statesman acting virtuous. But he clearly said
decline was inevitable because the seeds of its failure lay in human nature itself and the
natural decline of personal and social values.

“So when they begin to be fond of office, and find themselves unable to obtain it
by their own unassisted efforts and their own merits, they ruin their estates, while
enticing and corrupting the common people in every possible way. By which
means when, in their senseless mania for reputation, they have made the
populace ready and greedy to receive bribes, the virtue of democracy is
destroyed, and it is transformed into a government of violence and the strong
hand.”
“This is the regular cycle of constitutional revolutions, and the natural order in
which constitutions change, are transformed, and return again to their original
stage. If a man have a clear grasp of these principles he may perhaps make a
mistake as to the dates at which this or that will happen to a particular
constitution; but he will rarely be entirely mistaken as to the stage of growth or
decay.”
According to Polybius, it is a natural evolution that civilizations must pass through three
stages, growth, zenith and decay. And this is because of human nature and a decline of
values. Man is the seed of destruction, planted at the beginning, which brings the end.
Cicero 106 – 43 BCE

Not a historian in a strict sense – a politician, philosopher, chronicler and one of the most
acute observers of his own time and human nature.
The scope of Cicero’s thought and writing exceeds any summary here, but the importance
of virtue and its decline is a thread though much of his concern for Rome. This was one
reason he supported Pompey over Caesar (“on account of his own positive virtues”).
He drew clear lines on the importance of personal and societal values during the problem
with Catiline, who was accused of planning the overthrow of the state - a period seen by
some as a tipping point in the evolution of values.
“For on the one side are fighting modesty, on the other wantonness; on the one
chastity, on the other uncleanness; on the one honesty, on the other fraud; on
the one piety, on the other wickedness; on the one consistency, on the other
insanity; on the one honor, on the other baseness; on the one continence, on the
other lust; in short, equity, temperance, fortitude, prudence, all the virtues
contend against iniquity with luxury, against indolence, against rashness,
against all the vices; lastly, abundance contends against destitution, good plans
against baffled designs, wisdom against madness, well-founded hope against
universal despair. In a contest and war of this sort, even if the zeal of men were
to fail, will not the immortal gods compel such numerous and excessive vices to
be defeated by these most eminent virtues?”

As the Republic declined, Cicero saw traditional Roman values slipping away and he
understood why – they were themselves at fault.
“In truth, our own generation, although it inherited the res publica blica as if it
were a master painting, yet one that was now fading as a result of age, not only
failed to restore it with the same colors that had been there before, but did not even
see to it that at least its design and as it were its basic outlines were preserved. “
Sallust 86-35 BCE

A politician and historian.

Sallust is the first historian to directly connect the political decline and collapse of the
Republic to a failure of values. He was deeply troubled by the values in his time and
emphasized how easy it was to pass from virtus (good) to vitium (evil).
“But as the work of an architect, so the achievements of virtue ought to be

guarded with all possible care, in order that they may not be injured by
neglect or fall in ruins through weakness.”
“For when I have meditated, as I often do, on the means by which various
eminent men acquired greatness, and have asked myself what it is that has
greatly advanced peoples and nations, and then have inquired what causes
have brought about the downfall of kingdoms and empires, I invariably found
the same virtues and the same vices: that the victors always despised riches, the
vanquished coveted them. In fact, a mortal cannot exalt himself and draw near
to the gods unless he cast away the delights of wealth and bodily pleasure, and
invite his soul, not by flattery, by indulging its desires, by allowing it a perverse
gratification, but by exercising it in labor, in patience, in virtuous precepts and
in meritorious deeds.”

Sallust felt greed and selfishness were squandering the virtue of Rome’s ancestors. “For
wherever the desire for riches has penetrated, neither education, nor good qualities, nor
talents, can prevent the mind from at last yielding to it sooner or later.”
Success was causing Rome to fail.
“As soon as riches came to be held in honor, when glory, dominion, and power
followed in their train, virtue began to lose its lustre, poverty to be considered a
disgrace, blamelessness to be termed malevolence. Therefore as the result of
riches, luxury and greed, united with insolence, took possession of our young
manhood. They pillaged, squandered; set little value on their own, coveted the
goods of others; they disregarded modesty, chastity, everything human and
divine; in short, they were utterly thoughtless and reckless.” “The men of
today, on the contrary, basest of creatures, with supreme wickedness are

robbing our allies of all that those heroes in the hour of victory had left them;
they act as though the one and only way to rule were to wrong.”
For Sallust, the failure of values had poisoned the body politic and brought the
destruction of the Republic.
Horace 65-8 BCE

A poet
While a keen observer and satirist, Horace did not get involved in the complicated politics
of Rome, but he did advocate for a life focused on individual happiness and virtue, and in
this he reflects some of the frustrations of his time.
On failed values …
“But a great majority of mankind, misled by a wrong desire cry, ‘No sum is
enough; because you are esteemed in proportion to what you possess.’ What
can one do to such a tribe as this?”
“What, to watch half dead with terror, night and day, to dread profligate
thieves, fire, and your slaves, lest they should run away and plunder you; is this
delightful? I should always wish to be very poor in possessions held upon these
terms.”
“Neither your wife, nor your son, desires your recovery; all your neighbors,
acquaintances, [nay the very] boys and girls hate you. Do you wonder that no
one tenders you the affection which you do not merit, since you prefer your
money to everything else?”
“Bring back the lapsed virtues of the Golden Age; Faith, Honor, antique
Shame-fastness and Worth, and Plenty with her teeming horn. Hear, God! hear,
Goddess!”
Seneca 4 BCE-65 CE
Roman Stoic Philosopher
As an advisor to Nero, Seneca lived in a difficult time for virtus. His approach to virtue
was of a philosopher.
“Even those very people who declare the highest good to be in the belly, see
what a dishonorable position they have assigned to it: and therefore they say
that pleasure cannot be parted from virtue, and that no one can either live
honorably without living cheerfully, nor yet live cheerfully without living
honorably. I do not see how these very different matters can have any

connection with one another. What is there, I pray you, to prevent virtue
existing apart from pleasure?” (Cicero thought otherwise)
Seneca thought virtues were not properly taught to the young or old.
“But neither the new system nor the old teaches or nourishes virtue. For what
good does it do us to guide a horse and control his speed with the curb, and
then find that our own passions, utterly uncurbed, bolt with us? Or to beat
many opponents in wrestling or boxing, and then to find that we ourselves are
beaten by anger?”
“The scholar busies himself with investigations into language, and if it be his
desire to go farther afield, he works on history, or, if he would extend his range
to the farthest limits, on poetry. But which of these paves the way to virtue?
Pronouncing syllables, investigating words, memorizing plays, or making rules
for the scansion of poetry, what is there in all this that rids one of fear, roots
out desire, or bridles the passions?”
As he says, to be virtuous, one must be taught virtue. "No man is good by chance. Virtue is
something which must be learned.”
Florus, d. 130CE
Orator, Poet and Historian - An Epitome of Roman History
Florus’ argument, and indeed other observers, is Rome became the victim of its own
success. That is, the immense acquisition of wealth, power, and slaves led to greed and
personal ambition, increased the separation of rich and poor, caused internal conflicts, and
undermined traditional values based on the Mos Maiorum, which were the foundation of
Roman greatness.
What’s significant about Florus is his intent in analyzing Roman history up to his time was
specifically to understand the decline of virtue. No one explained it better and in such
depth.
“Such are the events overseas of the third period of the history of the Roman
people, during which, having once ventured to advance outside Italy, they carried
their arms over the whole world. The first hundred years of this period were pure
and humane and, as we have said, a golden age, free from vice and crime, while
the innocence of the old pastoral life was still untainted and uncorrupted, and the
imminent threat of our Carthaginian foes kept alive the ancient discipline.”
“The following hundred years, which we have traced from the destruction of
Carthage, Corinth and Numantia and the inheritance of the Asiatic Kingdom of
Attalus down to the time of Caesar and Pompeius and of their successor

Augustus, … were as deplorable and shameful owing to internal calamities as
they were illustrious for the glory of their military achievements.”
“For, just as it was honourable and glorious to have won the rich and powerful
provinces of Gaul, Thrace, Cilicia and Cappadocia as well as the territory of the
Armenians and Britons, which, though they served no practical purpose,
constituted important titles to imperial greatness; so it was disgraceful and
deplorable at the same time to have fought at home with fellow-citizens and allies,
with slaves and gladiators.”
“For what else produced these outbreaks of domestic strife but excessive
prosperity? It was the conquest of Syria which first corrupted us, followed by the
Asiatic inheritance bequeathed by the king of Pergamon. The resources and
wealth thus acquired spoiled the morals of the age and ruined the State, which
was engulfed in its own vices as in a common sewer. For what else caused the
Roman people to demand from their tribunes land and food except the scarcity
which luxury had produced?”
“Again, what brought the servile wars upon us except the excessive size of our
establishments? How else could those armies of gladiators have arisen against
their masters, save that a profuse expenditure, which aimed at conciliating the
favour of the common people by indulging their love of shows, had turned what
was originally a method of punishing enemies into a competition of skill?”
“Again, to touch upon less ugly vices, was not ambition for office also stimulated
by wealth?”
“Why, it was from this the Marian and Sullan disturbances arose. Again, were not
the sumptuous extravagance of banquets and the profuse largesses due to a
wealth which was bound soon to produce want?”
“It was this too that brought Catiline into collision with his country. Finally,
whence did the lust for power and domination arise save from excessive wealth?
It was this which armed Caesar and Pompeius with the fatal torches which kindle
the flames that destroyed the State.”
“The resources and wealth thus acquired spoiled the morals of the age and
ruined the State, which was engulfed in its own vices as in a common sewer. For
what else caused the Roman people to demand from their tribunes land and food
except the scarcity which luxury had produced? Hence arose the first and second
Gracchan revolutions and the third raised by Apuleius.”

