Child abuse is unique to our society because the Roman
society had such strong loyalty to their country that there was no room to
abuse their children. Children were brought up to learn how to be participating
members of their society. There is no Roman record to show that children were
abused in any way, mostly because children were not written about often enough
to see if there were any abused in that time period. Today, with the overuse of
drugs and alcohol and mental illness that seems to occur more often, children
are more at risk of being abused today.
Obesity is unique to our society mostly because food today
is abundant whereas in Roman times it was not, and being overweight in that
time was a rare occurrence and even seen as a rich or royal because most did
not have access to enough food and sedentary activity to even cause a possibility
of being obese. In today’s society most Americans live a sedentary lifestyle
and with easy access and processed foods we are never without food to worry
about not having enough to eat, and therefore we put on weight easily which is
how obesity is caused today.
Health care is unique to our society mostly because of the
Roman’s lack of a health care system. Yes, they had “doctors” but without much
of a medical advance in technology they didn’t have a health care system to
have issues with like we do today.
“The fellow stands up against
me, and bids me halt; obey I must. What else can you do when attacked by a
madman stronger than yourself?” This directly relates to my challenge of
violent crime. People are scared of crime and if someone tries to fight an
individual they are going to be scared and do whatever the person says because
they do not want to get hurt in the process such as what happens with Juvenal
in his satire.
“Yet however reckless the
fellow may be, however hot with wine and young blood, he gives a wide berth to
one whose scarlet cloak and long retinue of attendants, with torches and brass
lamps in their hands, bid him keep his distance.” This directly relates to my
challenge of alcohol consumption. Here this character is “hot with wine” and
scares all the people who wish him to stay away from them because they are
scared of his drunkenness. People today feel the same way, because they do not
like to be around those who are drunk and dangerous and cannot control
themselves.
I think that few writers would write in ancient times about their children being mistreated. Women were ignored and historical writings said very little about them in part because men for the vast majority of history wrote them. I agree that while obesity is a common problem today, I think that some similarities to a lazy lifestyle may have been the rich being carried across the streets in closed carriages with little work needing to be done. Roman health care may have been rudimentary, but I think that they were very sanitary. Unlike the European society in the Middle Ages where the black plague ravaged everyone, both rich and poor because of fleas and bad personal hygiene, I believe that Roman cleanliness would have been the main contributor to good health in its nation. I enjoyed your quote that inferred that people disliked drunken men. Nice find! Thank you for your input.
ReplyDeleteI didn’t choose obesity as a topic but I thought about it as I read Juvenal’s satire. Not that there weren’t obese people but you made good points about the difference between their day and ours.
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