Society is Declining... Or Is It?

Society is Declining… Or Is It?

Edward Gibbon, author of “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” (1776-89), said when asked that the best time to be alive, said: “If a man were called to fix the period in the history of the world during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous, he would, without hesitation, name that which elapsed from the death of Domitian to the accession of Commodus.” This was the second century AD, when Rome’s “five good emperors”, Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius, brought a peace and stability that western Europe would—in Gibbon’s view—never see again.

Of course, for a white, smart, upper-class male who enjoyed the privileges of a highly hierarchical and inflexible socioeconomic system, it would have seemed like paradise. For the majority of poor schmucks it was a filthy existence, crowded into ancient tenements and living on the brink of starvation or homelessness. (About 90% of ancient Rome’s population was what today would be considered below the poverty line.) So sure, Gibbon, the five good emperors was a great time to be alive. For the top level of society. For everyone else? Stick with modern times.