Others
And so it was with major observers - Plutarch, Marcus Aurelius, Cassius Dio, Tacitus,
Augustine and others, who all observed declining values and their influence on politics,
governance and society across the Republic and Empire.
“Their strength was corrupted by luxury in contrast to the ancient

discipline and maxims of our forefathers, in whose day virtus formed a
better foundation for the Roman state than money.”
~ Tacitus
The Decline of Virtus

The point of tracing the above thoughts, concerns and regrets of observers represents their
recognition of the importance of values in creating a stable society.
In the early Roman Republic, students received a basic education, which stressed character
development and virtue. Later, the emphasis on these things in education fell out of
fashion.
"We know that eloquence, with the rest of the polite arts, has lost its former
lustre: and yet, it is not a dearth of men, or a decay of talents, that has produced
this fatal effect. The true causes are, the dissipation of our young men, the
inattention of parents, the ignorance of those who pretend to give instruction, and
the total neglect of ancient discipline. The mischief began at Rome, it has over-
run all Italy, and is now, with rapid strides, spreading through the provinces."
~ Tacitus, Quoting Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus (d.8 CE)
Anacyclosis – Values And The Constitutional Model
“This is the regular cycle of constitutional revolutions, and the natural order in which
constitutions change, are transformed, and return again to their original stage.
However, it is in the case of the Roman constitution that this method of inquiry will most
fully teach us its formation, its growth, and zenith, as well as the changes awaiting it in
the future; for this, if any constitution ever did, owed, as I said, its original foundation
and growth to natural causes, and to natural causes will owe its decay.”
~Polybius
In its decline, was Rome only doing what comes naturally? Just as humans are born, live
and die, so seems the inevitability of nations, societies and great civilizations - or so says
Polybius’ idea of Anacyclosis.
Anacyclosis (literally cycles) is a cyclical theory of political evolution developed by

Polybius. The theory states three basic ‘benign’ forms of government (monarchy,

aristocracy and democracy) are inherently unstable, so they tend to degenerate into three
‘malignant’ forms (tyranny, oligarchy and ochlocracy [mob rule]). (Figures 3 & 4)
According to Polybius, benign governments have the interests of everyone in mind.
Malignant governments focus on the interests of a select few.
Figure 3 Figure 4
Zig Zag View

Benign and Malignant
Each of the benign forms fails when the individual level behavior of politicians and
citizens change - values evolve and leaders develop a sense of entitlement, and therefore
society and the state becomes engulfed in chaos.
On a macro level, Polybius’ process is a purely logical-systematic explanation. But it’s

what is happening on the micro level that drives change.
In an article on this subject, Stephen Podes (History of Political Thought) explains how
this happens.
“As a starting point I will choose the established kingship. According to

Polybius this type of constitution is a ‘good’ one that possesses a high
degree of legitimacy in the eyes of the masses because of the moral quality
of its leadership. In the same way positively valued qualities come to be
attributed by the masses to the first descendants of this good political
leadership, with the effect that the legitimacy of their rule is not challenged.
The later descendants of these rulers, however, display a change of behavior
that is instigated by changing objective conditions: Because they have on
the whole succeeded so easily to their privileged position, they lose self-
control and unbridled sensual desire gains the upper hand. . . then because
of this superabundance they gave way to their appetites. This lack of
inhibition finds an external expression and is therefore visible to all other
members of the political system; the private desire to consume is indulged
without restraint, ranging from clothing to sexual practices.”


Figure 5
From Podes

“This illustration of the transition . . . may be treated as an exemplary model
with respect to the other transitions.”
Therefore all benign systems, Monarchy, Aristocracy and Democracy, end for the same
reason – a decline first in personal and societal values.
What Polybius describes is decline over an extended period of time, during which there is
recognition of socio-political failures, with attempts to improve and recover - but still
continued decline.
Based on Polybius’ theory, Figure 6 below is a representation of how societies fail over an
extended period. We can pick any low or high point on the graph to mark events in Roman
(or any) decline, and efforts to recover. Polybius argues continued decline is the natural
trend. In the mid-late Empire, Rome lurched from one social-political crisis to another. It
was always two steps back and one step forward in a spiraling decline as they tried to
control the circumstances of their environment.

Figure 6
Erratic Decline
‘Fall’ is probably an inappropriate word to describe the evolution and end of a civilization
like Rome that existed several hundred years. There was no high precipice from which
Rome tumbled. Roman decline occurred from a series of internal and external related
events, leadership, social and political circumstances which occurred over an extended
period, possibly in part as a result of changes in the social-political value system.
As Polybius suggests, natural causes, that is, changes in values and human behavior,
undermine a society and lead to the decline of every political-constitutional model.
Social Change Theory tells us there are many factors which evolve over time that impact
societies – environment, demography, technology, economy, religion, social movements,
as well as political processes. But all of these things, in their own way, shape, and are
shaped by, values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. For example, social scientists have
demonstrated a correlation between the rise of materialistic value orientations and levels of
social trust – a key influence in the stability of governance systems.

The Cycle Of Values, Leadership and Decline
“If you have integrity, nothing else matters.

If you don't have integrity, nothing else matters.”
~ Alan K. Simpson (American Senator)
It has been said leadership is the most written about and least understood concept.
While humans demonstrated the characteristics of leadership for over six thousand years,
it’s only in the last hundred or so, based on a need to drive business performance, we
seriously began using social science skills to understand what makes a good leader, how
values drive leadership, how leaders change values in those they lead, and what the impact
of leadership and values are on organizations and society.
There is a natural symbiotic relationship between values and leadership. They are driven
by each other. It’s likely Marcus Aurelius did his best to follow his values, and surely
Seneca advised Nero as best he could. Both of them, through their actions, had some
impact on the values of those within their sphere of influence.
Modern research also tells us emotions and behaviors are contagious. For example,
research by Christakis, Fowler and McDermott (HBR), show if you have overweight
friends, you are more likely to be overweight yourself. If you quit smoking, your friends
are more likely to quit. If you have a close friend who is divorced, you are 33% more
likely to split with your spouse.
What does this have to do with leadership?
The research of Zenger and Folkman proves leadership behavior is contagious. Strong and
effective leaders have strong and effective followers. The converse is also true. Leaders,
who perform poorly, have direct reports who perform poorly. ‘Social contagion’ affects
leaders and leaders influence those around them through their actions.
While most leadership research has been in business and industry. It is generally accepted
leader and follower interaction and mirroring are human nature, and is the same in politics,
society and any group environment.
It would be a mistake to think leadership is just about charisma or personality. Effective

leadership requires competency, accountability, openness, integrity, humility, a belief in
community and relationship building. These are values-driven concepts that build trust
and the ability to positively influence change. In this way, leaders influence the culture
and values of those they lead.
On the other hand, personal values influence leaders in two ways, (1) as a perceptual filter
that shapes decisions and behaviors, and (2) as a driver of methods to achieve goals.
(Lichtenstein).

While leaders are driven by their own values, they are often forced to take into account the
values diversity of those they lead and to whom they are accountable and who may have
diverse value systems. To some degree, this accounts for contrasting styles of leadership.
The work of Abraham Maslow shows our values are in part based on human needs and
psychological development. Leadership and followership vary by one’s values and
motives for action.
Culture shapes the way we see the world. So, personal values and leadership both create
and reflect social values. This in turn influences the governance we get - a cycle of values.

Figure 7

Individual
Personal Social
Values Values

Leader
Leadership Personal
Governance
Values
Modern business research also tells us employee satisfaction and engagement, and
organizational success, can only be achieved by driving positive organizational values.
Citizens, government and society are impacted in the same way.
“The best emperor teaches his citizens to do right by doing it, and though he is greatest
among us in authority, he is still greater in the example which he sets.”
~ Velleius Paterculus
The conclusion we may draw from this is, in Rome personal and social values played an
important role in the actions of leaders and emperors, and leaders and emperors played an
important role in shaping personal and social values of the populace. If values
deteriorated, then so must leadership and governance systems. All this became a vicious
cycle and a downward spiraling trend in the Roman body politic and society.

