elimination
Chapter Ten

“Today we will be talking about Ancient Rome, the pinnacle of hedonism in early civilization.” Bump Nose begins with the same bubbling excitement he possesses upon starting every new lecture. The class looks bored. I think they are sick of having the words hedonism and weaknesses thrown around to describe absolutely everything. What did the Romans do? Interact with other people? Have a system of religion? Gasp. Bump Nose continues speaking. “Between innate human corruption and philosophies such as that of Epicurus—who saw the pleasures of the senses as the highest good—Rome’s decadence efficiently destroyed it.”

Now I’m curious, the philosophy “the pleasures of the senses as the highest good” could for once indicate actual weakness. “The Romans centered their lives around the hasty and short lived acquisition of dopamine. Sex addictions were common-place characterized by orgies, sodomy, pederasty, bestiality and other actions of hedonistic frivolity.” The entire class is now paying attention, yet looks acutely confused. I don’t think anyone understands what Bump Nose is saying, only that it’s more interesting that his usual dribble about human weakness. “In addition to this they drank excessively, and ate to the point of vomiting only to continue eating. This greed, entitlement and obliviousness to the reality of consequences brought the society to a fall. Please open your tablet and read Decadence: The Death of Rome.”

The air in the room now holds a certain excitement. For once we are not learning about mundane weaknesses, or the big all powerful weakness seen in systems of belief or structures of society. Now we actually have something extreme to put what we have been taught, and even the circumstances of our lives into perspective. The reading describes huge cities with wealthy hedonists and a whole class of people seen essentially as objects. Rome possessed unmatched military force and a constant drive for expansion. It pushed the boundaries of the outside in sacrifice of the strength within and eventually collapsed on itself. The reading also briefly touches upon something else; a society and culture with artists, philosophers, scholars, and technology that was monumental for the time period. How amongst such blatant weakness can such significant accomplishment exist?