People often ask what is the relevance of reading and studying history especially ancient history. Their problems and concerns seem so far removed from ours that it is difficult to connect with them anymore. Besides, we moderns have this belief that we have progressed and made some sort of moral advancement or evolution. The ancients have no use for us anymore.
But in the following I will show you that this is not true. The Roman historian Tacitus, writing in the biography of his father-in-law Agricola, relates to us how a governor of ancient Britain managed to bring peace and order to a hostile and oppressed land. Although Tacitus looks down on the Britons as barbarians he also calls out the corrupt Roman governors and contrasts them with his father-in-law, who is portrayed as a moral and just governor. This is not a defense of ancient Imperialism but it is an example of one ruler acting in a just and relevant way for the people he ruled over.
- Know the land
with thorough insight into the feelings of his province, and taught also, by the experience of others, that little is gained by conquest if followed by oppression, he determined to root out the causes of war
The Romans were conquerors and could be quite brutal. But they understood that a ruler has to know the people he rules over. He has to learn what their concerns are and then take appropriate action on fixing the problems that oppress the people of a land. How many times can you think of a modern-day ruler doing that? Do the governors and presidents of modern republics take the time to listen to the people? During election season you sometimes see a candidate driving a truck or chopping wood in order to try and look “manly” and as a “someone who gets things done.” But people see through this fakery. Perhaps if modern day rulers read a little history they could address some of the problems the people face directly.
2. Avoiding personal enrichment
first with himself and his dependants, he kept his household under restraint
A simple internet search will find numerous stories about this presidential family or that presidential child getting rich from their connections to the president. The last two presidents of the USA in particular have dodged these questions over the course of their terms. Would it not be nice to just have people who make sure that they are not going to profit from the office they hold? Why is this so much to ask?
3. Promotions based on merit
He transacted no public business through freedmen or slaves; no private leanings, no recommendations or entreaties of friends, moved him in the selection of centurions and soldiers, but it was ever the best man whom he thought most trustworthy
In the United States, people tend to think that our system rewards those who have merited it. That hard work and graduating from a good school will take you far. But the reality is that people who have connections with higher ups are the ones who move up. The old saying, “It’s not what you know, but who you know” is true even in this society. It would be better if leaders began to step up and actually follow through on what they say in all their speeches and advertisements. Agricola knew that the conquered Britons would respect the Romans even less if he kept promoting corrupt soldiers to positions of authority. It was, and is, far better to just promote those who are actually going to do what is best for the society and country.
4. Lowering and simplifying taxes
He lightened the exaction of corn and tribute by an equal distribution of the burden, while he got rid of those contrivances for gain which were more intolerable than the tribute itself
In this excerpt, we read that Agricola lowered the required grain tax and made it easier for the locals to pay their taxes by abolishing some of the complicated “contrivances” that made a profit for the tax collectors and burdened the locals. Think of the last time you had to do your taxes. Why is it so complicated? Why do we pay so much gasoline taxes but our roads are horrible? This ties into the first point of actually listening to the people and being able to fix their current problems. A Roman governor saw it almost 2,000 years ago and this modern suit-wearing, highly educated lawyers can’t?
Also, what is more, bipartisan than an across-the-board tax cut, no exceptions, for everyone everywhere? Why is the simplification of the tax code, not a bipartisan issue? It really makes you think.
In the end, leaders have to be held accountable and when they keep enacting unjust laws, oppressing their own people, and getting away sometimes with literal murder, the nation and the country suffers. A return to the ancient view of virtue, not a change in government or a different policy could be what is needed. Education used to be about virtue, should we not strive to make a return to it?
All quotes from the following translation:
Tacitus, Cornelius. “Cornelius Tacitus, the Life of Cnæus Julius Agricola Alfred John Church, William Jackson Brodribb, Ed.” Cornelius Tacitus, The Life of Cnæus Julius Agricola, chapter 19. Accessed September 8, 2022. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text? doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0081%3Achapter%3D19.