The Thin Veneer Of Civilization
“Civilization is but a thin veneer stretched across the passions of the human
heart. And civilization doesn't just happen; we have to make it happen.”
~ Bill Moyers
“There is no such thing as perpetual tranquility of mind while we live here;

because life itself is but motion, and can never be without desire, nor without
fear, no more than without sense.”
~Thomas Hobbes
“Hence a craving first for money, then for power increased, these were the
root of all evils. For greed subverted trustworthiness, integrity, and other
virtuous practices; in the place of these it taught insolence, cruelty, to neglect
the gods, to set a price on everything.”
~ Sallust
Thomas Henry Huxley (d.1895) developed the idea that ‘moral tendencies’ are not part of
human nature. In fact, what we tend to call ‘human morality’ is a cultural overlay, a thin
veneer hiding an otherwise selfish and brutish nature. This is a similar view as Thomas
Hobbes (d.1679), who lived in the time of violence and uncertainty of the English Civil
War. Hobbes believed the veneer of civilization was fragile, and the only way to control
human nature is a strong government with absolute power. In other words, it’s the
institutions of government and society that hold our naturally cruel and ruthless nature in
check. If they fail, human nature and society runs amok.
It may be too strong to say, as Rome declined we fell back into what Hobbes called, ‘a
state of nature’. But one could argue Hobbes was correct in his warning - without a strong
values-driven government and the institutions of civil society, there could be,
“. . . no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain; and consequently
no culture of the earth; no navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be
imported by Sea; no commodious Building; no Instruments of moving and
removing such things as require much force; no Knowledge of the face of the
Earth; no account of Time; no Arts; no Letters; and which is worst of all,
continuall feare, and danger of violent death; And the life of man, solitary, poore,
nasty, brutish, and short.”
But the western Roman world was on very shaky ground in the early so called Dark
Ages.
As General Michael Hayden, US Director CIA, Director National Intelligence, has said,
“The veneer of civilization, I concluded, was quite thin . . . Over the years I had learned
that the traditions and institutions that protect us from living Hobbesian ‘solitary, poor,
nasty, brutish and short lives’ are inherently fragile and demand careful tending.”

It may be our nature to follow a selfish path of least resistance. And values, laws, societal
norms, good leaders and strong government structures are in place to protect us from
ourselves.
It seems increasingly clear, over several centuries in Rome, the personal and public virtues
of an earlier period significantly deteriorated. This eroded the thin veneer of civilization,
undermined civil society, leadership and institutions of government, leading to an inability
to manage their government, culture and large empire.
The Crisis Of The Third Century And Final Decline
By This Point, What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Breakdown of Succession Processes
Plague, Harsh Weather and Agricultural Instability
Foreign Invasions
Collapse of Trade Networks
(See Figure 9, p.47)
If as Lord Acton said, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Great men are almost always bad men", then Rome in the Empire was susceptible to
temptations beyond normal human resistance.
In Imperial Rome, there were good emperors, bad emperors and very bad emperors.
By the beginning of the third century Rome was, to use a crude and bold analogy, a
wounded animal.
The assassination of emperor Alexander Severus in 235CE by his own troops was also
marked by involvement of the military in politics, fear of increasingly destabilized
communities and greater pressure to defend provinces and borders. After Severus, Rome
would see over twenty emperors rise and fall in the next fifty years (compared to the
twenty-six from Augustus to Severus, a period of two hundred fifty years). (Mark)
During this time, the empire was broken into parts, then restored and then divided again.
By the third century, what Rome had been, was no more. The end was near. The Visigoths
sacked Rome in 410 CE. (see figure 12, p.49)
"A terrible rumor reaches me from the West telling of Rome besieged...besieged
again, life and property perishing together. My voice falters, sobs stifle the
words I dictate; for she is a captive, that city which enthralled the world”.
~ Augustine of Hippo (d. 430 CE)

It was left to the soldier / historian, Ammianus Marcellinus (330-400) CE, to summarize
what happened.
"It is a truth beyond all question, that, when at one time Rome was the abode of
all the virtues . . .” "And now that it is declining into old age, and often owes its
victories to its mere name . . . Therefore the venerable city, after having bowed
down the haughty necks of fierce nations, and given laws to the world, to be the
foundations and eternal anchors of liberty, like a thrifty parent, prudent and
rich, entrusted to the Caesars, as to its own children, the right of governing
their ancestral inheritance.” "But this magnificent splendour of the assemblies
and councils of the Roman people is defaced by the inconsiderate levity of a
few, who never recollect where they have been born, but who fall away into
error and licentiousness, as if a perfect impunity were granted to vice.”
The significance at the time was described by the priest / historian Jerome (d. 420 CE).
“It was generally believed, not only by the heathen, but also by many of the
most liberal-minded of the Christians, that the destruction of Rome would
be the prelude to the destruction of the world.”
Proof of Thesis
“It is easier to find one single excellent man than many, and if even this seems
to some a difficult feat, it is quite inevitable that the other proposition be
acknowledged to be impossible; for the acquirement of virtue is not a
characteristic of the majority of men.”
~ Cassius Dio (d.235 CE)
“Where is that other Marcus, Cato the Censor? Where is all the rigor of our
fathers? Long since indeed has it perished, and now it is not even desired.”
~ Suetonius. (d. 126 CE)
It’s said there have been more then two hundred explanations for Rome’s so called decline
and fall – not the least of which are impotence from too many hot baths and insanity from
lead pipes.
More serious suggestions are,

• Invasions by barbarian tribes
• Economic troubles and overreliance on slave labor
• The rise of the Eastern Empire
• Over expansion and military overspending
• The arrival of the Huns and the migration of Barbarian tribes
• Weakening of the Roman legions

But what if there was something else – something subtle, something historians seldom
emphasize, something in the background, which was not the most overt reason but a
contributing reason nonetheless.
In looking at the collapse of Rome, André Piganiol said, “Roman civilization did not die a
natural death; it was assassinated.” He meant the result of external pressures (the
barbarians are coming!). Piganiol’s now popular assessment contradicted Ferdinand Lot’s
earlier view that, “The Empire died of an internal malady.” (It became unyieldingly
conservative and could not deal with the changes it faced).
What if the internal malady, which caused a premature death, was a progressive disease of
the body politic? What if the interrelationship of declining values and inept leadership
slowly killed Rome like a cancer within.
In their own time, Romans clearly expressed concern that the decline of traditional values
was undermining their society. Did this contribute to the eventual collapse of Roman
civilization?
Objective Observations
The Importance Of Virtue

There is no question, from it’s beginning and through much of its history,
Roman personal and social values were not just important, they were essential to
the measure of the person and the society. It was upon the integrity of their
ancestors and themselves that Romans measured personal and societal success and
failure. In their view, if personal virtue fails, society must also fail. They believed
this was happening.
Observers At The Time

In any society, in any place, at any time, there are segments of the population who
exhibit integrity and good character and those who don’t. This was Plautus’ (d. 184
BCE) point when said what he found in the Forum even in his own time was,
“From virtue down to trash, here is the gods’ plenty”. But the decline of a broad
range of values across all of society was particularly noted in Rome by many
observers over an extended period. Ancient historians, poets, philosophers –
everyone who could write and left an observation behind, not only lamented the
decline of traditional Roman virtues but noted how the decline of personal virtues
was affecting social values, leadership and the governance of the Republic and
Empire.
Decline Is Inevitable Because Of Human Nature

Polybius argued it is inevitable that all constitutional systems will fail because it is
natural for humans to be selfish and undermine their own society. The observations
about declining Roman values reflected the reality that they began with high ideals
to which they aspired, but fell short because they were only human. Polybius
argued human nature and declining values bring down all political systems.

