76 Evolution and Religion 



Rome 



In Rome again, virtue did not often extend beyond 

 the idea of duty owed to other members of the state. 

 Thus it was not lawful to scourge publicly and un- 

 condemned a Roman citizen; but in the case of an 

 outsider it mattered little, he had small chance of re- 

 dress. Under the tenth table of Roman law, nothing 

 short of the general legislature could condemn a Roman 

 citizen to death, but the tables extended no such safe- 

 guard over the lives of foreigners. And yet, the great 

 gift which Rome gave to the world was Law, founded 

 on the theory that "man is born for justice." For 

 while the Greeks went further in political speculation, 

 the Romans worked out the practical rights of citizens. 

 As regards the state, however, the sense of the duty of 

 subordinating self to the general good was something 

 marvelous. Says a writer, speaking of the ancient 

 Roman religion: ^ "A code of moral and ethical rules, 

 furthering and preserving civil order, and the pious 

 relations within the state and family, were the palpable 

 results of this religion." Says another writer, already 

 quoted,^ "Never was such esprit de corps developed, 

 never such intense patriotism, never such absolute 

 subservience and sacrifice of the individual to the 

 community." 



1 Int. Cyc. vol. XII. p. 722. 



2 Clarke's Ten Great Religions, p. 339. 



