Few Good Men

The readings this week were full of examples of power hungry men. During this time it was very apparent that Rome lacked men of strong moral values. I'm sure that they existed, but the political and military realms of government were wrought with terror and upended with continous battles for power in and out of the Senate and military. I was left wondering why the Senate didn't exert more power against these "leaders". It seemed that from the moment Tiberius used violence to get what he wanted, it opened the door to forcing individual ideals on the masses with violence in the political realm. That just rolled over into the way the consuls dealt with the Senate. The Senate, in theory was representing the "people", which could have given them more power, but they seemed to be confined to following the constitution and those that challenged them twisted it to benefit the current scheme. Even though Tiberius was working to make Rome more successful by ensuring the veterans were cared for, he resorted to violence which made his concern for those he was fighting for take a backseat. I wonder if he had not resorted to violence if another route would have been taken by Rome in the Civil Wars that followed. Probably not, as there were few good men that followed. They all seemed to be overcome by the greed for power, money, or empire. Augustus seemed to be the only one who was content, and knew how to rule people, without "ruling" them.