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The Virtues of Roman Literature
I fully recommend Boris's book, which is not available for signing tonight because he was concealing it. So the virtues of Roman literature we agree on. The fact is all ancient cultures were horribly brutal in our standards. Romans grappled with issues of civil liberty and electoral politics. They consistently incorporated rather than excluding people. I hope that everyone will take away tonight one date that should rival 1066 in the consciousness of the British - 212 AD. It's the year when the Emperor Caracalla gave full Roman citizenship to all three inhabitants of the Roman Empire who didn't already have it. That meant 30 million people got Roman citizenship at a stroke. But this isn't a contest in niceness