Subjective Observations
Leadership Theory - Values, Leadership and Governance

Modern leadership theory demonstrates the symbiotic relationship between values
and leadership and how this impacts governance and how governance impacts
values. We act on what we see, learn and believe based on what examples our
leaders set. And, they act as well on a set of personal and social values. In Rome
there was a spiraling downward vicious cycle of values and leadership that caused
social and governmental paralysis and finally collapse.
Civilization Is A Veneer
The society we enjoy – our values, social system, government – all represent a
layer over the worst of human nature. Hobbs explained greed, power, selfishness,
can strip away the foundations of society itself. Success found the Romans always
wanting more, but eventually more became less. The veneer of Mos Maiorum and
virtus were eventually stripped away and plunged Roman society into chaos.
Interestingly, Professor Geoffrey Alan Plauché, in an unpublished essay (“Roman Virtus,

Liberty, and Imperialism; The Murder-Suicide of Classical Civilization”), although
following a slightly different thread comes to a similar conclusion. “Classical society
retrogressed because the very traits that led to Rome's greatness – its moral and political
traditions – also carried the seeds of its inevitable destruction. Martial and republican
virtue and ancient liberty are inadequate to the task of bringing about and maintaining a
free and flourishing society, and are only vicariously related to true virtue and liberty at
that.”
In looking at this period and forming a theory, what the historian calls primary sources can
reveal only so much. Facts are important, but they are just cold, impersonal indicators that
describe events, observations and experiences. They seldom help us understand deep
personal emotions and group-psychology behind chronological events. We tend to avoid
what we sometimes call ‘soft ideas’ because we can’t prove what our heart and head tells
us. However what we ‘feel’ can often illuminate a hidden truth. As McDonnell says, “A
relationship does exist between words and things, albeit a complex one, that in the end is
not demonstrable. Better to make a leap of faith, if that is what it is, for meaning.”
Although the times are different, we can make some assumptions that stand outside
historical facts because modern social science has studied these things and we have had
similar human experiences - because the Romans were human and we are human.
Whatever else we may think, one thing is clear, the Roman’s were outspoken in their
frustration that the virtuous consistency, integrity, excellence, virtus of their ancestors had
fallen away. They had lost consistency of purpose.

My Two Questions
I asked, (1) Can we learn something important about how decline happened to Rome
beyond overextension and invasions (was there something important happening in the
background that is seldom discussed?), (2) Is there something at play here that is uniquely
human nature, which transcends place and time?
Voices from the past and modern social science answer these questions. But the answers
remain only part of many insights, which help us understand what happened to Rome.
From the Res Publica Romana website - http://www.romanrepublic.org
"The Roman poets of antiquity traditionally describe a time within the mythological mists
of prehistory when paradise existed. This was when the god Saturn was to have ruled
supreme. This period is romantically described as a time when virtuous conduct was
universal. Men were just, pious, cooperative, equal and content with what they possessed.
Like many such tales of utopian prehistory this era came to a close and humanity fell from
virtue. Unlike similar tales, this fall from grace is not due to original sin, seeking illicit
knowledge or other such notions. In antiquity, the fall was regarded as secondary to an
epidemic of self-centeredness. The noble concepts of virtue, such as moderation, equality,
fairness, frugality, justice lost their primacy. Virtue became somewhat of a rarity,
something that was not universally adhered to by all."

What Changed In Early Rome That Undermined Virtus
Roman writers across the span of the Republic and Empire were well aware of and spoke
often about Rome’s disintegration. As I have tried to explain in the prior essay, we can
understand one contributing element of the ‘how’ of this disintegration - the decay of
virtue, values, and loss of the mos maiorum. But when and why? When did it begin?
Why did it begin? What was the initial driver of change?
Symbolic of early change comes from the elder Pliny, "Latifundia perdidere Italiam, jam
vero et provincias" - The great estates, plantations [Latifundias managed by thousands of
slaves] are ruining Rome and the provinces.
The great landholdings were representative of greed and aggressive pursuit of wealth that
was undermining society. Cicero reported the statement of the tribune Philippus that the
entire country did not have a thousand property owners. This in what was once a nation of
soldier-farmers - now mostly landless. Seneca, himself a landowner, asked, “How far will
you extend the bounds of your possessions?”
Also, wars brought unimaginable wealth, loot, slaves and new residents to Rome, which
upended the idealism of the early Republic. Subsistence farmers lost their land to swindles
and land grabs, the poor were forced to the city, which brought unrest and political
segmentation.
As the writer Florus says below, these circumstances are what caused the conflict with the
Tribunes Gracchi (133 BCE & 121 BCE), the Catiline conspiracy (63 BCE), slave
rebellions (the Servile War 73-71 BCE), the ruthless, chaotic periods of Marius (d.86
BCE) and Sulla (d.78 BCE), it pitted Roman against Roman and caused the collapse of the
Republic.
It is human nature that the more we have the more we want. Romans became obsessed
with materialistic things.
In Sallust’s view, what he called the ‘moral fibre’ of Roman culture had been destroyed by
the city’s success and by the wealth, greed and lust for power that followed its conquest of
the Mediterranean and the crushing of all its serious rivals.
Here I will let others explain in more detail how all this came about in early Rome.
-----

The Romans; From Village to Empire, by Richard J.A. Talbert, et al
A changing landscape
“The wars that established Roman leadership of the Italian peninsula had been
accompanied by serious disruptions to the population levels and settlement patterns of the
peoples involved. In the midst of these movements, Rome and a few other cities grew
much larger. Firm statistics for Rome’s population do not exist, and modern estimates have
large margins for error, but it seems likely that, in the second century, several hundreds of
thousands of people inhabited the city. They were highly diverse in class, in legal status,
and in place of origin. Some came from the towns and villages of Italy, seeking
opportunities in the city or fleeing changes in the countryside. Wealthier newcomers
sometimes sought a place among Rome’s elite. Many new residents came from outside the
peninsula, some voluntarily, lured by its riches, while others were imported as slaves to
work in the households of the wealthy. Much of Rome’s population was ill-housed and led
only a marginal existence. Tensions between rich and poor seem to have become more
pronounced.
Changes in the countryside accompanied the growth of cities and fueled it. The constant
wars outside the peninsula added to the mobility of the population of Italy. Some sought
opportunities in Spain or the east, while many served in Rome’s armies there. Wars in
distant places made military service more burdensome for some Romans and allies. In the
first half of the second century, the total free population of Italy probably numbered around
three million. The Romans kept a substantial proportion of the adult males from citizen and
allied communities under arms: perhaps 120,000 men in a typical year, and, on occasion,
even more. Soldiers who served outside of Italy could be away for four to six years, with
some men serving for over a decade. Military service on this scale and of this duration
disrupted communal life and the organization of labor. Most soldiers were small-scale
farmers, and prolonged absences must have weakened their ability to maintain themselves
and their families on their lands. Indeed, the pressures of military service may well have
encouraged some to abandon the land and move to the cities. Some Roman authors also
believed that the demands of military service led wealthy landowners to shift away from
hiring free laborers to employing slaves, who were not subject to conscription, to work
their lands. There is certainly the distinct impression that throughout Italy more land than
ever before was now controlled by wealthy families.
Warfare outside the peninsula also disrupted long established patterns of agriculture. The
traditional economies of Italian city-states were based on farming and herding. In most
districts, the arable land would be divided among the relatively few estates of the rich and
a far larger number of smallholdings, cultivated by the owner and his family with perhaps
the assistance of a few slaves. The ownership of land was closely tied to citizenship. The
chief landowners of a city were its ruling elite, and its small-scale farmers formed the mass
of its military levy. Under Roman law, only Romans and Latins could own land around
Rome, in colonies, and in municipia. The Roman elite, although far wealthier than the
elites of municipia and allied cities, probably concentrated the bulk of its holdings
relatively close to the city. At the beginning of the second century, senators primarily

owned lands in Latium, southern Etruria, Campania, and second century, slavery in Italy
became larger in scale and importance as Roman armies forced larger numbers into
slavery, and as more slaves became available as a result of warfare and piracy elsewhere in
the Mediterranean world.
The influx of wealth and slaves from foreign wars, and the vulnerability to military service
of tenant farmers, sharecroppers, and hired laborers, presented members of the landholding
elites of Italy with a range of options.”
Florus, Roman Historian, d.139 CE, Epitome of Roman History
Florus felt Rome’s early wars were for defense, but booty and slaves brought greed and a
desire for war that was not defensive but simply to acquire more. This, he believed,
undermined their society.
“Such are the events overseas of the third period of the history of the Roman people,
during which, having once ventured to advance outside Italy, they carried their arms over
the whole world. The first hundred years of this period were pure and humane and, as we
have said, a golden age, free from vice and crime, while the innocence of the old pastoral
life was still untainted and uncorrupted, and the imminent threat of our Carthaginian foes
kept alive the ancient discipline.”
“For what else produced these outbreaks of domestic strife but excessive prosperity? It
was the conquest of Syria which first corrupted us, followed by the Asiatic inheritance
bequeathed by the king of Pergamon. The resources and wealth thus acquired spoiled the
morals of the age and ruined the State, which was engulfed in its own vices as in a
common sewer. For what else caused the Roman people to demand from their tribunes
land and food except the scarcity which luxury had produced?”
“Again, what brought the servile wars upon us except the excessive size of our
establishments? How else could those armies of gladiators have arisen against their
masters, save that a profuse expenditure, which aimed at conciliating the favour of the
common people by indulging their love of shows, had turned what was originally a method
of punishing enemies into a competition of skill?”
“Again, to touch upon less ugly vices, was not ambition for office also stimulated by
wealth? Why, it was from this the Marian and Sullan disturbances arose. Again, were not
the sumptuous extravagance of banquets and the profuse largesses due to a wealth which
was bound soon to produce want?”
“It was this too that brought Catiline into collision with his country. Finally, whence did
the lust for power and domination arise save from excessive wealth? It was this which
armed Caesar and Pompeius with the fatal torches which kindle the flames that destroyed
the State.”

