Blog #2

Newton’s Law of Inertia: An object in motion stays in motion.

Though Newton was probably referring to objects more like soccer balls, trains or motorcycles this same principle also aptly describes the motile state of human nature. History is simply the study of this motion watching leaders and people rise and fall, documenting the fluidity of the human race. This motion can be seen in just about every area of study from art to science and extending into human morality. Sadly, the direction social morality usually takes is a downhill slide as a people become proud and greedy, seeking only personal gain which leads to the eventual destruction of the greater whole.  Elder Ezra Taft Benson stated in a 1973 Conference talk “Our greatest national problem is erosion. Not erosion of the soil, but erosion of the national morality.”¹ Though Elder Benson was referring to the United States in his address a parallel can be drawn to the Roman Empire. For the major part of three centuries The Roman Empire dominated as power supreme and ruled over vast amounts of land “Your task, Roman, and do not forget it, will be to govern the peoples of the world in your empire”². However, as Roman morals degraded so did their power and the once glimmering city of marble eroded away revealing the coarse brickwork underneath.

Histories which describe the downward motion of nations often exhibit a similar pattern. One element of this pattern is the desire to acquire more; more land, more power, more money. In the historical account of Polybius he describes the moral character of the Roman people and how character is superior to all other elements of society. Polybius specifically mentions that character is of greater importance than the desire to acquire more wealth. “Again, the Roman customs and principles regarding the acquisition of wealth are better that those of the Carthaginians… For they [the Romans] regard wealth obtained from unlawful transactions to be as much a subject of reproach as a fair profit from reputable sources is of commendation… With such a radical difference, therefore, between the rewards offered to virtue among the two peoples, it is natural that the ways adopted for obtaining them should be different also.”³ (Polybius, 56) Money and wealth were desired in the time of Polybius, yet they were secondary to a person’s character, a man’s virtue was his greatest possession. However, as the Roman empire continued in its downward motion and the social morality eroded away greed found root and wealth became the premier concern. This change is appropriately described by the satirist Juvenal “The first question asked will be as to his wealth, the last about his character: 'how many slaves does he keep?' 'how many acres does he own?' 'how big and how many are his dessert dishes?' A man's word is believed in exact proportion to the amount of cash which he keeps in his strong-box.”⁴ (Juvenal, 132-133) The Romans now valued money above virtue, and this was the initial push the empire required to begin their declining motion.

As a byproduct of this new “monetary driven” society the Romans who found themselves in power were those willing to surreptitiously seize control. A notion that in the time of Polybius was punishable by death “The Carthaginians obtain office by open bribery, but among the Romans the penalty for it is death.”³ (Polybius, 56) How ironic that Polybius praised the Romans for their high moral character and held them in high esteem compared with the “lowly and unethical” Carthaginians, when years later Juvenal would describe the corrupt state to which Roman politics had fallen. In deed much worse than the bribery Carthage took part in. “No man will get my help in robbery, and therefore no governor will take me on his staff... What man wins favour nowadays unless he be an accomplice-one whose soul seethes and burns with secrets that must never be disclosed?”⁴ (Juvenal, 43-45) This corruption of leaders and eventually the entire society is yet another element repeated in the motion of a falling state.

Finally, the ethical character had so eroded away in Rome after years of prosperity that every aspect of Roman society had become dangerous. The life of Roman citizens was threatened and not from a foreign enemy, but by the enemy all around them. The populace no longer protected one another as described in Polybius “Many Romans have volunteered to decide a whole battle by single combat; not a few have deliberately accepted certain death, some in time of war to secure the safety of the rest, some in time of peace to preserve the safety of the commonwealth.”³ (Polybius, 54) Instead a countryman would rob or assault his neighbor if he thought it would benefit his own position. "Your drunken bully…will get no rest in any other way, since some men can only sleep after a brawl…But to me he pays no respect. Hear how the wretched fray begins--if fray it can be called when you do all the thrashing and I get all the blows!”⁴ (Juvenal, 278-283) “Nor are these your only terrors. When your house is shut… you will be robbed by a burglar; or perhaps a cut-throat will do for you quickly with cold steel.”⁴ (Juvenal, 302-303) The morality of Rome and it’s citizens had spiraled in a downward motion until almost at the brink, its people had become money hungry putting all virtues aside in lieu of the pursuit for more.

BUT…

Newton’s Law of Inertia Continued: An object in motion stays in motion--- Unless acted upon by another force

Rome found Christianity and adopted the faith as their national religion, stopping the Roman empire on it’s suicide journey to collapse. Christianity effectively revitalized the morality of the people and once again established virtue above greed, honor over power, and loyalty over selfishness.

So What

As the writer George Santayana is attributed with saying “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” We should learn from Roman history and as we prospers we must not allow our personal morality or the morality of our society to erode. As a church our values grow ever different from those of changing society. As prophets and apostles have warned, we must resist the temptation to lower our values in anyway, we must “love to 'stand in holy places' and love to make holy the places where we stand.”⁵

References

1-      “Watchman, Warn the Wicked”, Ezra Taft Benson, April 1973

2-     Virgil, and Stanley Lombardo. Aeneid. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. Co, 2005. Print.

3-      Finley, M. I. The Greek Historians: The Essence of Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Polybius.   Penguin Books, 1982 

4-      Juvenal. Satire III, The Satires of Juvenal Translated: The Loeb Classical Library: translated by   Frank Schaer, 1999. Print.

5-      “Pure Love: The True Sign of Every True Disciple of Jesus Christ”, Massimo De Feo, April 2018