Zbornik Radova: Pravni Fakultet u Novom Sadu (Jan 2017)
Subtle and irresistible appeal of corruption within political circles of Rome
Abstract
Throughout history, corruption has taken various forms and contents but the term of the same etymology has always been used to denote it: 'corrumpo, rupi, ruptum' meaning to destroy, devastate, or pull down and 'corruption' (wickedness, perversity). Political corruption as immorality of the privileged layers of people, the use of political power for the purpose of acquiring wealth and securing various privileges, was not unknown in the Roman society. The ancient Rome was familiar with political corruption long before the quoted acrostic appeared (4th century AD). A vivid illustration of bribery as common (although formally decried) practice throughout the entire Roman history occurs in Brecht's Julius Caesar: The governors' clothes had numerous pockets; politicians, governors, businessmen, profiteers of all kinds, more or less, all encountered the irresistible attraction of corruption in their lives. Gaius Sallustius Crispus, Roman historian (86 - 34 B.C.) disappointed with the morals and greed of Roman aristocracy from the second half of the republic, in his book entitled Histories (Historiae) described the situation as follows: 'The powerful figures have started converting freedom into debauchery. Everyone grabbed whatever they could, stole and usurped. The state was governed by arbitrariness of the few chosen ones. The treasury, provinces, duties, glory and triumphs were all in their hands, while the other citizens were oppressed by poverty, burdened by service and legions. The leaders shared the spoils among a small number of people while the population was driven off their land if they it so happened that a powerful neighbour wanted it.' The extents of corruption, especially in the final, postclassical period of the development of the Roman Empire, are referred to by the emperors, who point out in their statutes to 'terror of the powerful whose corruption and perversity presents danger for public order and the government itself.' What fascinates a modern man is a question how the Roman state (or rather its structures), managed to resist this corruption of gigantic proportions for centuries.
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