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, Mary Beard [From, “Mary Beard Discusses the
Collapse of the Roman Republic” - https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/victim-success-
mary-beard-discusses-collapse-roman-republic/ ]
Beard, much like Florus, feels Rome was a victim of their own success. The more they
had the more they wanted. It was not a strategic plan for expansion and a Pax Romana that
drove Rome to war, but simply greed.
“There was thirst for glory, desire for conquest, and sheer greed for the economic profits of
victory at all levels of Roman society. It was not for nothing that the prospect of rich booty
was dangled before the people when they were asked to vote on entering the First Punic
War. But whatever fantasies might have been exchanged at the Scipios’ parties, none of
this adds up to a plan for world domination.”
“But in another way, the events of 146 BCE [fall of Carthage] were seen as the beginning
of the collapse of the Republic and as the herald of a century of civil wars, mass murder
and assassinations that led to the return of autocratic rule. Fear of the enemy, so this
argument went, had been good for Rome; without any significant external threat, ‘the path
of virtue was abandoned for that of corruption’. Sallust was particularly eloquent on the
theme. In his other surviving essay, on a war against the North African king Jugurtha at the
end of the second century BCE, he reflects on the dire consequences of the destruction of
Carthage: from the greed of all sections of Roman society (‘every man for himself’),
through the breakdown of consensus between rich and poor, to the concentration of power
in the hands of a very few men. These all pointed to the end of the Republican system.
Sallust was an acute observer of Roman power.”
“Sallust did not simply tell the unfolding story of the attempted uprising, its causes and its
upshot. He used the figure of Catiline as an emblem of the wider failings of first-century
BCE Rome. In Sallust’s view, the moral fibre of Roman culture had been destroyed by the
city’s success and by the wealth, greed and lust for power that had followed its conquest of
the Mediterranean and the crushing of all its serious rivals. The crucial moment came
eighty-three years before the war against Catiline, when in 146 BCE Roman armies finally
destroyed Carthage, Hannibal’s home base on the north coast of Africa. After that, Sallust
thought, no significant threats to Roman domination were left.”
“Rome is a culture that implodes. It implodes. It is a victim of its own success. It’s a small
city-state triumphed around the world, and partly because of that it fissures and fractures.
“Rome’s Fall Reconsidered”, by Vladimir G. Simkhovitch, Political Science Quarterly,

June 1916
Simkhovitch points to farmers forced off their land and the rise of great plantations
[Latifundia] run by slaves as representative of the greed which frustrated the observers at
the time.

“The testimony of the eyewitnesses of the process is of course of the utmost, importance.”
“Livy invites us to follow first the gradual sinking of the national character, later on the
more rapid tempo of its downward course until the days are reached when, ‘we cannot
bear our diseases nor their remedies.’”
“What is the cause of this moral corruption and degeneracy of which all Roman writers of
the period complain? In that very same ode Horace tells us why he takes so desperate a
view of things. The great deeds of the Romans were the deeds of a sturdy farmer race, of
the, ‘mascula proles rusticorum militium, docta versare glebas Sabellis ligonibus’ - and
these farmers' sons existed no longer. If they could not maintain themselves on their farms,
still worse were the chances for a respectable existence in Rome; there they lost what little
they had and became demoralized, dependent paupers. The two complaints, the two
Roman explanations of their own decline and disintegration reduce themselves, therefore,
to one single explanation. For it is clear that the Latifundia and corruption are but different
aspects of the same social phenomenon. If the moral disintegration was due to the
disappearance of the self-supporting, self-respecting farmer class, and the inordinate
wealth and fantastic luxury of the small upper class, the Latifundia were but a real estate
expression of the same phenomenon. The place of innumerable small farms was taken by
extraordinarily large estates - the Latifundia. I do not doubt for a moment that the Romans
were quite conscious that the Latifundia and corruption were but different aspects of the
same phenomenon.
Take, for instance, Sallust, who states it very clearly in his so-called epistles to Caesar:
‘When the people were gradually deprived of their lands, and idleness and want left them
without a place to live on, they began to covet other men's property and to regard their
liberty and the interests of their country as objects for sale. Thus the people who had been
sovereign and who had governed all nations, became gradually degenerate; and instead of
maintaining their common dominion brought upon themselves individual servitude.’
We are therefore justified, I believe, in stating that the contemporary witnesses of the
decline of Rome had but one explanation of its cause; but while some emphasized its moral
aspect and others its economic, still others, like Sallust or Pseudo-Sallust, have emphasized
the political effect of the economic and moral disintegration of Rome.”
“The Perils of Expansion”

http://brfencing.org/Rome/Perils_of_Expansion.html
“Between 204 and 188 B.C., Rome became the big power in the Mediterranean basin.
Rome was not the great empire that she would become, but, Rome had changed as a result
of all of these wars, and not necessarily for the better. These changes can be viewed in a
couple of ways, but all of them led to a very different Rome, both in terms of her
government and her foreign policies. So, let’s look at the changes in Roman economics
and government first.

Remember that the early Romans had a simple agricultural economy; most Romans were
small farmers who grew enough food to provide for the needs of the immediate family. As
a result of the Roman conquests this traditional system was replaced by a far more
advanced economy.
To begin with, the Roman conquests made it possible for Rome and Italy to develop
extensive trade. Roman contact with the East created a demand for luxury goods, which
they had not known about before. Romans paid for these goods with money which had
been brought into Rome by conquest.
Also, by 200 B.C. it was becoming harder and harder for small farmers to make a living.
There were several reasons for this, but the most important grew out of Roman expansion
and warfare. In the early period, most Roman soldiers were farmers who farmed in the
winter and fought in the summer. This was easy since the wars took place close to home.
But when the Romans begin fighting far away in, say, in Spain, or Greece, or Africa, many
soldiers were forced to stay away from their farms for years at a time. When the men went
to war their farms went untended and ultimately had to be sold.
Wealthy Romans bought these farms and combined them into larger estates
called Latifundia. Unlike early Roman farms, the Latifundia were mainly intended to
produce a cash crop that could be sold for profit. Major products were cattle, wine and
olive oil. Latifundia were operated by slaves, and the owner might only visit them once or
twice a year. He looked on it has an investment. The slaves who worked on these estates
were non-Romans who had been taken prisoner by the Romans in war.
These changes caused serious disruptions to Roman society. Those farmers who were
forced to sell their land had to move to the cities, and the urban population rose rapidly in
Italy after 200. In the cities work was scarce for free Romans as slaves did most of the
unskilled labor. There were not enough jobs available so the unemployed either had to beg
or steal to make ends meet. Therefore, urban poverty and crime became a serious problem.
While a growing number of Roman citizens got poorer, other Romans became extremely
wealthy.
The winners in this new economy had varied backgrounds. Most senators made money, but
there were also others who became rich as well. These men were wealthy enough to afford
to serve in the army as cavalry, so they were called equestrians. Wealthy Romans lived in
unprecedented luxury: they had expensive houses and clothes, many slaves. They could
afford to provide better education for their children. They often sent their sons to study in
Greece. In short, the lives of wealthy Roman leaders became increasingly distinguished
from the lives of poor Roman citizens.”

Virtues And Values
“Meno, the Thessalian, was asked by Socrates what virtue is; and when he
replied impulsively and promptly that there is a virtue appropriate to a child and
to an old man, to a grown man and to a woman, to a public official and to a
private citizen, to a master and to a servant, Socrates exclaimed, ‘A fine answer!
for when asked for one virtue you have stirred up a whole swarm of virtues,’”
~ Plutarch
To add yet more complexity to an already complex issue, we might ask what exactly are
virtues/values, where do they come from, and why do they affect the human nature that
concerned Polybius? Where is the origin of our values? Are they learned, imprinted,
passed genetically, culturally formed?
According to psychologists and neuroscientists, we are genetically imprinted with some of

what we come to believe. While that could be true, we know social-political aspects of our
own time impact what we believe and do.
The ancients warn us, what happened to them can happen to us. We face the same
temptations. As Seneca said, “When you see a man often wearing the robe of office, when
you see one whose name is famous in the Forum, do not envy him; those things are bought
at the price of life.”
Can We Return To The Past
“Hope is the only good god remaining among mankind;

the others have left and gone to Olympus.
Trust, a mighty god has gone, Restraint has gone from men,
and the Graces have abandoned the earth.
Men's judicial oaths are no longer to be trusted, nor does anyone
revere the immortal gods; the race of pious men has perished and
men no longer recognize the rules of conduct or acts of piety.”
~ Theognis of Megara, 6th-century BCE Greek poet
We may ask if some person is removed from a political position, or laws are changed, can
we go back to the way it was. Can we return to a better time?
What we learn from Rome suggests the answer is no!
Might the Romans have asked the same thing during their last civil conflict? If the war
with Anthony ends or, if Augustus is removed, can we go back to the golden age of the
Republic?
Did the assassins not expect this would happen when they killed Caesar?

