Fall of Carthage and the decay of Roman character

[Justin I]

I know I've heard the argument made that after the Third Punic War, Rome was the only remaining great power in the Western world, and as a result the Roman people were softened by peace and luxury, which eventually led to a general atrophy and decay of Roman culture.

But even though I've been thinking about this a lot lately, I can't remember who was the first to make this argument! Wasn't this argument made by ancient historians during the later years of the Roman Empire? Or is this a modern interpretation? I seem to remember reading someone like Sallust or Cassius Dio making this argument but I can't be sure. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Justin I]

Nevermind, I found it (Eureka)! This is important for a project I'm working on.
It was Sallust and Velleius Paterculus, in case you were wondering... hat tip to both the Penguin Classics and Jona Lendering's outstanding website for that knowledge.

[Robert Vermaat]

Interresting indeed. But somehow I have the feeling that already during the Prinicpate such arguments would have been heard. Do keep us posted!

[M. Demetrius]

From what I've read, admittedly not an extensive list, Augustus made some changes to laws that were an attempt to restore some of the ideals of the Old Republic. Or, as indicated in the title of this thread, to reverse the decay of Roman character. It didn't last that long, though, the reform. M. Aurelius wanted to do the same thing, but it was probably too late by then.

[Justin I]

I would keep you posted but when I say 'project,' I should mention that I am a newspaper columnist and to do so would violate the RomanArmyTalk rule forbidding modern politics.

[M. Demetrius]

This is politics, yes, but not modern any more:

http://www.skidmore.edu/classics/courses...estae.html
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/thayer/e/ro.../home.html