Not all cultures are of equal value. Some are better than others, and the development of civilisation has tended to see stronger cultures win against weaker ones. There is a difference between respect and toleration, and it is perfectly proper to proselytise for one culture over another.
None of the above would have seemed at all controversial until fairly recently, when, in the name of multiculturalism, it became necessary to pretend that any culture was of equal value, and that it was ‘colonial’ to see Western civilisation as superior. Yet it self-evidently is, and its spread across the world has been a good thing.
This was also true of ancient Rome. In his excellent and highly readable book, The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilisation, Dr. Brian Ward Perkins, the former long-serving senior history fellow at Trinity College, Oxford, explains how life became more difficult for the people living in Britain after Rome fell. Simple, everyday necessities became less usable; for instance, pottery was of a lower standard, because it was made locally rather than imported from expert potters. The trade routes protected by Rome covered the empire and stopped when the Pax Romana fell.
Even agriculture seemed to be affected. This is shown by the bones of cows. The Roman cow, based on finds from 21 Iron Age, 67 Roman and 49 early mediaeval sites, was one and three-quarter inches bigger than its ancestors and over three inches bigger than its progeny.*
This is good evidence for higher agricultural productivity, as the height of a cow today is much bigger than its predecessors, providing more milk and meat and so sustaining a bigger and better fed population.
This helps everyone, not just the elite. When a society improves, this filters down even to the poorest. Life as a Roman slave was often harsh, but their lives would probably have been better than those enslaved in later centuries.
Hence, although the Roman Empire oppressed people, especially those who rebelled against its rule, life under it was undoubtedly preferable to running around covered in woad and fighting neighbouring tribes before the Romans came, or falling back into a poor subsistence economy once they left.
Listen to this episode with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Letters from an Englishman by Jacob Rees-Mogg to listen to this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
