Lack of technological progress in late Roman Empire

[tlclark]

It's rather frustrating, and Pliny's compliance with the conspiracy certainly doesn't help.

Certainly not - but might not the Romans themselves have started the 'conspiracy' in the first place? The idea of the Roman Genius as inherently practical, adapted for governance, law, administration and military affairs, as opposed to the flighty arty Greeks, whose creative genius was harnessed and commanded by Rome, seems to accord so fully with the Roman self-image that I'm sure they did all they could to propagate it. Roman culture - upper-class culture, at any rate, senatorial or imperial - seems to have actively looked down on the creative arts (aside from poetry, of course) as somewhat undignified - remember Cicero lambasting Verres for lurking in his metalwork shop 'like a Greek'. The same, perhaps, goes for technological advances - the cultured Roman, from Cicero to Vegetius, affected to despise innovation of all sorts and long for the glories of the past; easy then to ascribe what innovation did occur to the work, or the influence, of the subjegated Greeks...

- Nathan

Well put.

This is in many ways like the American self-ethos. We shun effeteness, refinement and collectivism and encourage rugged individualism. There is a decided anti-intellectual strain in this country. Consider the whole "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" identity. Many a great american in the 19th C. was born into wealth, culture, privilege, but most painted themselves as poor, lower class, simple folk that made good.

For example - not to interject politics into this - but both Bill Clinton's and Bush's southern accents get thicker when they know the camera's are rolling. My family was from west texas, my uncle from Arkansas. I know what both accents sound like. Laura Bush's accent is pure west Texas. W's is a mish-mash of various southern dialects, most far removed from true West Texas. The same is true of Bill. Notice especially that none of W's brothers speak with a southern accent at all.

The Romans view of themselves as "the world's administrators" may not have inspired us, as we value individuality and personal creativity and homespun accents, but then they have the right to choose it their own view of their accomplishments.

Travis