Was this not a hope behind the removal of Caligula and Nero?
Life is a series of dialectics – the clash of ideas and seeming end of eras produce new
forms. A new synthesis must emerge. When history moves forward, longing for the past is
only wistful nostalgia. History shows, every time we compromise our values the
opportunity to control our destiny is no longer within our grasp. We are then at the mercy
of forces which move us ahead to a place as yet unknown.
Heraclitus said, “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and
he’s not the same man.”
Why could not more emperors demonstrate the integrity of a Marcus Aurelius?
"From my grandfather Verus I learned good morals and the government of my

temper. From the reputation and remembrance of my father, modesty and a
manly character. From my mother, piety and beneficence, and abstinence, not
only from evil deeds, but even from evil thoughts; and further, simplicity in my
way of living, far removed from the habits of the rich.”
He represented the last of the Mos maiorum and traditional Roman Virtue.
Interestingly Tacitus says, “True it is, that the several virtues are best understood and
most prized, during the same times in which they are most easily produced.”
Nota Bene
It should be noted, where throughout this essay I used, they and them in referring to
Romans, this represents an inappropriate generalization and representation of all Roman
citizens. Rome in one sense was a society of male elites. The average Roman man or
woman never spoke to us; never left us with his or her emotions, impressions or opinions
of what was happening in the world around them. We only hear the voices of educated
male writers of letters, history and philosophy. These, to be sure, are important reflections
from which we can make some assumptions, but the voice of the masses remains unheard.
Nonetheless, a broad group of Roman citizens played a role in politics and society and
were themselves driven by values – by those they brought with them from across the
empire, and those they learned in place from Roman elites. Herein lies one of many
opportunities for further research and interpretation.

Sources Consulted
(Not in any particular order)
“Cling fast to virtus, I beg you men of Rome, it is a heritage that your ancestors
bequeathed you. All else is false and doubtful, ephemeral and changeful; only
virtus stands firmly fixed, its roots run deep, it can never be shaken by any
violence, never moved from its place.”
~ Cicero
Books
Virtus Romana: Politics and Morality in the Roman Historians (Studies in the History of
Greece and Rome)
Catalina Balmaceda
Popularity Morality in the Early Roman Empire, Teresa Morgan
From the Gracchi to Nero: A History of Rome 133 BC to AD 68 (Routledge Classics)

H. H. Scullard
The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000 (The Penguin History of
Europe Book 2)
Chris Wickham
The Ancient City: A Study of the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome
(Illustrated)
Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges and Willard Small
The Life of Cicero Volume One

Anthony Trollope
The Life of Cicero Volume Two.

Anthony Trollope
Roman life in the days of Cicero

Alfred John Church
Roman Republics
Harriet Flower

Ancient Historians
Delphi Complete Works of Florus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 90)
EPITOME OF ROMAN HISTORY Translated by E. S. Forster
Complete Works of Sallust (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 30)

Gaius Sallustius Crispus Sallust
Sallust, Florus, and Velleius Paterculus, Translated Literally

Harper’s Classical Library
Compendium of Roman History (Forgotten Books)

Velleius Paterculus
Dio’s Roman History in Six Volumes (Unexpurgated Edition) (Halcyon Classics)

Cassius Dio and Herbert Baldwin Foster
History of Rome (Complete)

Livy
Complete Works of Suetonius (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 5)

Suetonius
Delphi Complete Works of Cicero (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 23)
Marcus Tullius Cicero
De Officiis (On Duties) (Translated and Annotated)

Marcus Tullius Cicero and Walter Miller
Seneca: Letters from a Stoic (and Biography) [Annotated]

Doma Publishing House, Lucius Annaeus Seneca, and Richard Mott Gummere
On The Shortness of Life

Lucius Seneca
Seneca Six Pack (Illustrated): On the Happy Life, Letters from a Stoic Vol I, Medea, On
Leisure, The Daughters of Troy and The Stoic (Six Pack Classics Book 4)
Complete Works of Horace (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 23)

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus
Complete Works of Polybius (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 31)

Polybius
Complete Works of Plutarch (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 13)

Plutarch

The Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus During the Reigns of the Emperors
Constantius, Julian, Jovianus, Valentinian, and Valens
Ammianus Marcellinus and Charles Duke Yonge
The Later Roman Empire; A.D. 354-378

Ammianus Marcellinus (translated by Charles Yonge)
Others
Meditations
Marcus Aurelius and George Long
Summa Theologica (Complete & Unabridged)

Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas in 50 Pages: A Layman's Quick Guide to Thomism

Taylor Marshall
St. Augustine of Hippo: The City of God

St. Augustine of Hippo and Paul A Boer Sr
Scholarly Publications
“Velleius Paterculus: The Soldier and the Senator”, Robert T. Connal, The Classical
World, Vol. 107, No. 1 (Fall 2013), pp. 49-62
“The Virtues of Tiberius in Velleius’ Histories”, Catalina Balmaceda, Journal of Ancient

History 2014
“Democratic Politics in Republican Rome”, J. A. North, Oxford Journals – Past and

Present No. 126, February 1990
“The Crisis In The Third Century”, Ancient History Encyclopedia

Josua J. Mark, November 9, 2017
“Roman Virtus, Liberty, and Imperialism; The Murder-Suicide of Classical Civilization”,

Geoffrey Alan Plauché, (unpublished) Plauché has a Ph.D. in Political Science from
Louisiana State University, and is an Adjunct Instructor at Buena Vista University.
https://gaplauche.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/romepaper.pdf

Virtus – Mos Maiorum, Virtue And Values
“Restoring The Ancient Roman Virtues”, Res Publica Romana, L. Curtius Philo, et al.
http://romanrepublic.org/wip/virtues.pdf
Roman Manliness: Virtus And The Roman Republic

Myles McDonnell
“The premise of this book is that a relationship does exist between words and
things, albeit a complex one, that in the end is not demonstrable. Although
open to criticism, this position seems preferable to that of epistemological
skepticism. For once taken, the path will take us, if with Socrates we have
the courage to follow the argument wherever it will go, to a Samuel Beckett
nightmare world of solipsism or silence. Better to make a leap of faith, if
that is what it is, for meaning.”
~ Myles McDonnell
Virtus Romana: Politics and Morality in the Roman Historians (Studies in the History of
Greece and Rome)
Catalina Balmaceda
“Mos maiorum – 'doing the right thing' in ancient Rome”, Allison Morton,
https://alison-morton.com/2017/08/21/mos-maiorum-doing-the-right-thing-in-ancient-
rome/
“Mos maiorum”, Hellenic Faith

https://hellenicfaith.com/mos-maiorum/
Anacyclosis – Values And The Constitutional Model
“Polybius And His Theory of Anacyclosis; Problems Of Not Just Ancient Political
Theory”, Stephan Podes, History Of Political Thought, Vol XII, No. 4, Winter 1991
Complete Works of Polybius (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 31)

Polybius
Social Change
“Top 10 Causes Of Global Social Change”, University of North Carolina Wilmington,

March 12, 2019,
http://people.uncw.edu/pricej/teaching/socialchange/causes%20of%20social%20change.ht
m

“Social Change”, Nico Wilterdink & William Form, Britannica,
https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-change
“Moral Responsibility In A Rapidly Declining Society”, Austin Brunson, Big Think, June
30, 2008, https://bigthink.com/moral-responsibility-in-a-rapidly-declining-society
The Thin Veneer Of Civilization
“Hobbes Moral and Political Philosophy”, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, April 20,
2018, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hobbes-moral/
Veneer Theory
“Veneer Theory”, Aaron Zimmermann, University of California, Santa Barbara, February

22, 2017, http://www.aaron-zimmerman.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Veneer-
Theory.pdf
“Veneer Theory”, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veneer_theory
“Polybius And His Theory of Anacyclosis; Problems Of Not Just Ancient Political
Theory”, Stephan Podes, History Of Political Thought, Vol XII, No. 4, Winter 1991
The Vicious Cycle – Values, Leadership and Decline
“The Trickle-Down Effect of Good (and Bad) Leadership” Harvard Business Review, Jack
Zenger and Joseph Folkman, January, 14, 2016
https://hbr.org/2016/01/the-trickle-down-effect-of-good-and-bad-leadership
“Socio-economic Impacts of Culture”

