Evening star., 1915-07-11
HUMANITY OF ANCIENT ROME

among the many conflicts OF tdeaor
says NJ. Rene Pichon. (which torment
= the conscience OF men; Of
Agoni1ing today there are none more
Conflict grave more delicate ana
at certain hours more
painfully agonising than the idea
which places In conflict the notions
Of country ind humanity" And M.
Pichon adds: Civic devotion and hu-
man fraternity remain two primordial
obligations which at times are difn-
cult to conciiiate, but which 1t is still
more impossible to sacrifice. the one
or the other. This case of conscience
so actual 10 not new"
For a fact, the two questions totched
the conscience Of the conscientious of
ancient Rome. and that these failed
to solve the problem is cause that it
remains to plague the conscience of
the humane and patriotic Of today. A
glance backward is Instructive and
may serve in measure the inspiration
Of the modern humanitarian. the pa
cifiist, the anti militarist. the anar-
chist. all of whom affect to think they
who are. in fact, the unconscious imi-
tators. perhaps. Of their predecessors
OF ancient Rome. ~
The Greeks. as well as the Romans.
were humanitarians or patriots. ac-
cording to the individual and the
epochs. Agesilaus, King Of Sparta
(3ss-3s1 B. c.).swhen consulted on the
violation Of rights of nations in an at
tack on the citadel Of q neutral coun-
try and in a time Of peace, declared
unscrupulously that 1T was necessary
>ix
full; the moment that an action was
useful to the country 1t was good to at
tack" And the Athenians.' even the
intellectuals with more open spirit
and less hardness OF heart, were OF the
same mind. II one consults Thucydides
concerning the fate Of the Mytilenians
who mutinied we may read the argu-
ment of the two orators in the de-
bate: Cleon demanded vengeance and
Diodote advised amnesty: they were In
accord only on one point. namely:
Athens had the right to massacre the
conquered and that Athens should only
ask herself II 1t was to her advantage
to do It. do not forget" said Cleoh
to his fellows. that you are tyrants
The worst scourges of domination
versary, as If he feared to appear too
sensitive. made a statement even more
brutal: "Even though I acknowledge
the mutineers were wrong, would not
punish unless we had interest in doing
SO: and even If they had pretexts
less it were for the good of Athens"
=.
The Greeks have not ignored the no.
tions which confront us today. In turn
Athenians and Spar
Ancient Greek tans have discussed
na.l the questions Of hu.
1niaosopny' manity and patriotism
more or less accepting the arguments
Of Cleon and Diodote. The Romans
with their less rational spirit than the
Greeks. being more positive and more
practical attempt to conciliate hu.
manity and patriotism. When the,
find the conciliation difficult they pare
little.
The primitive Romans had no ides
that they could have the least obliga'
tion toward men Of another race, ant
this was true, in fact, of all Europe
Local egotism was the rule. and there
was little or no sentiment of right any
where, only of force that suppressed
right.
The first century Of Roman history
presents a people Of conflict. prey
proud. rapacious, defiant in peace. fu
rious in war, ferocious in expression
tyrannical in government. war wal
cruel, and all its perfidies were prac'
ticed; after the war the right OF con
quest was exercised.
Cato Of old (2s4-145 B.C.) may be
cited in Illustration when the Achear
hostages asked to be permitted to re-
turn to their country In Thessaly. Cate
said: why deliberate an entire day to
mil h0
by Greek gravediggers or by ours!
Frequently the Romans had serious
motives to give to the subjugated a
relative independence. but 1t was az
ways from motives Of interest Senti-
ments Of hatred, defiance and disdain
the earliest days, and Roman democ.
racy was no more accessible to ideas OF
humanity than the most primitive
oligarchy: 1t was the party Of the people
which for the most part favored the
military expeditions for conquest.
sophie literature (23s B.c.), a century
and a half before Cicero and Lucrece,
manifested remarkable freedom from
Roman traditions. Ennius is fnde-
pendent to the point OF writing ir-
reverently of religious beliefs and con-
secrated rites. and openly charged that
the gods were simple mortals and the
princely hypocrites. His theater was
a foyer of free thought. But. when
it is question Of praisinE Rome and
her conflicts the hardy thinker. who
was not a Roman born. but a Greek,
eulogtzes with Joy the ancient and
scipio Emilien GAS B.C). the de-
stroyer Of Carthage, was the Intimate
Of Poiybius and the disciple of Pane
thus, the stole. 1t was in the society
of Terence, the comic poet. that he
heard for the first time the celebrated
verse and adopted 1t as a principle.
Homo sum ct humani nihfl a me
alienum puto" Il am a man and moth
Ing that concerns a man is strange to
me). But Scipio's idea of humanity
does not change his national spirit He
accepts the mission to conquer ana
destroy Carthage and Numance. II be-
fore the burning city he sheds some
tears, as tradition pretends, the tears
do not put out the fre.
In a general way. republican Rome
up to the period OF the civil wars ap-
pears as a city perpetual
Rome's One ly and strongly armed for
o,. war; all energies are di-
INJECT. rected.. to the unique OBJ
ject-safety of the state. There is no
question of humanity. only thAt OF
country. The epoch OF the civil wars
IL the saddest of Roman history. These
wars were inspired by private interests
or by powerful groups. The names OF