Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Daily Question: 3/23/11

 Imagine you are a Roman in the year 264 BCE (the year of the 1st Punic War). What does your future look like? Then, look at the world around you today. What does your future look like? Think about politics, technology, culture, dominance, balance.


In the year 264 B.C.E., I think my future would probably be pretty normal if I was just an average middle class citizen. Although, I would be threatened by the scares of Hannibal, a monstrous general for the Carthaginians. As a Plebeian, I wouldn't have as many rights as the Patricians, but if I had a really big problem I needed to deal with, I would go to the Tribune of Plebs and try to get it sorted out. I still would not have a big say in the politics though. The technology would not be nearly as diverse as it is today, and I would have a much harder time doing things I call easy today. For instance, I would be walking great distances, have trouble communicating with my family when I need to meet with them, not know as much local and national news going around, and I would be doing stuff for a shorter time period during the day and would need to make a fire for heat and cooking food. My life would be much more time consuming because I don't have much technology, but I would be use to it. Our country during this time is pretty dominant, so I would not be that afraid of being taken over all of a sudden by a harsh ruler. During the second Punic War when Carthage defeated the Romans, I would be a little cautious though because they totally defeated us. I would eat a little bit differently too. In the Roman culture, they have different foods that the American culture does like today. Also, the meals in the ancient times were probably much less difficult to make and diverse because of the such little technology and knowledge to do more. My life in my world today is pretty different. I rarely worry about war conflicts. I know that many different things can happen and there are terrorists all around, but I generally don't worry about it because our country is so dominant and I live in a pretty safe environment. As a kid, I don't really worry about politics either. I don't think most people my age do, so I don't worry about that either. Today, the technology is very very diverse and it even keeps expanding more and more. Just 10 years ago, cell phones were getting popular. All of a sudden today, pretty much everyone has a cell phone and there are many more amazing things such as the IPad. Who would have ever guessed someone would create such a thing? My diet today contains a variety of foods. In the ancient Roman times, I'm sure many people ate the same thing like every night. I can't imagine doing that! I enjoy my era now much more than I think I would enjoy my future in the ancient Roman world.

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