03-18-2017, 10:04 PM
(03-18-2017, 09:27 PM)BigMark Wrote: The Romans were progressive as well.
That's true. But, the Roman Empire was also quite elitist. The Emperor's family and patricians' families benefited the most from government policy and privilege while normal citizens worked very hard and were often shafted. The same is true in most countries today, in my view.
Ancient Rome did have powerful trade unions which wielded strong political power though, until Caesar came along and quashed them.
Anyway, policies considered to be 'progressive' today were common in several cities/countries during ancient times. This list is an interesting short summary of some of them: http://listverse.com/2015/04/27/10-surpr...t-history/