Roman justice or U.S.A justice? A 2000 year old question.

Question

Many citizens of the most powerful country in the world (U.S.A) will not travel abroad for fear of terrorist attack, yet 2000 years ago a person could travel from Britain to Italy unmolested just by claiming to be a citizen of the Roman Empire. Why today does this difference exist?

Answer 1

A)You are comparing apples and oranges.

You talk about American's traveling abroad, but you talk about Romans traveling within their own country.

An American can travel from L.A. to NYC with less danger than your Roman would have faced traveling from Londonium to Roma.  The dangers faced by a Roman traveling to India, or into Germany were far greater than those faced by an American traveling abroad today.

B) Rome was far from a safe or crime free society. There were brigands, and robbers and pirates then too. Ceasar himself was captured by pirates as a youth, (so much for "molesting a Roman Citizen brought certian death") and Pompey the Great commaned a special anti-p****y force in the Medeterranian in 67BC. The pirates were raiding costal towns and cities, even in Italy itself.

So you are oversimplifying the situation, and comparing different situations.

Answer 2

Because Americans are scared weird little guys.

They live in a country where bizarre gun laws give them the highest homicide rate in the first world but are afraid to travel because of the infinitesimal chance of being attacked by terrorists.

Answer 3

2000 years ago you molested a citizen of Rome on pain of death. Today you cannot punish criminals because it will interfere with their "human rights". Bugger the human rights of the victims.

Answer 4

ROMA SPQR

In the Roman world from the 2ndC onwards AD, everyone was a Roman Citizen and proud of it.  Travel was safe and easy and the roads excellent.

I live only a couple of miles away from one of the most efficient and highly organised roads in Europe.  It was built nearly 2000 years ago by the Engineers of the Roman Legions - it still works and is capable of handling a vast amount of traffic now as it did when it was first opened.

All roads lead to Rome.

The Eternal City

http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=wue_e1HSp5...

The power and might of Rome

http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=llaVPWtF-5...

The world has never seen an empire quite like that of Rome.

In 1960 I purchased a Roman Coin from a boy at a Roman City in Libya.  That coin had the head of the Emperor Hadrian upon it.  I knew then only that Hadrian had been in Britain and realised at once that the same money [back then] could be spent as far north as Hadrian's Wall in Britain and as far south as North Africa and Egypt etc.

Roman Arena

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWEmqVv94...

The Roman Senate

http://antoniososa.blogspot.com/2008/06/...