learn from history?

[sammi357]

So, what have we learned in 2 millennia?


"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."

- Cicero - 55 BC


Evidently nothing.

this came from an email...

 

[Muddyboot]

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

 

[deralte]

Looks like Cicero wrote that for modern day America.

 

[Old 44 Guy]

History repeats itself?? Roman Empire, Greece, Germany, Italy, Japan??Now it maybe our turn with the election.

 

[Txnowtn]

Originally posted by deralte:
Looks like Cicero wrote that for modern day America.

Except he didn't write it. Another internet lie.

See truthorfiction.com

The real quote is "The arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and assistance to foreign hands should be curtailed, lest Rome fall."

 

[sammi357]

oh, shoot. The one time i don't snopes...

 

[Wheelgunner840]

Originally posted by sammi357:
oh, shoot. The one time I don't snopes...

I liked it anyway Sammi! Whether or not it is the exact quote, or credit given to the correct person, it still rings true, and is very pertinant.

WG840

 

[GatorFarmer]

Rome's best years came as an Empire not a Republic anyway. Shrug.

 

[oldRoger]

Cicero left a large body of writings and Plutarch also quotes him. I have seen several quotations reputed to be his in a similar vein. What I think interesting is the result of Cicero's disputes with the then current administration.

According to Plutarch, Herennius first slew Cicero, then cut off his head. On (Marc) Antony's instructions his hands, which had penned the Philippics against Antony, were cut off as well; these were nailed and displayed along with his head on the Rostra in the Forum Romanum according to the tradition of Marius and Sulla, both of whom had displayed the heads of their enemies in the Forum. Cicero was the only victim of the proscriptions to be displayed in that manner.