Roman Empire wasn’t a bad place to live

Nik Zahariadis (Letters, October 20) rightly draws attention to the Romans’ moral failings. But what made the Romans special was their humanitarian ideal of warfare and government, even if they didn’t always live up to it.

To ‘‘sell’’ a war, a commander had to present it as fundamentally just, a war against aggression, in support of treaties, allies, and/or international law.

Roman governors, although sometimes rapacious, could be successfully prosecuted back home for their oppression of provincials. How many ancient empires can we say this about?

We shouldn’t ignore Roman crimes. Nevertheless, almost all Roman evils, such as slavery and infanticide, were shared with other ancient civilisations.

Conversely, Romans’ profound respect for peace, law, property rights, and foreign cultures was unique. And by many indicators of human welfare, the Roman Empire was a better place to live than the societies that preceded or immediately followed it.

While the Romans weren’t perfect, they also weren’t mere bloodthirsty ogres.

The Roman ideal marked a real, permanent step forward for Western, and hence global, civilisation. This is the progress that Isis barbarians are now determined to wreck and reverse. That’s why Isis needs to lose.

Dr JONATHAN TRACY gems such as Sheds 11, 13 and 21, and the Eastbourne Ferry Terminal and Ferry Wharf?

How will they react when they hear that Heritage New Zealand, once a staunch advocate of heritage protection, did not oppose the proposal?

CHRIS HORNE

Lecturer in Classical Studies

Massey University

Northland