Compendium – Cultural Policies & Trends, October 10, 2018
https://www.culturalpolicies.net/web/index.php
“Social Influence and Politics in Organizational Research: What We know and What We
Need to Know”, Gerald R. Ferris, et al, June 29, 2016, Sage Journals
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1548051816656003
“The Role of Values in Leadership: How Leaders’ Values Shape Value Creation”, Scott
Lichtenstein, Integral Leadership Review, January 2012
http://integralleadershipreview.com/6176-the-role-of-values-in-leadership-how-leaders-
values-shape-value-creation/
“Qualities of Effective Leadership and Its Impact on Good Governance”, Addisu Legas
(legal adviser and head of the Legal affairs in Oromia National Regional State President
Office.), ABYSSINIALAW

https://www.abyssinialaw.com/blog-posts/item/1473-qualities-of-effective-leadership-and-
its-impact-on-good-governance
Crisis Of The Third Century And Final Decline
“The Crisis of the Third Century”, Joshua J. Mark, Ancient History Encyclopedia,
November 9, 2017
https://www.ancient.eu/Crisis_of_the_Third_Century/
The Last Age Of The Roman Republic; The Cambridge Ancient History IX, “Epilogue”, J.
A. Crook, et al, PSU Library,
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-ancient-history/fall-of-the-roman-
republic/F1DBF64EC1708C7FEA44F42ED80C7030
“A Short Timeline of the Fall of the Roman Empire; Some of the Main Events Leading to
the End of the Western Roman Empire”, N.S. Gill, ThoughtCo, September 7, 2018.
The Obsession With American Recurrence

(Does history repeat? Not discussed in this essay)
The Idea of Historical Recurrence in Western Thought; From Antiquity To The

Reformation, G. W. Trompf
Although some Americans see themselves reflected in what we know of Rome, the US and
Rome exist in entirely different technological and social contexts to each other. Still
comparisons remain that Western Civilization and the US are declining like Rome.
There are dozens of articles on this subject. They all talk about the relationship between
values and decline.
Trompf addresses the concept of history repeating.
“I have written this book because it is relevant to mankind’s present

situation, because I believe the ideas contained in it, though many were not
fully articulated or developed by their spokesmen, will provide the basis for
new visions of history and change in the future. It is an unruly opinion of
mine that the ideas and manifestations of recurrence will overtake our
ideologies an impel them to change face.”
“The history of recurrence ideas through the Western tradition as a whole is

an index to the continuities of macro-historical consciousness, warning us
not to overstress apparently revolutionary breaks with the past.”

Appendix
Personal Virtues
These are the qualities of life to which every Citizen (and, ideally, everyone else) should
aspire. They are the heart of the Via Romana — the Roman Way — and are thought to be
those qualities, which gave the Roman Republic the moral strength to conquer and civilize
the world.
Auctoritas: "Spiritual Authority" The sense of one's social standing, built up through
experience, Pietas, and Industria.
Comitas: "Humor" Ease of manner, courtesy, openness, and friendliness.
Clementia: "Mercy" Mildness and gentleness.
Dignitas: "Dignity" A sense of self-worth, personal pride.
Firmitas: "Tenacity" Strength of mind, the ability to stick to one's purpose.
Frugalitas: "Frugalness" Economy and simplicity of style, without being miserly.
Gravitas: "Gravity" A sense of the importance of the matter at hand, responsibility and
earnestness.
Honestas: "Respectability" The image that one presents as a respectable member of

society.
Humanitas: "Humanity" Refinement, civilization, learning, and being cultured.
Industria: "Industriousness" Hard work.
Pietas: "Dutifulness" More than religious piety; a respect for the natural order socially,
politically, and religiously. Includes the ideas of patriotism and devotion to others.
Prudentia: "Prudence" Foresight, wisdom, and personal discretion.
Salubritas: "Wholesomeness" Health and cleanliness.
Severitas: "Sternness" Gravity, self-control.
Veritas: "Truthfulness" Honesty in dealing with others.

Public Virtues
In addition to the private virtues, which were aspired to by individuals, Roman culture also
strived to uphold Virtues, which were shared by all of society in common. Note that some
of the virtues to which individuals were expected to aspire are also public virtues to be
sought by society as a whole. These virtues were often expressed by minting them on
coinage; in this way, their message would be shared by the entire Classical world. In many
cases, these Virtues were personified as deities.
Abundantia: "Abundance, Plenty" The ideal of there being enough food and prosperity for
all segments of society.
Aequitas: "Equity" Fair dealing both within government and among the people.
Bonus Eventus: "Good fortune" Remembrance of important positive events.
Clementia: "Clemency" Mercy, shown to other nations.
Concordia: "Concord" Harmony among the Roman people, and also between Rome and
other nations.
Felicitas: "Happiness, prosperity" A celebration of the best aspects of Roman society.
Fides: "Confidence" Good faith in all commercial and governmental dealings.
Fortuna: "Fortune" An acknowledgement of positive events.
Genius: "Spirit of Rome" Acknowledgement of the combined spirit of Rome, and its
people.
Hilaritas: "Mirth, rejoicing" An expression of happy times.
Justica: "Justice" As expressed by sensible laws and governance.
Laetitia: "Joy, Gladness" The celebration of thanksgiving, often of the resolution of crisis.
Liberalitas: "Liberality" Generous giving.
Libertas: "Freedom" A Virtue which has been subsequently aspired to by all cultures.
Nobilitas: "Nobility" Noble action within the public sphere.
Ops: "Wealth" Acknowledgement of the prosperity of the Roman world.
Patientia: "Endurance, Patience" The ability to weather storms and crisis.

Pax: "Peace" A celebration of peace among society and between nations.
Pietas: "Piety, Dutifulness" People paying honor to the gods.
Providentia: "Providence, Forethought" The ability of Roman society to survive trials and
manifest a greater destiny.
Pudicita: "Modesty, Chastity." A public expression which belies the accusation of "moral
corruptness" in ancient Rome.
Salus: "Safety" Concern for public health and welfare.
Securitas: "Confidence, Security" Brought by peace and efficient governance.
Spes: "Hope" Especially during times of difficulty.
Uberitas: "Fertility" Particularly concerning agriculture.
Virtus: "Courage" Especially of leaders within society and government.
Visual Model of the Roman Concept of Virtus

(From Res Publica Romana)

Maps
Figure 8 - Height Of The Empire 117CE
Figure 9 - 3rd Century, A Bad Time To Be Roman

Figure 10 - Breakaway Empires 271CE
Figure 11 - Division Of The Empire 285CE

Figure 12 - Invasion And Collapse

Rome – Timeline
“Cato was devoted to restraint, propriety, but most of all austerity; he did not
contend in wealth with the wealthy not in political connections with the well-
connected, but in virtus with the energetic, in restraint with the disciplined, in
integrity with the blameless; he wished to be rather than to seem good:
therefore the less he sought glory, the more it followed him”
~ Sallust
ROMAN MONARCHY
1200 BCE Etruscans reached northern Italy
800-500 BCE Greeks established colonies throughout southern Italy
800 BCE Phoenicians established Carthage on the north coast of Africa
about 753 BCE Village of Rome founded
600 BCE Rome was a province of Etruria
509 BCE Romans revolted against the Etruscan kings and created the system of government by the
Senate and the Assembly
THE CONQUEST OF ITALY
494 BCE first disputes between patricians (wealthy landowners who controlled the Senate) and
plebeians (ordinary citizens)
450 BCE "Law of the 12 Tables" provides written Roman law
390 BCE Gaulic invasion sacked Rome
282-272 BCE War with Pyrrhus
265 BCE Rome completed the occupation of the Italian peninsula
THE CONQUEST OF THE MEDITERRANEAN
264-241 BCE First war with Carthage (First Punic War)
238 BCE Conquest of Sardinia
229-228 BCE First Illyrian War (Balkans)
219 BCE Second Illyrian War
218-201 BCE Second Punic War (Hannibal crossed the Alps)
215-205 BCE First Macedonian War
200-197 BCE Second Macedonian War
200-191 BCE Gaul invasion of northern Italy
192-189 BCE Syrian War
171-168 Third Macedonian War
149-148 BCE Fourth (and final) Macedonian War
149-146 BCE Third Punic War and final defeat of Carthage
THE END OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC
135-132 BCE First Servile War (slave revolt)
133 BCE Tiberius, the first senator to advocate land reform, was assassinated in 133 BCE by
landowners.
91-88 BCE The "Social War" (revolt by Roman allies in Italy)
88-84 BCE First Mithridatic War (Black Sea region)
88 BCE Sulla became the first Roman general to seize power
88-82 BCE Civil war in Rome

