Dinner with Socrates, No. 2 at the Bosconian Review ~ Happy Farmers

Reading: 

“What Makes a Happy Life?” Martial, Translated by Goldwin Smith

Overview:
In contrast to the classical age Greeks, with their emphasis upon the polis as the center of culture, we find among the early Romans a certain disdain for urbane things and a sense of close connection to the land.  This connection is multifaceted.  For one, it is not merely patriotism about their “country,” but an awareness of themselves as people who live on and cultivate the ground.  Drawing on a biological concept, we might describe it even as an awareness of living as part of an ecosystem.  They would not have used the word “ecosystem,” of course, but ...

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