[HN Gopher] Collections: On Bread and Circuses
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       Collections: On Bread and Circuses
        
       Author : Tomte
       Score  : 46 points
       Date   : 2024-12-20 15:30 UTC (7 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (acoup.blog)
 (TXT) w3m dump (acoup.blog)
        
       | cdot2 wrote:
       | My take-away is that the phrase didn't mean decadence but rather
       | a return to normal life and the end of the civil wars.
        
       | ndileas wrote:
       | I'm not any kind of historian. Reading the works of those who
       | are, is mind boggling. There is just so much history out there.
       | 60 years of civil war, with heavy conscription...hard to imagine.
       | Although future historians might look at our recent era as 80
       | some years of war, counting wwi-ussr dissolution.
        
         | bee_rider wrote:
         | Probably an interesting bit of the discussion about the US will
         | be the switch in perception from the conscript to all-volunteer
         | army, and the ability to absorb small constant wars without
         | most of us civilians actually noticing much, except for the
         | slightly worse tax:services trade.
        
           | ashoeafoot wrote:
           | It did have cultural impact though and the impending attempt
           | to outsource the army for greencards very much reminds of the
           | germanic legions of the roman army.
        
             | com wrote:
             | The increasing dependence of line soldiers on centralised
             | professional and organisational support to wage war
             | suggests to me that the "new emperors in the provinces"
             | problem won't repeat in quite the same way.
        
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       (page generated 2024-12-20 23:01 UTC)