Blog 2, Part 2

1. Women's role in the family and workplace. Juvenal's Satire 3 barely mentioned women at all. In general, women figure very little in writings about Rome. When they do, it is always in relation to men--who they are married to, whose daughter they are, whose child they bore. Women's role is very firmly in the home--there IS no career for a roman woman. She can't decide she wants to be a warrior or carpenter or roman citizen--those are things that are quite decidedly for men only. The struggle for a woman in our society to balance work and family is something that would be very difficult for a Roman woman to relate to.

2. The role and quality of government. Juvenal suggests that government is corrupt in his writings. He says, "No man will get my help in robbery, and therefore no governor will take me on his staff." Corruption in government is a problem in America today--politicians are frequently found to be serving their own selfish needs, and not those of the people. The involvement of government in everyday people's lives is not addressed as much in Juvenal's writings--probably because there were not big debates about whether or not government should pay for health insurance or put children in foster care, because there was no such thing as health insurance or foster care.

3. Right and wrong. Juvenal mentions situations that he finds wrong, yet seem to be frequent occurrence in Rome. "What can I do at Rome? I cannot lie; if a book is bad, I cannot praise it, and beg for a copy; I am ignorant of the movements of the stars; I cannot, and will not, promise to a man his father's death; I have never examined the entrails of a frog; I must leave it to others to carry to a bride the presents and messages of a paramour. No man will get my help in robbery, and therefore no governor will take me on his staff: I am treated as a maimed and useless trunk that has lost the power of its hands." In this quote, Juvenal expresses frustration that the idea of what is right and wrong, what is acceptable and what is abhorrent, seems to have changed, and he no longer has a place there. He points out that he feels there is dishonesty and cheating in Rome, yet others appear to be happy to live with that. In our society, we have a similar problem--some people find one thing wrong, while others don't see the problem, and think it is perfectly moral.

4. Equal treatment. Juvenal suggests that there is a problem with unfair treatment in Rome. Juvenal points out that the rich are treated better than the poor in Rome: "And what of this, that the poor man gives food and occasion for jest if his cloak be torn and dirty; if his toga be a little soiled; if one of his shoes gapes where the leather is split, or if some fresh stitches of coarse thread reveal where not one, but many a rent has been patched? Of all the woes of luckless poverty none is harder to endure than this, that it exposes men to ridicule". Not only are the poor mocked, but they are not believed--the rich are seen as more honest and trustworthy. "A man's word is believed in exact proportion to the amount of cash which he keeps in his strong-box". We still struggle with fair treatment today--and we constantly argue about how to enforce it. We try to make people hire without discriminating on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, ect. We have possibly created more problems in our efforts, but no doubt we still neglect true fair treatment...do we give the poor a fair chance?

5. Immigration. Juvenal addresses the immigration of Greeks to Rome. He expresses disgust that Rome is full of foreigners: "I cannot abide, Quirites, a Rome of Greeks". He seems particularly angry that foreigners have the ability to rise above a Roman. "Must I not make my escape from purple-clad gentry like these? Is a man to sign his name before me, and recline upon a couch better than mine, who has been wafted to Rome by the wind..." This is similar to the problem today--many people are upset at immigrants coming to America. The common argument is that they take away American jobs--rising above those who are citizens. Whether or not I agree with these arguments, it is clear that the immigration debate is long-standing.