Quote of the Day

"Behind the glorious story of the Roman Empire--the story of military campaigns and imperial triumphs--there lies another story: the one that actually shaped the lives of [ordinary people]. It's the story of how Rome was run as a mafia-like business. Of Senators worth thirty million dollars who supported a system who let the poor go to the war while they supported free trade and low taxes for the businessmen. It's the story of a society in which the noble families flaunted their wealth while the majority drifted into relative poverty. A society based on inequality; on the tantalizing luxury that was possible for the few as long as the vast majority of the population had no rights at all...or could be fooled into compliance with bread and circuses." -- Terry Jones (closing narration from The Hidden History of Rome [which you can watch here or on Netflix]).