"That invaluable reference work Bluff Your Way in Philosophy (by Jim Hankinson, £4.99 o.n.o.) which romps cheerily through the history of philosophy, contains the dismissive line: "The Romans came and went, it seems, without ever wondering why." A rare lapse by a magisterial tome, but it reflects a widespread misconception: that the Romans, builders of an empire that spanned the known world, were practical, rather than speculative, by nature."
"A rare lapse by a magisterial tome, but it reflects a widespread misconception: that the Romans, builders of an empire that spanned the known world, were practical, rather than speculative, by nature. In the days of the old Republic they gradually developed a very practical political system that roused the admiration of later theorists including Machiavelli, as you will read in our opening article by Sam Spound."
Various modes of worship in the Roman world were regarded by the people as equally true, by philosophers as equally false, and by magistrates as equally useful, producing toleration and religious concord. The theme of Roman philosophy prompts the question of what ideas from Roman thinkers remain practically useful today. A widespread misconception portrays Romans as chiefly practical rather than speculative. The Roman Republic developed a highly practical political system admired by later theorists including Machiavelli. Romans excelled in engineering, roads and military matters, and Roman art, literature and education show heavy Greek philosophical influence with Homer and classical Greek thinkers central to schooling.
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