Rise and Fall of the Roman Republic Outline Plato s philosophy Conclusion 1 Darwin and Plato 2 Crito 3 Argument for immortality and 4 the Near Death Experience of the Soldier Er Rome Cosmopolitan versus Greek Polis law Similarities and Differences between Greek and Roman origins Return to Darwin The sight of a feather in a peacock s tail whenever I gaze at it makes me sick Charles Darwin New York Times Feb 10 2009 D4 The problem Recall Darwin s main theory Chance variation Natural selection the external environment not the purposeful action of individuals selects those individuals that are fit to survive The peacock s tail seems to be an obstacle to survival Thinking about this made Darwin sick because it seems to contradict his theory Darwin s solution We may conclude that those males which are best able by their various charms to please or excite the female are under ordinary circumstances accepted If this be admitted there is not much difficulty in understanding how male birds have gradually acquired their ornamental characters Darwin wrote The answer is love of beauty At the time Darwin s theory on female choice in animals and birds in particular was revolutionary and he spent pages justifying a bird s appreciation of beauty and the quality of love that must be felt between a pair bonding for life http news nationalgeographic com news 20 02 09 0909 peacock html Teleology in evolution Why does the peahen choose her mate Because of its beautiful tail feathers Its not the external unconscious environment that selects but the female peahen Teleology purposeful choice in evolution Why does the peahen have a love of the beautiful Why is nature so beautiful Diotema s answer to Socrates Beauty rules all of life Argument of the Crito 1 Crito s appeal to Socrates save yourself family friends etc 2 S We must not do anything wrong Right 3 C What could be wrong with fleeing an unjust sentence 4 S Imagine putting this question to the Laws and having them reply The Laws are your true parents Are we not first your parents Through us your father took your mother and bagat you Tell us have you any fault with those of us that are the laws of marriage I have none I should reply Or have you any fault to find with those of us that regulate the nurture and education of the child which you like others received Did we not do well in bidding your father educate you in music and gymnastics Plato s Crito Nature of Law The laws give us birth education We can change states choose other laws But then Socrates would have been a foreigner not a citizen of the new city state We actively participate in law making Voluntary agreement with the Laws like a contract in trade business Was Socrates Unjustly Condemned The procedure of the law has not been violated Even if the jury makes a mistake in judgment it does so according to the Laws and so must be obeyed What if everyone could escape a court decision if they disagreed with it The laws would be destroyed Plato s argument for the immortality of the soul 1 Eternity of Beauty of certain truths of geometry the theorem of Pythagoras etc 2 We can recognize recollect remember these truths 3 So we have in us something immortal which enables us to know immortal Reality 4 I e the God like element is within us the soul Real nature of knowledge 5 To know something is to commune with that thing to identify with it be one with it I e real knowledge is more like love a transcendence of separate ego identity E g experience of transcendence losing yourself in creative knowledge or love NDE of the Soldier Er Er s voyage to the Elysian Fields Next life lottery Odysseus choice Recall teleology what is the purpose of my existence Why was I born to my parents Rise and Fall of the Roman Republic Edward Gibbon History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 1776 89 Spodek lists Gibbon s reasons for fall of the Empire 197 8 Empire presupposes the fall of the Roman Republic Why did the Republic fall How did it arise Roman Timeline 1 494 440 struggle of the orders republic Twelve Tablets of the Law 451 2 405 264 Internal Italian wars 3 264 146 Struggle with dominant external power of Carthage 3 Punic Wars 4 134 71 BCE Renewed class warfare 3 Slave wars 5 27 BCE Fall of Republic Emperor Augustus Caesar 27 BCE 14 CE 6 476 CE Fall of Empire New order of events Greece 1st defend itself against aggressive land power of Persia Then fight among themselves for power Rome 1st fights with Italian neighbors for power Then takes on the dominant sea power of Carthage Why this striking difference Greek and Roman Empires Greek empire under Alexander Short duration of unity 331 323 BCE Division soon after death of Alexander Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt to 31 BCE Octavian who becomes Augustus Caesar defeats Anthony and Cleopatra at Battle of Actium Seleucid empire Persia lasts to 200 BCE Greeks returned to internal warfare between city states Roman empire long duration Empire from 27 BCE to 476 CE Why this striking difference Similarities of origin Iron age agriculture on rain watered lands away from the power of Bronze Age empires Freedom of independent peasants Internal inequalities debt enslavement Early struggle of the orders Roman phalanx Plebeians refuse to fight for patricians veto Republican institutions Reason for success of Plebs Military power based on iron Power of the phalanx Dependence of Roman aristocracy on free prosperous peasant army No already existing state Similar to Greece Role of Trade Most peasants elsewhere subsistence producers Greece and Rome produce for international market Dry summer climate of Mediterranean good for olives winter wheat Wealth from peasants elsewhere Importance of the rational thought of the merchants philosophy Greater freedom possible for local peasants Difference Geographic Challenge for Romans Athens Sparta divided by mountains Greek narrow polis law for locals only Rome is open to Italian territories along Tiber R Rome law for others too Roman stick and carrot creates all Italian army Stick war Carrot Roman citizenship Reason for differences Romans must deal with neighbors from the start Rape of the Sabine Women Hence Roman law is cosmopolitan Hence Rome first unites with others in Italy creating a powerful army of many nationalities Hence Rome builds a long lasting empire The lasting influence of Greece is cultural not political the Hellenistic Ecumene 157 Polis law and Cosmopolitan Law Alexander Pharaoh in Egypt King in Persia No Greek system of