Ancient Rome vs. America. Two great empires at two different times. Obviously, there are subtle differences we see, but there are certain habits that are mirrored today. A good example of this is the Cleopatra's eye makeup. It was infamously worn by Pharaoh's and made famous by Cleopatra. Today, if you open any fashion magazine, you will find this fashion mirrored using similar colors. America is a society, founded in 1776 by religious prudes. Their goal was to "protect" us with rules and religions different from the rest of the world. Protect us from what? Sex, violence, and underage drinking? Societies all over the globe accept these things we are being "protected" from and seem to be getting along just fine. But, what happened to America? Take a closer look, you'll see that we are not so different... now.

In ancient Rome sex was everywhere. It was spoken about, written about in stories, and drew up on walls. It was actually encouraged for male children to lose their sexual innocence early so they would be considered men. For girls, it was not encouraged at all. There lies the double standard. Today, it's out there to the public, but with attempted restraint. Compare the early 1900's to today. Kids as young as 15 were probably experimenting with sex. Especially, considering it was not unusual for them to be married by 16. Similarly to ancient Rome, it's arguably encouraged but mostly accepted by some parents to let their young boy experiment. However, if it is a young girl, she is automatically labeled as a "slut". The double standard that still exists today.

In ancient Rome, there were stadiums built where audiences would gather and savagely watch gladiators fight for their lives. The Colosseum was built to distract the audience from the political issues Rome was faced with. Today, we not only have stadiums that hold a number of "contact sport" events, but we have Pay Per View, where we gather to watch men fight for their lives in a cage. They don't fight for their lives? What do you think the "tap out" signifies? It is an unspoken acceptance that if the opponent does not tap on a choke, he will die.

Early in ancient Roman history, homosexuality was frowned upon and even outlawed. The law was called "Lex Scantinia". However, homosexual behavior still went on. As time went on it became accepted but still considered disgusting among women, and among men, the one that was penetrated was considered weak and feminine, being called "pathicus" or "cinaedus". As late as 20 years ago, there was no one really that was all for the acceptance of homosexuality (beside the homosexual community). However, today, we have two states that give the right of same sex marriage and several other states fighting for the legalization of gay rights. As time goes on, similar to Rome, homosexuality is becoming more accepted in society.

I am in no way suggesting that our devolution to evolve is a bad thing. It is just something to consider. We still have slander, graffiti, and conspiracies amongst public leaders. What really has changed? Or a better question would be "What is natural for us as human beings?"