07-11-2014, 01:39 PM
Of course anyone living 2000 years ago will be 'differrent' from us now. As I stated in a previous post in this topic, we live in a world dominated by electricity. Very few places on Earth do not have access to even basic electrical hook-ups. We totally depend on machines to heat our food, cool our food and freeze our food. We rely on well stocked shops and supermarkets to provide our food items and essential goods, and also we are paid salaries and wages which generally leads to us having enough to pay for luxury goods from time to time. The average worker can afford to provide for at least one main meal for their families each day, possibly two meals, which generally includes a proportion of meat. They can also generally afford at least one holiday for their family each year. Most of our populations live in houses with running drinkable water which can be made hot or cold as desired. A good number of people have access to quality health care. Life expentancy now is at least 60-80 years in the developed world, and in other areas this has risen from around 40 years to approximately 50-60 in the undeveloped world.
These are things that would be totally alien to 95% of the Roman population who would have been living on a subsistance diet each day, some not being able to eat for several days in a row. Most families lived together in a single cramped room, only the well-to-do lived in bigger houses and villa's. Water generally had to be obtained from streams and rivers unless you could afford to have a well or piped water in your property. Healthcare was rudimentary and life expectancy for the majority of the population would be between 30-40. Illnesses which are easily treated now were invariably fatal in ancient times, and a simple cut or splinter could lead to a loss of a limb due to infection.
I just cannot see how anyone cannot see how different we are to the Romans.
These are things that would be totally alien to 95% of the Roman population who would have been living on a subsistance diet each day, some not being able to eat for several days in a row. Most families lived together in a single cramped room, only the well-to-do lived in bigger houses and villa's. Water generally had to be obtained from streams and rivers unless you could afford to have a well or piped water in your property. Healthcare was rudimentary and life expectancy for the majority of the population would be between 30-40. Illnesses which are easily treated now were invariably fatal in ancient times, and a simple cut or splinter could lead to a loss of a limb due to infection.
I just cannot see how anyone cannot see how different we are to the Romans.
Adrian Coombs-Hoar
