James Taplin

10 concepts (from Ancient Rome) that explain the modern world: 1. The Tacitus Razor: “If you want to know who controls you, see who you’re not allowed to criticize.” This is how comedians accidently reveal a society's hierarchy—they call everyone naked, and soon discover who the king is. 2. The Slavery Syndrome. Roman historian Sallust: “Few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master.” Genuine liberty means making decisions 24/7; parsing right from wrong; solving pesky dilemmas using nothing but one’s own mind. Liberty is thus too cognitively taxing for most…people would rather outsource their agency. 3. The Polybius Warning: 2nd century B.C. historian Polybius warned that a falling birthrate precedes civilizational collapse. Fewer births mean men and women have checked out. Sloth grows, spiritual concerns are replaced by material ones, and population falls. Polybius believed the Greek civilization fell due to its “low birth rate…” 4. The Pliny Principle: Rene Descartes pinned bodily existence onto the mind—“I think, therefore I am”—but Ancient Rome’s magistrate, Pliny the Younger, said it was the other way around: “It is wonderful how the mind is stirred and quickened into activity by brisk bodily exercise.” Only physical exertion leads to healthy mental activity… 5. The Uses of Folly. Roman historian Herodotus: “If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad.” Fun is your brain stretching, dancing, moving without the shackles of logic. You need it. Lesson: Combine monumental sincerity with...some trolling. 6. The Vitruvius Rule: Modern architects love asymmetrical structures, but Ancient Roman architect Vitruvius said a building out of proportions is like a deformed body. Nature herself “composed the human body” and the rest of creation using “due proportions.” The Vitruvius Rule: No symmetry? Off to cemetery. 7. The Tyranny of Laws: More laws don’t mean a more just society. Tacitus: “The more numerous the laws, the more corrupt the government.” Make a million laws and you can catch anyone for anything, anytime you want. 8. The Cassius Hypothesis: Historian Cassius wrote that while monarchy needed only one man to make the right decision, democracy needed millions. Which one is more likely to succeed? No wonder, Cassius wrote, that “successes have always been greater and more frequent under kings than under popular rule…” 9. The Livy Effect: Historian Livy lived through the Roman Civil War and discovered the butterfly effect 2000 years before the chaos theorists: “Events of great consequence often spring from trifling circumstances.” Politics, economics, human decisions, ideas…they form one giant mesh of life, and tiny acts can snowball. 10. The Juvenal Principle: “Give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt.” Roman poet Juvenal believed a “long peace” was as evil as a war. The modern world needs to heed Juvenal's warning against luxury. To let “bread and circuses” sedate us into inaction is to betray our very soul...