Violence Woven Into Identity

Romans wove violence into public life in ways that would unsettle us today. Gladiator fights, public executions, and military parades were all popular entertainment. In a Roman triumph — a parade celebrating a great victory — the defeated enemy leader was marched through the streets in chains, then often strangled in a cell once the crowd's cheering was done.

A Universal Pattern

Rome is not alone in tracing its birth to a crime. Many cultures root their origins in an act of violence or transgression. In the Bible, Cain kills Abel soon after creation. The first murder, again and again, sits near the start of the story — as if cultures sense that building a new order means brushing aside everything that came before it.