The God of the Machine - Tranche #7
Chapter 3, Excerpt 1 of 3
Rome Discovers Political Structure
To sentimentalize Roman law and gloss over its harsh and faulty aspects is to miss the point. Its solid virtue was its mere existence, since at worst it proved preferable to the unpredictable will of either king or people. In their ordinary conduct the Athenians were probably more humane than the Romans; but the quality of Roman law was that it was dependable. A man must be charged with a specified act having known the penalties and convicted on something more than opinion.
The practical use of the concept of law in founding the empire began with international relations. Their habit of mind made the Romans more reliable in keeping treaties and more steadfast against reverses, and therefore made their alliance desired. Citizenship being formulated as a legal condition rather than an accident of birth; Rome could bestow it on the people of another nation. A general grant took effect on individuals; the orbital attraction first exerted on the mass thus acted on the particles separately.
The result was true fusing or welding, a chemical compound rather than a simple mixture. Time and distance are the two factors that necessitate formal government. The structure must accommodate the mechanism, and each must correspond respectively to the mode of conversion of energy. These forms and mechanisms do not occur and assemble fortuitously by material determinism. They are created by conscious intelligence. Production methods will catch up with advanced political ideas.
Rome Discovers Political Structure
To sentimentalize Roman law and gloss over its harsh and faulty aspects is to miss the point. Its solid virtue was its mere existence, since at worst it proved preferable to the unpredictable will of either king or people. In their ordinary conduct the Athenians were probably more humane than the Romans; but the quality of Roman law was that it was dependable. A man must be charged with a specified act having known the penalties and convicted on something more than opinion.
The practical use of the concept of law in founding the empire began with international relations. Their habit of mind made the Romans more reliable in keeping treaties and more steadfast against reverses, and therefore made their alliance desired. Citizenship being formulated as a legal condition rather than an accident of birth; Rome could bestow it on the people of another nation. A general grant took effect on individuals; the orbital attraction first exerted on the mass thus acted on the particles separately.
The result was true fusing or welding, a chemical compound rather than a simple mixture. Time and distance are the two factors that necessitate formal government. The structure must accommodate the mechanism, and each must correspond respectively to the mode of conversion of energy. These forms and mechanisms do not occur and assemble fortuitously by material determinism. They are created by conscious intelligence. Production methods will catch up with advanced political ideas.
There were two classes of "citizen" in Roman culture. Those who were true Citizens had land and were represented in the Senate. The working-class stiffs or plebians had no such representation and (after a revolt) the Romans created an office specifically to represent them. Nations under tribute, however, had neither representation in the Senate nor were they part of the Plebian class of representation: they had to resort to their local Consuls and Roman leaders for governance, and though the Romans generally tried to allow the various sub-cultures to do their own thing, Romans were the law and enforced it.
If you were a Roman, you got representation of a sort. If not, however...