83-81 BCE Second Mithridatic War
79 BCE Sulla returned power to the Senate
74-64 BCE Third Mithridatic War
64 BCE Pompey captured Jerusalem
58 BCE Julius Caesar appointed governor of Gaul
58-51 BCE Julius Caesar's army conquered Gaul
58-49 BCE To forestall another military revolt, the Senate yielded power to the First Triumvirate
composed of Pompey, Crassus, and Julius Caesar
54 BCE Invasion of Britain
49-48 BCE Julius Caesar and Cleopatra (descendant of Ptolemy in Egypt) conceived a child
46-44 BCE Cleopatra lived at Julius Caesar's estate in Rome
45 BCE Julius Caesar defeated Pompey and became the first dictator of Rome
44 BCE Julius Caesar assassinated on orders of the Senate
44-31 BCE The Second Triumvirate of Marc Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian (later known as Caesar
Augustus) ruled Rome. Note that Octavian was the nephew of Julius Caesar, and brother-in-
law of Marc Antony
42-30 BCE Cleopatra and Marc Antony had a relationship that lasted until their deaths
31 BCE Caesar Octavian defeated the combined forces of Cleopatra and Marc Antony in the naval
battle of Actium (near Greece)
30 BCE First Roman governor of Egypt
31 BCE-14 CE Octavian became Caesar Augustus, the first emperor
THE ROMAN EMPIRE
14-37 CE Tiberius, stepson of Caesar Augustus, became emperor
about 33 CE Crucifixion of Jesus; origin of Christianity
61 CE Druid revolts in Britain
64 CE Fire destroyed much of Rome during Nero's rule
66-70 CE Jewish revolts in Judea (Palestine)
69 CE General Vespasian expelled Nero, the last of Caesar Augustus' descendants, and started a
new imperial family
70 CE Expulsion of Jews from Palestine
77-84 CE Conquest of Britain
79 CE Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius preserved the city of Pompeii
83 CE Roman army crossed the Rhine River to attack the Germans
96-180 CE The period of the "Five Good Emperors" (Pax Romana)
90 CE First Christian bishop of Rome
113-117 CE Parthian War (Persia)
120 CE Some Roman businessmen were Christian
132-135 CE Jewish rebellion sparked when Romans placed a colony and temple in Jerusalem
180 CE Commodius succeeded his father Marcus Aurelius and imperial power began to decline
193 CE Following civil war, another general, Septimius Severus, became emperor
211-285 CE Numerous emperors killed by revolts and assassinations
259-270 CE German invasions force Romans to yield territory
285 CE Emperor Diocletian divided the empire and moved his capital to Byzantium (in Anatolia,
later Constantinople)
THE CHRISTIAN ROMAN EMPIRE

305 CE Constantine became the first Christian emperor
315 CE Constantine legalized Christianity in the Roman world
324-337 CE Constantine reunited the empire
325 CE Council of Niceae solidifies Christian doctrine
330 CE Constantine inaugurated the new capital of Constantinople
THE FALL OF THE WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE
337-351 CE Constantine's three sons fought to control the empire until Constantius won.
361-363 CE The Romans failed to defeat the Persians, and in the process, the Eastern Emperor Julianus
was killed
363-367 CE Roman generals selected the Eastern Emperors
376 CE At the battle of Adrianople in the Balkans, the Visigoths defeated the Romans
379-395 CE During the reign of Emperor Theodosius, barbarians were permitted to settle on Roman
territory in the Balkans
382 CE Roman emperors gave up the title of "Pontus Maximus" (leader of the Church) to the
Bishops of Rome
383-387 CE British legionnaires supported Magnus Maximus, a rival to Emperor Theodosius's choice for
the Western Emperor (Valentinian II), but Theodosius' forces captured and killed him.
394 CE Frankish leaders killed the Western Emperor Valentinian II, and were in turn defeated by
Theodosius' forces at the Battle of Frigid River, reuniting the Roman Empire again
395 CE After his death, heirs to Theodosius divided the Roman Empire for the last time
395-423 CE Honorius became the Western Emperor, but was strongly influenced by the Vandal general
Stilicho, his son-in-law and commander-of-the-troops
396-402 CE Stilicho defeated several attacks by the Visigoths led by Alaric
406 CE Several barbarian groups included the Vandals, Alans, Suevi and Burgundians overran Gaul
407 CE Roman forces withdrew from Britain, led by Constantine, the troops' choice for emperor
408-450 CE A new Eastern Emperor, Theodosius II, took office at age 7.
408 CE Honorius ordered the assassination of Stilicho
409 CE Alaric's Visigoths invaded northern Italy and set up their own government for the region in
defiance of Honorius and the Eastern Emperor
410 CE The Visigoths, led by Alaric, sacked Rome
423 CE After Honorius' death, Johannes usurped the position of Western Emperor
425 CE Forces sent by Theodosius II from the east killed Johannes the usurper and installed
Valentinian III as the Western Emperor
429-431 CE The Vandals established an independent kingdom in Roman Africa
435 CE The Eastern Roman Emperor recognized the independence of the Vandal kingdom in Africa
439 CE The Vandals conquered the city of Carthage
450 CE Marcian, a general and brother-in-law of Theodosius II, became the new Eastern Emperor
450 CE Attila led the Huns, another barbarian group, into Gaul
455 CE The Vandals, led by Gaiseric, sacked Rome
476 CE For the first time, a barbarian, Romulus Augustus, was named Western Emperor by
barbarian generals
493 CE Italy incorporated into the barbarian Kingdom of the Ostrogoths

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Narrative:

Roman Values and Social-Political Decline

William H. Denney, Ph.D.

W. H. Denney, Roman Values (ver. 13) - 28 February 2020 Page 1 of 52

“In Heaven’s name, what has happened to

“The increase of disorder or entropy is what distinguishes

W. H. Denney, Roman Values (ver. 13) - 28 February 2020 Page 2 of 52

Them And Us…………………………………………………………………………. 6

The Use Of History…………………………………………………………………… 7

Questions Driving This Analysis……………………………………………………... 8

Virtus – Mos Maiorum, Virtue And Values…………………………………………... 9

Thoughts Of Some Ancient Historians And Other Commentators…………………… 12

Anacyclosis – Values And The Constitutional Model………………………………... 18

The Cycle Of Values, Leadership and Decline………………………………………. 22

The Thin Veneer Of Civilization……………………………………………………... 24

The Crisis Of The Third Century And Final Decline………………………………… 25

What Changed In Early Rome That Undermined Virtus……………………………... 30

Virtues And Values…………………………………………………………………… 36

Can We Return To The Past……………………………………………………………36

W. H. Denney, Roman Values (ver. 13) - 28 February 2020 Page 3 of 52

1 Gaius Mucius Scaevola………………………………………………………...… 10

3 Polybius’ Constitutional Sequence………………………………………………. 19

4 Polybius’ Zig Zag of Benign and Malignant Constitutions………………………. 19

5 Polybius - How Values and Behaviors Change Constitutions…………………… 20

6 Erratic Decline – Two Steps Back and One Forward…………………………….. 21

7 The Symbiotic Relationship of Values and Leadership………………………….. 23

8 Map, Height Of The Empire, 117 CE…………………………………………….. 47

9 Map, 3rd Century – A Bad Time To Be Roman…………………………………… 47

10 Map, Breakaway Empires, 271 CE………………………………………………. 48

11 Map, Division Of The Empire, 285 CE………………………………………….. 48

12 Map, Invasion And Collapse, 100-500 CE………………………………………. 49

W. H. Denney, Roman Values (ver. 13) - 28 February 2020 Page 4 of 52

And here they say that a person consists of desires,

As Tatum says in his book on Caesar, it is “unencumbered by scholarly apparatus”. I have

W. H. Denney, Roman Values (ver. 13) - 28 February 2020 Page 5 of 52

“Small communities grow great through harmony,

W. H. Denney, Roman Values (ver. 13) - 28 February 2020 Page 6 of 52

W. H. Denney, Roman Values (ver. 13) - 28 February 2020 Page 7 of 52

“It is only in the ideal or perfect state

Humanity is too complex for single-factor analysis. Many circumstances help us

W. H. Denney, Roman Values (ver. 13) - 28 February 2020 Page 8 of 52

In this analysis I am not concerned with historical segmentation or periodization. The

Virtus – Mos Maiorum, Virtue And Values

W. H. Denney, Roman Values (ver. 13) - 28 February 2020 Page 9 of 52

So what did it mean to the Romans?

W. H. Denney, Roman Values (ver. 13) - 28 February 2020 Page 10 of 52

“Virtus is an inalienable possession of the Roman race and name.”

W. H. Denney, Roman Values (ver. 13) - 28 February 2020 Page 11 of 52

Thoughts Of Some Historians And Other Commentators

“For who does not know history’s first law to be

Polybius 200-118 BCE

Polybius probably would have found all this speculation amusing.

W. H. Denney, Roman Values (ver. 13) - 28 February 2020 Page 12 of 52

Cicero 106 – 43 BCE

W. H. Denney, Roman Values (ver. 13) - 28 February 2020 Page 13 of 52

Sallust 86-35 BCE

“But as the work of an architect, so the achievements of virtue ought to be

Success was causing Rome to fail.

W. H. Denney, Roman Values (ver. 13) - 28 February 2020 Page 14 of 52

Horace 65-8 BCE

W. H. Denney, Roman Values (ver. 13) - 28 February 2020 Page 15 of 52

W. H. Denney, Roman Values (ver. 13) - 28 February 2020 Page 16 of 52